Menards Purchases

Joe,

  At  Menards stores here in Ohio, train items are only out for the holidays and maybe a few months after, I was there this weekend and the train shelves are always replaced with pool supplies at least that's been my experience.  We are doing some work on our deck, so I have been mailing in their rebate forms like crazy to use for train purchases when it's that time of year again...

Jeff

Here in Racine WI they move the train stuff “upstairs” for the “off season”. Ask an employee, other stores might do the same thing...

The stores seem hot and cold when it comes to the train stock, but that's over just a few visits. I would just order online. EvilBay has resellers, but at vastly inflated prices from Menards retail - I suppose they're trying to cash in on out-of-stock demand...who knows.

If you live in an area where no Menards exist, you can still pay for deliveries to your house......But all the 11% can only be redeemed in store. It kinda makes me feel a double hit since I cannot use discount coupon on line and I have no ship to store option.  BUT it is great they offer the product and give people the opportunity to experience trains in something other than n scale

i order ship to home. no problems whatsoever.

Order on line.

Off season it goes upstairs, selection is very thin and regular price.  I always order online and right now have it shipped to home , very quick timeliness 3-4 days.  I wish the rebate could be used online though.

I have seen items upstairs at Ralston, Bellevue, and Council Bluffs in the Omaha area.

I’ve ordered online a few times and have gotten a couple of items damaged. One was obvious that the packager just threw the item in the oversized shipping box, put a token amount of kraft paper in it that was supposed to secure it. There were parts everywhere when I opened it.   For that reason I buy in the store. 

Steve

Every Menards I've been to in Ohio and Indiana has train stuff up in the mezzanine after the holidays. As stated above, it's just the extras but I picked up some loose flatcars for $7.99 before rebate. I was able to get eight Fastrack to 3 rail transitions between 2 local stores.

My main store even has an elevator and some stores have escalators.

I ordered a case of 30" straights and picked it up in-store with free shipping and the rebate.

Some items (like Lionel starter sets) are only available shipped to your home as they are sent from outside Menards system.

Menards is my LHS as they are rare in my area.

Our local Menards displays the train stuff from late Oct to about mid Jan. Any leftover stock is moved to the mezz until the next train season. I usually order online and have the product shipped to the store which is about a mile from my house. I will be placing an order this week for the two flats with tractor / trailer.

Menards stocks the seasonal toy department with trains in October, and during the two months leading up until Christmas may also add new releases to the shelves.

After that, Menards does not add new releases to the store shelves. That’s because Menards is not trying to be a train hobby shop. It’s a simple seasonal sales strategy.

Now, in my fully two-floor store with shopping cart escalators and elevators, space isn’t an issue, so Menards moves the leftover train stock to a high shelf along the back wall of the seasonal department. For the past two years, there has always been remnants of train stock there to purchase, but it is indeed old stock. Again, no new stock is added until the next October.

Never had a problem buying on-line.

Also, congrats to Menards and Ryan Blaney for the exciting win at Talladega yesterday.

I order online and ship to my house.

Bryce

Given the limited geographic reach of Menards brick & mortar stores, I assume that most train buyers are from out of state and order on line.

@JimmyJohns posted:

I ordered a case of 30" straights and picked it up in-store with free shipping and the rebate.

 

Just curious. Did you have to deal with the special order folks in back of the store when you picked this up? Did you have any problems? I’ve had five problems from four different interactions - not train related - with Menards special order folks. I’m done with them for work related purchases, but now I have tons of rebate money to blow, maybe on trains, but I’d rather avoid special order headaches.

@Sam Jumper posted:

Just curious. Did you have to deal with the special order folks in back of the store when you picked this up? Did you have any problems? I’ve had five problems from four different interactions - not train related - with Menards special order folks. I’m done with them for work related purchases, but now I have tons of rebate money to blow, maybe on trains, but I’d rather avoid special order headaches.

Yes, I ordered through the app then picked up at the special order desk. The clerk verified the order from my phone and brought it right up. He did try to guess (incorrectly) what it was though. S/O pickup has been great for me.

I’d love to order some track.  I have about $400 in in store credit and rebates.  Is there any way to convert the credits to something I can use to pay online??

@chinatrain99 posted:

I’d love to order some track.  I have about $400 in in store credit and rebates.  Is there any way to convert the credits to something I can use to pay online??

Nope, that's why I wait until they have a freebee with the product, the rebates are useless to anyone that doesn't have a store nearby.

I pay no attention to the rebates like John said their useless you have a store close by. I ordered a case of 0-72 curves and 6 30” straights about 3 weeks ago but of course there were no freebies when I ordered! 🙄

I've done ship-to-store and purchase in-store.  

Even though I have several Menards relatively nearby,  I generally wait until a freebie comes up and order ship-to-store.  11% is nice enough, but some of the free building deals they have are ridiculous.  I bought a Die-Cast (HO) Materials Handler and got a building that was worth more than the die-cast!

If you have multiple Menards around, it's worth checking store inventory online as you may be able to pick it up in person.  As has been said, during the rest of the year they generally have an area on the second floor (with other off-season merchandise) where all the unsold train stuff goes.  However, it's well organized and price-tagged just like any other aisle and you just have to walk up there.