A little twist on the common topic of the demise of the local hobby shop. After reading the online retailer thread, I’ve concluded that there are a number of hobby shops that have OPENED for business (online) at the same time so many others (brick and mortar) have closed.
So does it really matter what form the hobby shop takes as long as hobbiests can get what they want?
Isn’t it wonderful that so many of these new businesses are thriving and making a living for themselves and their families?
Perhaps this is an opportunity to spin the topic to a more positive view.
So far it has worked for me better to have some good online shops vs. LHS’s, the latter which more often than not, had fewer choices and charged higher prices. I’m good with the positive spin.
I buy 95% online, I’m not concerned about “needing to hold xyz in my hands” before purchasing, as I only purchase from store with a favorable return policy.
This simply supports something I said on a thread here many months ago. I’ve seen the trend for quite some time working in large scale online retail. As with so many other things in our world, conditions and circumstances around our hobby and with the hobby itself are changing. It’s not only the LHS’s disappearing, but also the little local hardware stores, auto parts, local gun shops, the list goes on…all slowly giving way to the big online retailers. Can’t say that I like the changes…tactile contact with a possible puchase has always been important to me…but I realize and understand the changes.
I like MB Klein…especially. A great supplier who employs nearly 80 people and appears to be thriving.
Yes, I’ve probably spent more buying online and at shows rather than at my LHS. The sad part about losing the LHS’ is that they are the ones to put the merchandise front and center for new people to see and get hooked on, the topic of another recent thread on getting new people into the hobby. A train running laps in a shop window attracts a lot of eyes from young and old.
Brick and Mortar LHS do one big thing that online “hobby shops” can’t, and never will do. LHS shows people available products, and some have a layout in the store. I am sure that LHS are in the top 3 reasons people get into model railroading.
You have to search for online “hobby shops,” and when you do “find” one, you usually have to know what you want to easily navigate the website. It is not easy to “just look” in an online hobby shop. In a brick and mortar LHS people can easily go in and look. I think a LHS is a lot more impressive than an online hobby shop. I would much rather go to a brick and mortar hobby shop. Plus, no shipping cost, and you get what you want immediately (if in stock). But online “hobby shops” also have items out of stock, and yes it is cheaper, but what about shipping cost?
The only reason an online “hobby shop” is good is if you want something specific or you don’t have an LHS.
There are “brick and Mortar” hobby shops that sell online that we can buy from. Caboose, Trainmaster, First Hobby, all have stores full of trains. I seriously doubt that any of the hobby online dot coms that DON’T have a storefront actually have a warehouse full of trains, they just convey the same info from Walthers and Horizon and when you order it from them, they order it for you and re-ship it to you (sometimes in the same box).
After I read the initial post, I was thinking about my reply when I read this one.
Richard, you said it best.
With the demise of the LHS, I miss the oportunity to look, see, and feel stuff. It was what convinced me to enter the hobby. How else are you going to get motivated to start out as a model railroader?
I moved away from a large metropolitan area in 1978. I have been involved in some type of hobby shop type of hobby my whole life and with the move away from the big city, I also moved away from access to any hobby shops. Therefore, I have been a mail order/online shopper for 36 years. It works, you need to keep lists so when you finally decide it’s time to order stuff, you order all you need. There is no serendipity shopping, no walking into a store, seeing something you like and purchasing it.
Still, when I do visit areas that have hobby shops I will make a bee line to get to one, as I find going to them to be a blast! I do believe they are going away and I will sorely miss them. In fact, I have to go to Fargo ND today to see the VA Clinic there and will go to at least one hobby shop, while there!
After all the time I have spent not having access to a hobby shops, if one where in my area, I would do all I could to support them, because I feel the LHS is very worth while having around!
Some of the better on line shops started life as a mail order shop and even advertised in MR and other modeling magazines so,these shops revolved with the changing times.
If there was a hobby shop in town he would get 90% of my business but,as it is the closest is a 50 mile round trip…
Don’t forget the younger generation are a totally differen’t bird than us. They do everything with their “precious” smart phones and laptops - mostly online including shopping. There have been some reports on how business are making large scale changes to reach these people to market and sell them products. They don’t need to be there in person to look, see and feel stuff. They do things differently that we do, so the demise of B&M stores doesn’t bother them like it does the older generation. We sound like bunch of crotchity old men in rocking chairs on creaky porches in this forum - but in reality, times are a changin. Time to move on and stop living in the past.
Wasn’t this topic about online shopping rather than the demise of the LHS?
Some of the earliest online only places had no clue. If you go back about 15 years or so in MR there was one that used to have a full page ad every month. They dried up pretty quick. In those days, some people though just putting their stuff on the internet was a guaranteed success. Well, you still have to have product, and ship it out in a timely fashion, or people will start passing you by. And the other factor witht he speed of the internet - make too many mistakes and word gets out FAST and not only will you not have repeat customers, many of those potential new customers will be steered away.
Then you have the old style B&M stores that actually ‘got it’ - Klein, Caboose. Still have physical locations you can walk into and browse if you are in the area, but by going internet they ALSO expanded their territory.
The online-only ones that don;t actually have stock - pretty easy to tell. If their product list is essentially the Walthers catalog - they have nothing, they simply order and maybe even drop ship your stuff from Walthers/ The really good places like Klein’s have a true real-time inventory system on their web site, so no surprises when your box of stuff comes missing a few items and a note syaing “this is backordered”. This is probably the #1 reason I do most of my business with Klein. If their inventory says 0, and I really need something, I’ll check elsewhere. Sometimes you can find items for a slightly lower price, but factor in shipping, and also if buying more than one thing, item A might be cheaper elsewhere, but item B is cheaper at Klein. It usually averages out. I also tend to reference Klein’s price when looking at items on ebay - there have been planety of times I’ve passed up bidding because the price plus shipping on eBay is more than price plus shipping at Klein.
While I will agree that MB Kleins certainly is one of the best online venders, they still do have a short-coming - sometimes they don’t get enough of a popular product and buyers can be out in the cold if they rely on them. They do have a feature that aids buyers - the advanced notification system - to let you know when your product of interest is in-stock. The last time I tried to use it, it failed completely and I missed out on an important item. Others have commented that notification system failed for them too. Here is the rub, they don’t take pre-orders so if they don’t order enough - customers loose out like I did. Will I keep using MB Kleins? And while they are one of the better online dealers, they still could improve things.
Only reason that doesn;t bother me is I have yet to buy anything on pre-order. Yet I own several each of items that were sold out within days of release, mainly because of preorders and only ver few extras ever being made. As I mentioned in anotehr thread, so many of the things I have, I got from eBay - and a few months after the latest and greated “limited run, preorder now to get one” item sells out, suddenly they are all over eBay. Be patient and you can get them for a good discount on the original price, too. For example, I got a long sold out Atlas Gold Series Trainmaster for under $100. That’s less than the MSRP for the Silver series version. Picked up a sound version of the original PCM (not the later BLI) Reading T-1 for the price of the non-sound ones, too. Even my first one, I didn;t preorder or reserve - a local dealer, who has a table at mst of the train shows around here, including Timonium, got them in and let me know.
I have a local hobby shop, but I don’t visit it, because nothing is restocked, everything is list price, and the selection is meager. It’s also given a lot of its space to other hobbies, mainly R/C and rockets.
If I didn’t buy from online and ebay, I couldn’t afford this hobby at all.
I’d just like to add that knowing a business has been in business for 20+ years is not a draw for me either. All that tells me is that there is a lot of operating overhead they may or may not have accumulated, and that their business model is possibly outdated.
Rise and fall of local hobby shop from retailer list in Model Railroader
Year number of shops
Sep 1938 14 first list
Dec 1938 15
Dec 1939 43
Dec 1940 60
Dec 1945 98
Dec 1950 277
Dec 1955 292
Dec 1960 248
Dec 1965 288
Dec 1970 330
Dec 1975 532
Dec 1980 582
Dec 1985 622
Dec 1990 706
Dec 1995 590
Dec 2000 496
Dec 2005 420
Dec 2010 278
Dec 2015 178
When I was a kid in the 1950-mid 60’s I think most kids were introduced to trains by Christmas displays in Department Stores and their Christmas toy catalogs…
Just a note, MB Klien has lowered their shipping cost by shipping USPS if requested, for those of us that plan ahead, the savings are great and will have me going there more.