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I have noticed that many hobby store do not carry OGR. Many don't carry any magazines at all. My local hobby shop carries multiple train hobby magazines as well as other train publications. Regular customers come in and browse the selection weekly. They tend to find something else while they are in the store as well. Hey trains stores you're missing sales!

BEHINDSIGNScott Smith

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Last edited by scott.smith
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Scott....this has been discussed although in a little different light and focus.  I agree that I think shops that don't have OGR or other related magazines are missing out BUT shop owners tell me that no one buys magazines anymore.  Our return rate is too high and in fact years ago we stopped supplying news stands because 70 to 80 percent of the magazines were not selling and were being returned for credit.  Between having to print all the extra copies and paying the freight only to have them returned and then incurring storage and recycling fees, we opted to stop news stand sales.  In addition, we were not seeing an increase in subscribers pulling out subscription cards and sending them in with payments.  All in all we were able to add over $20,000.00 to our bottom line by discontinuing news stands.  I have had long discussions with hobby shop owners on how to use the magazine as an upsell/bonus/extra value item by slipping in a FREE magazine with those customers that purchase a certain minimum however to no avail.

Last edited by OGR CEO-PUBLISHER
@scott.smith posted:

I have noticed that many hobby store do not carry OGR. Many don't carry any magazines at all. My local hobby shop carries multiple train hobby magazines as well as other train publications. Regular customers come in and browse the selection weekly. They tend to find something else while they are in the store as well. Hey trains stores you're missing sales!

BEHINDSIGNScott Smith

Maybe asking the shop owner would help, or at least provide you with an answer (which will probably be similar to Alan's).

Greeting cards are facing a similar fate as younger generations no longer send them via the USPS.  If they don't send a generic greeting, they may use an email style card.  They don't teach cursive writing in school anymore, and even on our money, the Treasurer of the US prints his name.  The loss of print media and reliance only on digital will lead to a further dumbing down of the population.  Interesting to also note, that a couple of recurring items I purchase, the companies are also involved re-forestation programs and the planting of trees, sort of assuring their continued supply of pulp.

Last edited by CALNNC
@scott.smith posted:

I have noticed that many hobby store do not carry OGR. Many don't carry any magazines at all. My local hobby shop carries multiple train hobby magazines as well as other train publications. Regular customers come in and browse the selection weekly. They tend to find something else while they are in the store as well. Hey trains stores you're missing sales!



shop owners tell me that no one buys magazines anymore.

Asked and answered.

Wait, you have a local hobby shop?

I went to Barnes and Noble tonight for some last minute gifts and bought a Train Magazine for myself.  They had maybe 5 or 6 offerings and I picked one because there were a few articles written by some of my train friends and acquaintances.

I understand I am in the minority, but I still like print media...holding a magazine and thumbing through the pages are my preferred method of reading.  Digital is good and easy to bookmark etc, but the nostalgia of the turned page gets me everytime.  I also prefer a hardback book over reading on a device also...

I always look forward to opening the mailbox and seeing my (one) subscribed train magazine every couple of months.   It so happens that the publishers have now made a statement that this will come to an end due to costs, printing, shipping and other human associated cooperative tasking! Oh well, I can always re read my collection but the mailbox thrill is gone!
Hanafords doesn’t have that  O scale mag, neither will anyone else I am sad to say.

I am with you Andy, there is great nostalgia in holding printed pages.

@brr posted:

When I had a local hobby store, they didn't sell the magazines because the ads in the mags offered items cheaper than the store. Felt they were advertising for their competitors.

I was going to say the same thing about my old LHS. I didn't necessarily agree with him, but i could see his point. He just felt he was advertising for the big retailers, especially as  the internet took off. He was pretty good about carrying "how to" type publications, but not periodicals like OGR.

Another thing, have you noticed the price of magazines in the few places they are available? It's typical to see them for $10 per issue.  I think I would only consider buying one of I was going for  a long plane flight and couldn't download a digital edition of any other magazine or movie onto my tablet

@brr posted:

When I had a local hobby store, they didn't sell the magazines because the ads in the mags offered items cheaper than the store. Felt they were advertising for their competitors.

I have heard that one too however smart hobby stores add value in other ways.  A FREE magazine given during a purchase, a coupon for the next purchase, a FREE video, and other incentives can build a loyal customer base even if one's pricing is a little more.  Just about any hobby shop can even have special runs made that can bring good income.  Being creative and thinking out of the box can help make the smaller shops successful.

@Leroof posted:

Due to the fact there are very few train stores here in Maine, particularly mid coastal area, I  have been delighted to find MR and others regularly displayed in the supermarket (Hanafords)  I use! I have also seen they have been regularly sold out in a matter of days.
Btw, Norm  has good reading materials in his train store.

Not hard to sell out when only 3 or 4 copies are available.  I can tell you that locally even most of the Kalmbach publications are no longer available.  Sort of depends on what part of the country....

@Leroof posted:

I always look forward to opening the mailbox and seeing my (one) subscribed train magazine every couple of months.   It so happens that the publishers have now made a statement that this will come to an end due to costs, printing, shipping and other human associated cooperative tasking! Oh well, I can always re read my collection but the mailbox thrill is gone!
Hanafords doesn’t have that  O scale mag, neither will anyone else I am sad to say.

I am with you Andy, there is great nostalgia in holding printed pages.

I don't see you in our subscriber base so why not subscribe to OGR and keep that mailbox thrill going?  You have already mentioned purchasing MR and sounds like you are referring to O Scale Trains magazine above but we need subscribers like they do....give us a try!

As committed fan of print who is grudgingly embracing digital, when these issues come up, I always go back to a quote from the late Washington Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee. In an interview promoting his biography in the mid/late 90s (when the internet was just becoming widely available, but before wifi), Bradlee noted that the Internet would never take the place of the newspaper "because you can't take it to the head and you can't wrap fish in it. "

Well, he was half right…

Last edited by redrockbill

I'm a subscriber to OGR but years ago I bought it at Woodmans Grocery Store. They carried many railroading magazines until this year. The only one left is TRP or Trains & Railroads Of The Past which comes out quarterly. It's fantastic and I'm glad it still available. I still love reading a paper magazine which is why I subscribe to OGR, but I don't save them forever. That's where the digital subscription of OGR comes in handy as you can see every issue ever published. Just my opinion but we get a lot of free information from this forum which is why I pay the measly $12.00 a year to be a supporting member.           

                               I hope everyone has a great Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate.

                                                                               Dave Rippinger

Last edited by OGR CEO-PUBLISHER

I subscribe to both print and digital.  Why?  Because I like paging through the magazines and getting that magazine in the mailbox.  I know it sounds odd, but I forget about my digital access.  Whereas, that magazine sits out, looking at me whenever I'm relaxing on my recliner, reminding me there's great stories and facts to be read and allows me to unwind right there in front of me.  Digital has a separate purpose, as it allows me to look back on issues easily, has extra photos and content and I access them easily while I travel.  I've got stacks of magazines. though, and I seldom look back on them.

Speaking of hobby shops giving away magazines as a way to promote their stores and the hobby, I'm surprised mail order hobby shops don't do this or even give away pens or magnets or something to promote themselves because they can't offer that in-person LHS experience through the mail.  I've received some of these items over the years from distant hobby shops, like Sidetrack Hobbies -- and it makes an impression.

Mike

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I'm a subscriber to OGR but years ago I bought it at Woodmans Grocery Store. They carried many railroading magazines until this year. The only one left is TRP or Trains & Railroads Of The Past which comes out quarterly. It's fantastic and I'm glad it still available. I still love reading a paper magazine which is why I subscribe to OGR, but I don't save them forever. That's where the digital subscription of OGR comes in handy as you can see every issue ever published. Just my opinion but we get a lot of free information from this forum which is why I pay the measly $12.00 a year to be a supporting member.           

                               I hope everyone has a great Christmas, Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate.

                                                                               Dave Rippinger

TRP is my favorite magazine. I have a reason to go to Books a Million 4 times a year. Disturbing to find that 4th QTR 2023 has gone up 4 dollars from the previous issue. Decided to back away.

@Dave Ripp. posted:

I'm a subscriber to OGR but years ago I bought it at Woodmans Grocery Store. They carried many railroading magazines until this year. The only one left is TRP or Trains & Railroads Of The Past which comes out quarterly.

                                                                               Dave Rippinger

Unfortunately, Woodman’s Food Market, a 19-store chain in Wisconsin and Illinois, is a place to observe the demise in magazine publishing. The mega-sized format store chain has carried a lot of specialty titles, discounted, that I used to enjoy perusing, but little by little they are disappearing.

I used to pick up OGR there frequently.

What's a local hobby shop?

There are so many places online to get immediate information on anything you are interested in including new products that the notion you'd wait for a bi-monthly print magazine to come out seems like still using a pay phone to call home. I don't even think it's about print so much as it is people want instant access to information whether it is for buying product or working on projects. It's just too easy to find what you want when you want it for monthly or bi-monthly magazines to be the source they once were.

That said, I did renew my digital subscription in support of the forum....which gives me most of what I want when I want it.

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