Luddite Hobbies: This place is usually run by somebody who still thinks it’s the 1930s. Often times they are The Grinch’s Hobby Shop too. They refuse to take checks or credit cards and still think “we can order anything out of the Walther’s catalog” is a major selling point. DCC? Sound? Nevah hoid of it.
-The Fanboy’s Hobby Shop: Very well stocked and a veritable treasure trove of modelling, assuming you model in the same scale, era, and or roadname the proprietor does.
-Tumbleweed Hobbies: The shop that’s never in the same location twice.
There is a shop here in Milwaukee where the floors evidently do double duty as the cat’s litter box. I take a deep breath, run in (fortunately the owner is always in a sour mood so there is no need for chit chat at the counter), try to find the item on the shelves (or on the floor which is often jammed with stuff), try not to step on any inventory, make my purchase (no discounts because that “interferes with my inventory control”) and leave, and only then breath normally. I own a cat but this place is awful.
Why do I go there? Because I can find stuff that has been out of production for years.
This is why some people are purchasing from Walthers online or eBay. No nasty high handed people to deal with. I do have to say- living near Baltimore gives me at least two excellent train shops to work with.
I have to laugh- some were referring with scorn to lower end products like Athearn etc. - for some of us that cannot spend a zillion dollars on a hobby, these lower priced alternatives are “where we live”.
There is also the phantom hobby shop. This is the shop that went out of business a few years ago. It was the only hobby shop within two hours of you. Now whenever you need something small, that costs more to ship then to buy, you are haunted by the spirit of the phantom hobby shop!
Can you tell that there is no hobby shop in my town?[:)]
Having spent some time in retail myself (though NOT in hobbies, but Music & Movies and general merchandise), I can appreciate some of the things that HZ said above. Outside of that rare case of someone who is independently wealthy and runs a train shop out of love of the hobby, hobby shop owners are trying to eke out a living just like the rest of us, and they have to make enough in sales to cover their rent (unless they own the building), utilities, advertising, insurance, and employees, just to hit the big ones. Granted, there are other rewards. but its a rare person who can stay at a job at which they don’t make a living.
This said, stocking policy and inventory management and accounting are subjects about which entire graduate level courses are taught. I’ll try to post a few general observations here without getting into too much detail – yes, I know it’s a complicated subject. Try not to nit-pick.
First of all, in order to make money, a store has to actually sell things. It sounds obvious, but it precludes a store stocking all kinds of specialty merchandise unless they have enough fast movers to cover the slow stuff. This is why most LHS’s are “Toy and Hobby”, and carry stuff like Thomas the Tank engine and Playmobil as well as model trains. Profit margin (how much profit you earn on each unit sold) is also a factor, and the reason a lot of people (especially the “old fashioned” types who don’t use computers and sophisticated accounting programs) don’t offer discounts. Most of us have heard of LIFO and FIFO inventory systems, but what about FISH (First In, Still Here)? There’s a lot of it out there. Once you’ve depreciated the inventory value to zero, you have nothing more to gain by holding it, and it’s just taking up shelf space (and maybe lowering the customers opinion of your store). Well-managed retailers recognize this and will do just about anyth
We had a shop near us that falls into the ‘Chain’ category. The place carried everything from doll houses to RC to Dungeons and Dragons figures to, yes, model trains. The retired gentlemen who worked in the train department were always very knowledgeable and helpful but they continually complained right along with the customers that ‘Corporate’ wouldn’t allow them to carry a wider line of model railroading items. Seems their hands were tied by out of state ownership that did not know or understand the local market. I had to practically beg them to order the Bachmann HO shay when it first came out (they finally received 3 units which sold out immediately). Sad to say, but not surprisingly, they are now out of business. Now my nearest LHS is over 100 miles away.
I can’t really put a name to them, but there’s the hobby shop that sets up at the local mall during “hobby weekend” & deal with all sorts of non-hobby type people
The problem is, they assume EVERYONE is like that. What I’m getting at is about 20 years ago, the above occurred at a local mall here. A buddy of mine & I went over to check things out. A month or so before, he had asked me a question about an old '50’s era Lionel loco. Although I’m not a Lionel fan or collector, I -did- know what he was talking about, as I had come across what he was asking about in a Lionel book that was at one time a part of the collection at the library where I work.
One booth had mostly railroad books, & had the very same book. I picked it up to show him what I had been telling him about, & suddenly the female owner of the booth said very sternly, “If you’re not buying, DON’T TOUCH!!!” Her attitude peeved me extremely, treating us like “mall kids”, even though at the time we were in our early 20’s (& had clean hands!) But I said nothing, & put the book back. But buddy went ballistic on her for several minutes! The gist of it was, “How are we supposed to know what we want if we can’t look at it or touch it, etc, etc!!!” & he ended his tirade with, pointing at me, “& let me tell you something else…that guy right there knows more about trains then you’ve ever known or ever will!” The lady was absolutely speechless. We left (I was hoping his loud rant wouldn’t attract security, fortunately it didn’t) But doggone it, I agreed with him 100%!!!
I never had no use for that type of proprietor. Some years later, I was reminded of the above incident when a commercial for the Yellow Pages was on TV. It was a toy store with tons of toys, but no customers. When a representative of the Yellow Pages came in to ask why he didn’t use the YP, his response was, "Well, if I did, I’d get customers…& they’d come in &…touch…my toys…I don’t LIKE…people coming in & touching my
The Professional Hobby Shop: This place is clean and well lit, the staff is knowlegeable and friendly, and the inventory is first rate! Not only do they have everything you need to get started in the hobby but they also have a wide selection of detail parts, scratch building supplies, structures, …just about anything you could possibly need. These establishments are first class but rare.
No Trains Hobby Shop: This place has automobile kits, RC kits, Military Kits, Airplane Kits, Ships galore but nothing for model railroaders!
Rolling Stock Only Shop: The place is full of rolling stock and engines, you need a car lettered for an obscure short line, this place will have it! To bad they have hardly any track, scenery supplies, structure kits, or all the other things you need to build a model railroad.
Sloppy Hobby: Poorly lit, dust all over the inventory, clutter everywhere, buckets in the aisles to collect rain water dripping through the ceiling, these shops would be great if they were not public health hazards.
The Grinch’s Hobby Shop: This establishment is run by a guy who hates people, especially children who are not allowed in his shop period! He hates customers who ask questions and don’t you dare ask to test run a locomotive before purchasing it! This establishment does most of its business by internet and mail order.
The Never Open Hobby Shop: This place may be located in a strip mall surrounded by stores with normal business hours but this shop is never found open. It does not matter what time you visit this place, be it 10 o’clock, noon, or 4 in the afternoon it will never be open. Rumor has it this place does most of its business by mail order leaving one to wonder why the proprietor is wasting his money renting retail space.
Appointment Only Hobbies: Very similar to the Never Open Hobby Shop, this place is always closed unless
In the past year we had a local OK train store here in New Jersy close up shop. Don’t ask me why he seemed to be doing a land office business but hey a sign of the times I guess. So like all model railroaders I go out in search of a new train store.I first find some clown just outside of Red Bank NJ on Rt.35 who is Mr. ebay and has nothing but easy track and doll house junk and a wall full of Lionel stuff. He’s one of the guys who under no circumstances give you a refund even if he junk is flawed he gives you store credit only!
So months go by and I finally made the pilgramige up to Dunellen NJ to “The Modle Railroad Shop” Man this place is train hevan. An obviously old shop with the quintesential old guys running the place but nicer more plesant more knowledgeable guys you would be hard pressed to find. Let me tell you this place aint big by no stretch of the imagination but they have it all. I saw out of issue Walthers Kits that I haven’t seen in years. The do repairs and installations, they have every book and magazine imaginable and the typical nice clientel that in my opinion is part of the train store experience. You can go in on any given day and swap ideas with guys or find a new way to do something or find an impossible piece that you’ve been looking for.
I’ve got an everything under the sun hobby shop right in my own town but I’ll drive the hour or so to get to my new train store. Glad to see there are some still out there left for us to go hide from the wife
In all fairness to the hobbyshop owners/employees being chastised here… while I’m sure that none of US would fall into this category, how about the 9 (or more) types of hobby shop customers??!? Having dealth with the public (but not in a hobby shop), I can tell you that some “customers” you are much better off without…
“Joe the smoker” thinks the sign on the door doesn’t apply to him.
“Foul mouth Frank” has no cares about his language.
“Bitching Bob” always finds something to complain about… and this increases dramatically when there are others in the store.
“Discount Dave” always complains loudly about prices.
“Helpful Hank” is always willing to tell everyone in the store where they can find something cheaper.
“Looking Larry” comes in just to see the newest release then orders from someone online.
“Fix it for me Fred” (related to Larry) wants YOU to fix something that he ordered online but it arrived broken.
“Babysitting Bill” always brings his unruly kids in & let’s them run wild with total disregard for the shop, it’s contents or other customers.
“Just gotta see it Jim” opens sealed boxes just to check the parts. If they don’t fit back in… that’s someone else’s problem.
“My way is better Mike” will contradict most anything you tell an inquiring customer.
“Late Lenny” shows up five minutes before closing time, s
A friend of mine recently told me about a train shop he visited in the Hagerstown, MD area that charges full list price or more for its merchandise and, get this, charges admission to customers if they want to see his operating layout in his backroom. Admission is $2.50 for adults and $0.50 for kids. Talk about doing everything possible to improve your public relations and encourage the hobby. I told him he could do much better on line than with this guy.
Oh heck yea. Hold up Harry. Stands at the counter bragging to the cashier about all his stuff while you stand ther waiting to get rung up. Constantly gives you a snide look to go away. Finally, pays for his magazine and leaves.
We’ve got one in Green Bay that I think is very good. They are strictly trains (Z, N, HO, G) and the shop is clean, well lit, and stocked quite well. They typically have things 10-20% off, and in August do customer appreciation days where there are deeper discounts. What I like most about this shop is their service. They are heavy into DCC and will do decoder installations, custom painting, you name it. They also hold free clinics every Saturday afternoon and Tuesday evenings that run the whole gammit (backdrop painting, benchwork, wiring, track laying, structure building, DCC, layout design, etc.) It has been an extremely helpful experience
Next to the Phantom Hobby Shop is the Ghost Hobby Shop. It closed years ago (Can’t tell when). Could be a long time buyer of a MR ad. Shows up in Atlas, MTL, never updated email lists of hobby shops. Lives on the Internet forever. Eventually becomes a post on the Trains.com Forum. What do you mean that Trost hobby shop closed.
Another type could be the Hobby Shop Museum. Since they never have a sale, don’t advertise, they rely on the few modelers in the area to stop by. Old timers that visit the old neighborhood may stop by on vacation.
How they stay in business is the owner lives in the upstairs apartment, no rent. The owner’s spouse or children may have other jobs. Family run business or pays near minimum wage for youngsters to do most of the heavy work. Bare wood floor, every item behind a glass counter, don’t touch. Could just have that rare train set from the 1960’s woth big bucks for a collector in the original box.
