In the last couple of years, which, where, and how many model train hobby stores, brick-n-mortar and/or on-line, have gone out of business?
FrankM.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
A question better addressed to one of these organizations:
National Retail Hobby Stores Association
Hobby Manufacturer's Association
or:
Pete
Thank you, Pete, for those resources, of which I was unaware. However, I felt a conversation along these lines might be interesting and informative as well. Perhaps.
FrankM.
Not to minimize the closing of businesses, but the brick-and-mortar closings affect only those nearby-ish. A closing in Detroit, for example, unless it was a large mail-order shop, would affect me not at all - I'm a thousand miles away and never heard of the place, probably.
Also, like we customers, the owners are getting older, and just want to, or need to, retire. The business may still be profitable (see "Weaver"), but too much the niche enterprise for most people, and the kids have long since made their own way(s) in the world.
None of this is profound or original, but it can put some of these "deaths" in a little more perspective.
Moonson posted:In the last couple of years, which, where, & how many model train stores, brick-n-mortar and/or on-line, have gone out of business? FrankM.
Hi Frank: you may get a better response & generate a conversation if you specify "model train stores" in the subject line.... Just a suggestion. I guess there have been quite a few, maybe not just in the last two years, but in the last 10, for sure. I used to mailorder Lionel & K-Line from "Train Express" in Indianapolis. They seemed to nosedive about the time K-Line went under. I guess they depended on their K-line relationship for a lot of their business.
Moonson posted:. . . I felt a conversation along these lines might be interesting and informative as well. Perhaps.
FrankM.
I figger it'll be like those "What Will Be In The 20XX Signature Catalog?" Rampant guessing and wild speculation. I hope someone who actually is knowledgeable will prove me wrong.
Pete
Even if you are hundreds or thousands of miles away each closing has an impact. Fewer stores leads to fewer distributors or higher prices from the distributors to those remaining stores. Higher acquisition costs means either tighter margins or higher prices to the remaining customers. Fewer customers means another closing and the cycle continues. Eventually there will be a steady state or the last shop closing will have to turn out the lights.
NJCJOE posted:
Thanks, NJCJOE. Pertinent link, that's for sure! I can see that I have some catching-up to do on my reading, here.
FrankM.
RadioRon posted:Moonson posted:In the last couple of years, which, where, & how many model train stores, brick-n-mortar and/or on-line, have gone out of business? FrankM.
Hi Frank: you may get a better response & generate a conversation if you specify "model train stores" in the subject line.... Just a suggestion.
Thank you, RadioRon. As you can now see, I made the change according to your suggestion.
Frank
I have seen many closings posted here on the forum. None of which I was familiar with as they were not in my area so I can't really name any of them form memory.
On brighter note here, my LHS (that is in my area) just opened in 2010 and they seem to be doing fairly well. There is one other O gauge train store in the area that has been around for many years. It is now under new ownership as the original owner retired and sold to someone else. They have kept the store going, but they don't have nearly as much stocked in the store as the LHS that I go to.
There have been other train stores here over the years that have come and gone. The ones we have now are not large dealers like all you lucky folks in the East have, but they are train stores, they are still open and I am happy they are here.
Reno Rails in Reno, NV closed a few years ago. I used to spend only a couple hundred bucks a year in the shop to support a local hobby businesses and that was only because it was here before I really started buying hobby rail stuff. I bought my sons first starter set there. Yes I could have paid a fair bit less online but I paid more to help keep the lights on. I wish it were still there. The owner passed away a few years before the closing and his wife took over for the short time before finally shuttering. I can't blame her, running a niche hobby shop would be very difficult to justify if one's heart wasn't into it.
I am a die hard model airplane hobby guy and have been since single digits in age (over 35 years). I have spent sometimes on order of 20-40 percent more to order and buy locally from the hobby shops I felt were worth keeping, since I really value the idea of service and convenience of local hobby shops (they weren't always 40 percent more. Best case scenario they could match price and shipping before tax, but sometimes they were quite a bit more...) They have all closed down now, however, especially after the slump that started in 2008. It was one after the other, around here.
In the hobby business, especially model airplanes but I see it in trains too... the name of the game seems to be price first via internet marketing and on line ordering; volume second (for selection and availability) and service... absolute last priority. some places do all three, and I value those. I value service first but I'm in the minority. Some do service so badly it's amazing they stay in business but what seems to play well these days is price to the penny.
Many train and hobby stores in my area (South Jersey) have disappeared over the last 10 years or so, even a chain of hobby shops shut down. There really aren't too many left. We've also lost a lot of train shows in this area. I've recently started travelling to Pennsylvania to Nicholas Smith for most of my purchases. I love the place, but it is a long drive. I guess it saves me money, as I can no longer do the once a week lunch hour trip to the train store, so the impulse buys aren't happening anymore. I have to plan my purchases more, and the more I think, the less likely I am to buy. Probably better, but not as much fun.
I don't do much on line shopping. I just really enjoy shops and shows, it seems like more of an "event" for me.
