I am an HO scale modeler. I kitbash and scratch build structures. I like to see windows, doors, etc from Grandt Line. I use wood from Northeastern Lumber. Occasionally, I use stryrene from Evergreen. I would like to see vehicles that have the year that they were built, such as cranes, earth moving equipment, fire engines, etc. I have no idea the years of these models.[Y] Good luck!![;)]
My local hobby store has a 15% off ALL ITEMS when compared to MSRP. This keeps people from ordering things from “Discount Stores”.[8D]
I have to agree with TA462. There are other hobbies out there that would benefit you greatly if you had them in your shop. One more that is making a comeback is RC cars. I have friends that spend hundreds on cars & accessories just so they can race them, break stuff & will be back for replacement parts.
On the model train side of the store, what would keep me coming back is having a good supply of the basics. You can add what’s popular from there but getting them in the door for the basics is where to start.
Some years ago I had a chance to purchase an existing hobby shop as the owner was retiring. I didn’t because I wasn’t crazy about the location. It was right in the middle of a residential neighborhood & it just didn’t seem like it was a good investment. Also right about that time Hobbytown USA moved into our local mall & it was hard to compete. Now I kind of wish I had done it because I think I could’ve made a go of it. Having said that, if one did own a hobby/model train shop, would having a layout at home be enjoyable or would it seem like you’re bringing your work home with you?
I suggest you come out here to Denver Colorado and visit/study Caboose Hobbies, and then, if you like, I would be happy to spend a little time with you describing how my small retail business is still alive despite all odds (if you are willing to buy me lunch at the Mexican place across the street!). My experience is you need at least four or five revenue sources to make a small retail business like this work (beyond just selling stuff off the shelf).
I have to agree unless you have business experience. Someone mentioned they will drink your coffee, and steal from you with some other points in between. If you base your business plan on what your potential customers want you may as well just give them the cash and avoid all the other problems.
A lot of people are telling you how to run a business. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you know what you’re getting into, that you either know how to run a retail store or have hired someone who does, and that you’ve done your market research. If not, Lord help you.
So, here’s what I would like to see in a hobby store (by which I mean, one that would keep me coming back), and, more importantly, spending money.
Trains. A mixture of manufacturers, product lines, and price points. Carry popular roads (UP, Pennsy), but ones of local interest as well (you have no idea how aggravating it is to walk into hobby shops in CT to find that they have not one single piece of New Haven equipment).
An operating layout. Using it to hold clinics, paid or otherwise, is a good idea.
Seminars and workshops.
A selection of tools beyond razor saws and hobby knives. Clamps, pin vises, magnifiers, etc.; some small, hobby-oriented power tools.
A never-out selection of basic scenery materials, stripwood & styrene scratchbuilding supplies, basic detailing parts, adhesives, and paints, especially acrylics. Another pet peeve – a rack of 200 shades of enamel, and next to it, a rack of 30 shades of acrylics. And by “never out” I mean just that – when I run out of an essential piece midafternoon on Sunday, I want to go get it… NOW. BTW, here’s my one piece of business advice: computerized inventory systems are expensive, but their worth their weight in gold. Get one. Bar codes work really well for keeping track of inventory.
Structure kits beyond the ubiquitous Atlas and Model Power. Throw in some Walthers, Rix, DPM, Bar Mills, etc.
Low prices. It sounds flippant, but I’m serious. I can find 25-50% off on the internet. I’m not saying you have to go that low, but if you’re asking
CTValleyRR…Wow! Brilliant! Each and every point. If I were opening a train store, I’d print this out and make it the foundation of my business philosophy.
This is a great post by CTValley. It’s frustrating to me to go into a hobby shop and be greeted by racks of DCC, latest $$$$ locomotives (one each BTW), and big @$$$ RTR equipment, yet zero, zip, zilch, nada basic supplies like glue, paint, wood, styrene. If I can’t get a couple dollar bottle of styrene cement, I’m probably not even going to look at the$500 DCC system. Likewise with locomotives, rolling stock, etc. You need to have some low price basic equipment in stock – there are some core standards that apply to each era and you need those core standards. Every location is different in what people look for. Have the basics for your location and a few exotics.
Hey, did we get played by ryzormachine perhaps? I see no further response from him regarding this (potentially life-changing) topic. It’s possible he’s being honest about wanting to open a Hobby Shop, but OTOH he has only 5 posts, and most of them nearly 2 years ago concerning UP equipment. I have no desire to search other boards to see if he posted there, but - well, it’s the internet, so even if we got took - no harm done, we all got to flap our gums fingers and provide free advice. [:P]
Hey, maybe David Popp or Cody Grivno can summarize all these posts and edit them down into a future “StepByStep” column “Opening A New Full Service Hobby Store” - “Step 1: Check the competition - the first step is to realize that if 4 longstanding Hobby shops of different types and calibers have all shut down in your declining town over the past year, you might be embarking down the wrong path…”
Up to the second inventory control. If someone buys that last Turnout, I want it showing sold out on your website as soon as he is out the door with it. I have been burned twice by a hobby store in Vancouver. The Item showed in stock so I drove an hour and a half only to have it nowhere to be found. I rarely shop there anymore.
I did find a place that has a system that is perfect. I buy it and as soon as they scan it for invoicing, it shows sold out on their website. Guess where I shop?
I also am on their computer so if I see something on the website that has been hanging around the shop for a while I email them with an offer. My email is held on file and more often than not I get a call down the road to pick it up.
We probably did get hooked in, but it’s been a really good discussion anyway I think!
…if 4 longstanding Hobby shops of different types and calibers have all shut down in your declining town over the past year, you might be embarking down the wrong path…"
Ha! Ha!..ignoring closures because you’re a bigger fool, is similar to another type of faulty reasoning in my business…“Hey, I should open an art gallery in xyz area, they’re aren’t any there!” In about six months you find out WHY they’re aren’t any there! Yikes.
I realize that. I admire the courage of my (very successful) LHS for putting all the stuff out where customers can see it. They are taking a tremendous risk by doing so.
OTOH, I don’t like feeling obligated to buy something because I asked someone to take it out of a case to look at it.
As I said, if I have to ask to see something in a showcase, I most likely won’t, and I won’t buy it either.
AltonFan, I never feel that way. Besides if I’m a store owner and you want to look at say a 500 dollar loco do you really think I’m going to just hand it to you? Say your the “ALL THUMBS” model railroader and you drop it or break off a fine detail piece off of it? What then? LOL, items that are delicate or are easy to steal are locked up. If you feel so hard done by because you have to ask to “LOOK” at something then you probably aren’t going to buy it anyways. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a hobby shop that didn’t have a locked cabinet to display stuff.
Does not matter to me whether it’s in a closed cabinet or not really…if it is at a good price I’d buy it…
Think it’s all relative anyways…
I go to one store that has a combination of closed/open shelving…the stock is where it is depending on whether it is more harder to procure, or not…
If it is in a closed cabinet…I’just assume that I will have to ask the store clerk to get it out so I can examine it closer…I’ve never had anyone being paranoid to do that…
Hmmm – after reading through all of the suggestions of what should be stocked in a hobby shop, it seems that the OP is going to need a warehouse sized building larger than what Walthers or Horizon Hobbies have, and an original investment in inventory of over $1 million.
Unless he already has a warehouse, rent in any desirable location is going to be a killer. We have had two local hobby shops come and go here over the years because the building owners (based in California) quadrupled the rent. The buildings are now sitting empty because no one can afford them.
I’ve said my “business analyst” piece, and now I’ll say my Model railroader piece…
First off, I suspect the OP - apparently having disappeared - is playing with us. Assuming he is not, I have to say I agree with most all the previous posters stated. May I add and/or emphasize…
I have two LHS nearby. I quit going to one for various reasons, even though he has a huge store of stuff - much of it OOP. My reasons for not going back are:
It is a major ordeal to check out, either because the sole proprietor/employee is “busy” and because his homemade inventory system is more manual than computerized. Ideally, you can check out a customer quickly - if he is so inclined, and waiting should be minimal.
While I always pay cash, he does not accept credit cards. Yes, I know they take a percentage, but it surely has to affect sales to a much greater extent.
When you walk in the store, you are greeted with a stack of “stuff” that hasn’t been put away. I’m talking of newly arrived stock, some having sat on the floor for weeks. And when I say “stack”, I mean a pile about 5x5 feet by 3 or 4 feet high! While your store doesn’t need to be a super organized place of business, it just shouldn’t look like a pile of trash.
Whether you sell only trains, or also planes/cars/boats, make sure the folks selling them know about the products. The other LHS in my area has done this quite well, and it sure helps getting folks to come back.
Oh, one more piece of business advice… As an area retail marketing manager of a major oil company told me, the biggest problem they have with company owned service stations is hiring honest employees. No, stealing gasoline is not the problem, its stealing drinks and candy and other high profit stuff in the stores. So if you are hiring folks to man your counters, keep this in mind.
There have been a lot of good suggestions here, I am not going to rehash them.
I was a banker for 17 years, walked away to open a hobby shop, now I am in education.
Do not neglect your financial side. As a loan officer, these are areas that were often neglected by start up businesses.
Keep your books current. That means balance sheet, income statement and cash flow statement. Keep track of your inventory so you can track your inventory turns; the higher the number, the better.
Open a savings account and make a separate deposit for your sales tax receipts. You do not want to run afoul of your state taxing entity. Sales tax money does not belong to you, it belongs to the state, so don’t use it.
Plan your inventory for ad valorem taxes/personal property taxes, if your county requires them. Have a big sale before the rendition goes to the county to reduce what you report. Make periodic deposits into your savings account so you can pay this tax when due.
If you pay yourself and your employees; pay your payroll taxes on time. File your payroll reports on time. The IRS will make your life miserable if you do not; they are big on garnishing your checking account for back taxes.
If you don’t have these financial skills; pay an accountant or a CPA to provide them. It is the best money you can spend.
Have a plan that you can implement if you are not making your sales targets / profitablity targets. If it is not working, fix it. If it can’t be fixed, don’t throw good money after bad.
In today’s retail environment, it takes a lot of sales at a 20%/25% margin to cover overhead, salaries, debt service, and even profit. Is there a big enough market to generate those sales? Adding internet and mail order is a great way to increase sales, but it also generates a lot of overhead. It takes time and expertise to maintain a web presence; and
Hey, all. Thanks for the compliments about my earlier post. I really did take a couple of minutes and think about what really torques me about the 4 stores within an hour’s drive that I patronize regularly.
I don’t think we got “taken” by anyone. At least I didn’t. It’s a discussion forum, and we’re talking about what makes a good LHS. If someone’s using it for market research, well, if we help to improve the quality of a local merchant, then that’s a good thing. We’re probably not a very good focus group for a market study, because we all spend money on trains. The potential clientele of an LHS is going to have a much wider variety of needs / interests. As I said in my earlier post, if the OP is a starry-eyed model railroader who’s going to open a shop no matter what, I can’t possibly help him.
I see the same thing around here in a local mall. The mall management rents kiosks to young kids with businesses. It’s amazing to me how many people open kiosks selling cell phones, even though both Cingular and Verizon have permanent store fronts in the mall. What are these guys thinking for a business plan? The generally last about 6 months. And you know what? Nothing is more annoying to me than walking through the mall, trying to get to where I want to go, only to be accosted by 10 people hawking their product.
The display case issue is an interesting one. I know all about retail theft (the store where I worked had a serious problem – we even pretty much knew who was doing it, and still couldn’t catch them for months). It’s also annoying to have to find a clerk when you want something. I think the best way I’ve seen it handled is a local guy who has the trains all unpacked and displayed on pieces of flex track, with the manufacturers name, model info, and price printed on a tag on the shelf nearby. True, you don’t get the “heft” of the model, but you can clearly see the detail. T
Hey everyone, sorry for the extremely tardy reply back. I assure all of you that I have read each post and I do intend to go through with the shop. All your suggestions and comments are very helpful and will be taken into consideration. Even the comment about kissing my money good bye : ) I do have a mentor who has experience owning his own business. He is also my future business partner so I have that side covered. Still I do not mind the advice from current and previous business owners.
Like a lot of you I have been into the hobby since I was young. I have collected mostly in HO but have also had my hand in G and N scale in the past. What I have personally experienced from shopping from local shops here in California is a lack of tolerance for the younger modelers. I have encountered grumpy salesman not willing to answer simple questions to potential enthusiast. I would like to make a place where the young and old can come in and discuss their hobby with knowledgeable staff without feeling uncomfortable or turned off to the whole experience.
Part of the store plans also include adding a large layout where enthusiast can run their trains for a small fee when the store is open. Club fees around the area are $25-40 per month to join. That fee is just to run your trains on their layout and participate in their meetings. I find that ridiculous to have to pay those steep fees especially when the hobby is already expensive enough. I understand membership dues to pay rent but come on. Can’t we make this hobby available to everyone?
Inventory is also something I am keeping in mind . In the past I have seen certain hobby shop owners refuse to carry items for their own personal reasons. I want to be the opposite of that. I want to carry what you want to buy. Not what I would buy from my self. On top of that I want to give the consumer what you want for a competitive price. I have been guilty of doing the same thing most of you have done. I go into a store, check out an it
