Tom’s Train Station, located in The Shops at South Hills on the south side of Raleigh, North Carolina is closing at the end of the month and the owners are retiring.
I stopped in there yesterday morning on the way home from seeing Blues guitarist Rory Block perform Wednesday up in Chapel Hill. All train items are 20% off, so I had to pick up on some trucks and couplers and other items. There is not a large selection of kits, but they have a very nice selection of scenery supplies if you have a need for that in the future. One more nice shop with friendly folks shutting down…
I see these posts all too often today. We have one left in the area & the owner is of retirement age. Model Train businesses are very hard to sell so really hoping he hangs on. There was a time when he was not pleased to see me only buy detail items, but now he seems happy for me to help him get rid of them.
Over the years, I have seen lots of LHS’s close for one reason or the other. Most were underfunded or had poor mgmt/business practices. In the Mpls/St Paul area, it seems that we have had ‘waves’ LHS over the years. They seem to come and go. I seems like we had lots of LHS,s in the late 60’s. Then again in the 80’s, and by the new mellenium we were down to 2 or 3 good model railroad stores. Long gone are Gagers, Woodcraft, Rings, Mac’s, Lightfoots, Division Point, Scale Model Replicas, The ‘N’ Shop, Choo Choo Charlies, or Team Track Hobbies. Hub Hobbies seem to get out of the train market, and we were left with Scale Model Supplies, Beckers, and Choo Choo Bob’s.
When I moved from the Twin Cities to Rochester, we had two LHS’s in Rochester - Both are gone, and there is a new LHS, but it really caters to R/C stuff.
The current small business financial structure and on-line shopping has really dug into this ‘niche’ market, and I do not see any hope of the ‘Saturday Morning Crowd’ hanging around the LHS like in the past.
The Stamping/Scrapbook business has cratered in Rochester over the past couple of years. Not a lot of ‘Scrapbook’ stores left. Most of the supplies are at Hobby Lobby/Michaels/Walmart. And the manufacturers have consolidated or dried up as well. This is what I am seeing as my ‘better half’ laments her crafting options.
After many years standing behind a counter I too would close shop and retire.I understand that…I can understand a shop closing due to ill health or ever increasing rent.
But, suicide by owner is another matter.
I never will understand why a owner curses the internet while he stands idly by and watches his shop slowly die simply because he clings to the old ways.
I remember going into my favourite hobby shop at age ten to buy train related stuff and looking up at the gas powered model airplanes hanging from the ceiling. I was soon into line controlled model planes and five years later built my first R/C plane in anticipation of getting my drivers license that would allow me to drive to the R/C airfield. I had many enjoyable years flying R/C planes. I often wonder if I would have ever discovered them if not for the local hobbyshop.
Recently one of the better train stores near Vancouver had moved to a new shop many times larger than the old one. I phoned to see if they had something I needed and was told they closed that store as well and are only doing online sales. I asked if I could pick up at their warehouse and they said no, it is strickly mail order. They are the nicest people to deal with but I wish I could pick up from them. I do this with PWRS who also let me poke around the warehouse. I have heard that the store that switched to online only is doing very well in that business.
I never have a problem with change and that includes the loss of hobbyshops. As long as I can get what I need somewhere I am happy.
Unfortunately, the days of finding an old hobby shop with old as well as new stuff are mostly over. As owners retire or die, the store justs fades away. The only new hobby store I’ve seen any where near me is a small general hobby store that seems to cater more to the military/airplane guys than train guys. And that’s the only new store I’ve seen in the last ten years or more. In the meantime, several trains only stores have closed.
Train shows have replaced the LHS for me. They are a place where you can go and look at stuff that is old as well as new. Sometimes I buy, sometimes not. I also order online, but that’s not as much fun as seeing the stuff. I enjoy looking at all of it, even if it’s other scales or eras that I have no intention of buying.