New Menards building - Plumbing Supply

WOW......double WOW.......Menards is really thinking outside the box. Laser cut buildings, hand built at $70!

And then to show the folks behind the project and how its done!!!

Menards is becoming the Madison Hardware of this century.

I may or may not buy one.....I like building my own.....and I own a laser....but this is some great thinking from a retailer.

Yikes, I am running out of room on the layout. These are great!

Truly a nice model you can buy off the shelf. 

Looks like another great model from Menard's.

I have no clue what I'd do with that building, but I want one!

Their buildings seem to improve with each year.

 

Menard's ready-built structures are second to none! 

Mooney's Plumbing from Bar Mills.

Nice building, good detail.  Not sure I have a place for it on the layout, but it is nice.  

 

Reminds me (and probably others) of the Woodland Scenics built ups.  Only the paint looks too glossy (I've never seen a dog whose fur reflects light quite like that) but that is easy to take care of and I would touch up any built up anyway.

 

And not to be too much of a cynic but I wonder if the "artist" whose picture was quite obviously photo-shopped into a photo of a model train layout in the background isn't just another girl working in a typical Chinese factory - I won't call them sweatshops because they are good jobs by their standards and we really should not judge too harshly - they really do have an option for other jobs, or to go back to their family farm.  Anyway, photos of that table where they are all working looks an awful lot like what I saw when I visited a factory where they assembled 1/18 model cars - same setup and lighting, same type of clothing, etc.

From the Bar Mill website.  Advanced kit.  Click on the underlined phrase to link.  O-scale $155. 

 

This would make a great structure along a water front...!!

 

Alan

I ordered mine yesterday morning and wouldn't you know it, the Camaraderie Bar & Grill I ordered a few weeks ago showed up that afternoon.  

 

A big building day!

Menards has been putting out some really nice O Gauge buildings at a very competitive price.

Isn't it great when the top mamagement of a company are model railroaders?  Menards has really become a great asset to our hobby.  Not only are they offering good prices, but they are bringing out unique items too.

 

Art

How about a locomotive to go along with the great buildings

I wish I had room for it. Beautiful structure.

They might contract with a current manufacture and have an existing loco painted for them.....a private issue as they are called. 

But they seem to be more interested in items they can manufacture for themselves.....

plus a loco brings lots of baggage with it....warranty, service and returns that very few structures will have.   

Very nice building but I don't have any more space available. A great plug and play option with all the scenery around it. I may change my mind.

An example of when a corporation or person (John Menard-net worth > 6 billion) decides to enter a new market.  With unlimited funds available, it is easy to produce a reasonably priced product.

 

His magazine ads have weathered freight cars for $24.95.

 

Speculation on my part- if this foray into rolling stock and buildings turns out to be successful, would the next step be to go for the complete enchilada and purchase or start up a independent manufacture of trains and accessories priced at a much lower level than the current offerings?  In other words, buy the market.

 

 

Menard's has a licensing arrangement with Bar Mills to produce these built-up versions.  It's a win-win for both firms.  This new one is something of a "must have" for me.

If this is from Bar Mills, who produced the barn for them?  I don't see a barn on the Bar Mills website.

 

What I like about this building is that it can easily be transformed into something else.  It does have a look of a building that's on the water.  I could totally see a boat rental/bait shop type place with life jackets and paddles in the attached shed.

 

Does this look as nice as the ones on the Bar Mills website?  No, but they look pretty darn good for being mass-produced.  I think it's neat that they showed the workers actually painting them.  Nice touch.

 

I am just glad that with the two Woodland Scenics buildings and Mernard's barn, we have an industrial building this year as those are my favorite.  And I can't help but drool over the rest of the buildings on the Bar Mills site to guess what we might look forward to next year!

 

For those of us who lack any sort of artistic talent, these pre-built buildings sure are nice.

Agreed.

 

That's very good news....Not that this would be the first structure copied ever....but nice to know it's an agreed upon arrangement.  Thanks for that info

I ordered (pre-order) one and they immediately charged my credit card with the full amount. I don't pay for pre-orders, so I cancelled the item. I'll just wait to buy the building when it is in stock or when they have it at the store - even if it is $10 more.

 

It really surprised me that Menard's would charge before shipping. Most (all) vendors with with whom I have dealt, large or small, have not charged my credit card until the purchased merchandise has been shipped.

 

Alex

Don't know who produced the barn, but the barn's based on Woodland Scenics HO and N scale kits.

 

Rusty

 

My guess is that their system is a normal retail system that charges immediately after purchase.  When you think about it, very few other products, if any, on their site are not immediately available, so they just don't have a pre-order functionality in place. 

 

You are free to do what you want, but this is not like waiting 10 months for Lionel to ship an engine.  You are going to get it in a month.  If not, you could cancel the order and they would refund it to you at any time.