Polk's Aristo-Craft to Close Its Doors

So called G scale:  I was turned off because I did not know what scale it was...1/29th/..1/ 32nd, what is the track guage..for one, or all of them...??  Too confusing.  There were things made in one of the nominal scales, such as that Mack Rail Bus that has never shown up in three rail, that I drooled over, but too many different sizes to risk investing in it (If I had wanted to). What scale is std. gauge and what scale is narrow gauge??  This problem plagues, and, I think, threatens, the

O scale community, too, with lack of compatibility.

I received the letter this morning and it was like a punch in the gut. As a kid and then teenager I used to go to Polk's in NY along with a stop at Madison Hardware. Now that was a great Saturday outing. I also used to frequent their store in East Meadow, Long Island and right next to it was Larry's. To think we could support two great hobby shops right next to each other. 

I think of all the things I bought at Polk's, trains, Heller model ship kits, AHM/Roco mini tanks and things you just found no place else. The Polk family helped to make a whole generation of postwar kids hobbyists, and for that I am forever grateful.

All the best,

Miketg

Definately sad to hear this news.  I wish everyone impacted the best of luck.

 

---Greg

I too find it a sign of the times.

I was hoping to someday pick up an Aristocraft Live Steam Engine.

I have also found RMT cars to be a good value, I have several now.

 

Can't comment on RMT surviving but It looks grim to me. 

I received the emails this morning, sad to hear.  A also received one from Crest Electronics.  They are being spun off and will have their own office(Dec 1) and website. Crest Electronics 

I am surprised we have heard nothing from RMT/Walter.  He must have known this was coming, I had received a separate email from Crest Electronics last week.

Dan

The saddest thing about the potential loss of RMT is that they seem to be the only manufacturer that allows me to enjoy this hobby with my children.  It is affordable for them to save up their allowance to purchase a freight car or accessory.  Not so with Lionel or MTH.  Unless more youth get into this we will continue to be part of a shrinking pie.

Sad to see this.  I spent many happy hours and most of the kid money I could scrape together in Polk's Hobby Department Store over by the Empire State Building in NYC.  My all-time favorite hobby store.  Tied with Model Railroad Equipment Corp. for trains, in a class by itself for planes.

 

I see by the RMT web site that there still are items shown with 2014 delivery, so I'm hoping they can stay alive.  The few items of theirs I have truly are good stuff.  Hope we hear from Walter before too much longer.

 

Pete

And we wonder about the future of the hobby.

It will survive, it will just be different.

 

I noted in the latest Model Railroader that Bowser is scrapping all their tooling for die-cast HO steam locomotive kits, Cary boilers, O Scale trolley's and a few other things.  Interest in those products has obviously declined to where the business model is no longer sustainable.

 

Rusty

The business report on my local CBS radio all news station varies from reporting that recovery is always just around the corner to raging with success.

As far as hobbies go in the future, people working on collectives can't afford them....

 I think you are correct. I heard more to that story as dealers were not stocking anything. They were drop shipping from the factory and dealers were making all the profit. I'm sure it spelled the end but when you're going down you may as well get what you can while you can in a last attempt.

 It's frustrating to go to a dealer and pay list price. Then, they won't stand behind the sale and tell you to deal with the factory because they won't tie up their money?. Why use them at all? It is a bad trend. We'll all see the results someday soon.

I am sure this will become one of the main topics for iHobby show that starts Thursday this week. I know it not a huge train show but many wholesalers and train manufactures are in attendance. Kinda places a dark shadow on hobbies somewhat...

I too got the sad business news about Aristo-Craft closing. One thing, I have always tried to do is:

 

!. if I buy some train related item through the iternet, I then visit my LHS as purchase something from them at equal or above price (yes, MSRP) to help them stay in business.

 

And sometimes, even that doesn't help.

Thanks Dan for posting the link

 

I have an old "Train Engineer" set I bought back in the early 90s when I was still into HO.  First handheld, tether-less remote I ever owned.  A few months back I dug it out of the parts locker and ran an O scale Weaver 4-6-0 (with just the DC motor, no command system or reverse unit inside), worked like a charm

 

I work weekends at a golf course and we've been busy every day of the week for the 3 years I've worked there.  Folks on this forum seem to be buying things as fast as they can put them on the shelves, I don't think 100% of this has to do with disposable income or the economy.  Just look at any college or professional ballgame that's on TV, there's literally tens of thousands of people attending those games.  I think it's just a sign of the times...people are choosing other forms of entertainment to spend their $$$ on besides (for now) Large Scale trains.

 

When more than large scale trains starts drying up then I'd say we have a real problem with our economy.  Until then, I hope all those folks that currently work there can find employment if they want and that Walters side of the equation is still intact.

They made a good product and were good people.  Of the G gauge I have, theirs is the best.  I'm sorry their business has tanked.

Wish I could have seen it myself. Don

Well let's see..MTH is having a rather hard time in 1:32 scale..why else would they be blowing out the Triplex at 50% off MSRP with no takers. They're having a hard time selling some diesel sets & the GG1's as those were blown out at a very heavy discount. The Accucraft 1:32 Big Boy wasn't a big seller either as I've seen those being blown out at 50% below MSRP.

On the other hand Charles Ro/ USA Trains never blows out the Big Boy, Hudson or GG1 in 1:29 scale. Also seems odd if nobody plays in 1:29 scale then why does AML/ Accucraft keep releasing new product along with USA Trains, LGB & Piko??

 

Then again why argue with someone that sees Lionel & MTH as being correct for O Gauge let alone running on 3 rails??

I wonder if they'll still come to the York meet this fall?

In fact, Marklin (and thus LGB) is now owned by Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH, now part of the large German toy company that took over Marklin earlier this year. Thank goodness for that.

 

" After seeing what Lionel and MTH is doing, especially Lionel..I hope they don't end up the same way."

 

I was aware MTH had gone to (?exclusively) direct from manufacturer sales of large scale and tinplate.  What exactly is Lionel doing?

 

I remember racing 1/24 scale slot cars up on the 6th floor on their hugh banked track. That was back in the early 1960's. Polks hobby shop was a great place to hang out and look around at different hobby stuff.

 

Chet

Feel bad for the Polk family and all the other folks that were involved.  I wish that I could have helped them through purchases, but a number of years ago I had made the "0" gauge decision. 

 

Thought about building an outdoor layout and using American prototype, vintage style trains, but my old knees would not have allowed me to crawl around the back yard, so the decision was made that all my efforts and monies would have to be limited to "0" gauge.

 

Years ago, during my Ho-Ho years, back in the mid 1950's I bought several of Aristo's imported engines including the only HO Hiawatha Atlantic that was available in those years.  Polk's was the USA importer of the old Rivarossi line of trains, and I had several.

 

Hope that Walter will be able to, and, for that matter, will want to continue to make the RMT trains still available. 

 

Paul Fischer

Selling direct on some items and offering discounts on others.. some dealers are not very happy especially around the holidays

Interesting that the July/August edition of the Aristo-Craft Insider newsletter emphatically stated that they are not closing.

Mike,

 

Haven't heard from you in quite sometime, it's refreshing seeing you post here again.

I remember going to Polks during WWII. bought a used Rogers .29 model airplane

engine.. did not work worth a darn-- like all Rogers engines at the time.

Was spending the summer in NYC-  Subway fare was five cents

 

Al

I agree. I miss his posts and insights.

Another Closed Business, this economy is still very weak... I noticed that Aristo Craft had no ads at all in the recent "Garden Railways" magazine and the lead time for a page ad is usually months out, correct me if I am wrong. I have a modest collection of their G scale engines and freight cars and use their track on my ceiling layout.

I agree it is sad news anytime a business closes its doors.

 

I do hope that RMT will able to continue to offer its products, but am concerned their importing might be in conjunction with Aristo...so it does make one wonder what this means for RMT and Walter Matuch  (hope he is not caught in the middle).

 

It does seem arguments could be made for and against selling direct and eliminating intermediate distributors.

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't I reading that Lionel is moving to pre-order only on some products?  If that is the case, and the majority of service work is returned to the manufacturer/importer, then it does seem to beg the question what value is added by the intermediary.

Robert

As has been pointed out many times on this forum, there are far too many importers, manufacturers & list price retailers given savvy hobby consumer market demand. While it is unfortunate when any hobby related business is forced to close its doors, the announcement itself becomes too political to merit much further comment.

 

That's just the way (supply-demand) free market places work ... but we've all heard that comment too, as probably applied to each & every one of us! 

 

 

 

Very saddened by the news. I have a bunch of Aristo. Guess I Wont be able to find parts in a few years. 2 other dissapointments are:1) Probably no Norfolk Southern heritage Dash9's (that were promised by Christmas of 13) 2) Look for Charlie to raise prices again since He is now the only one who has realistic looking stuff. Prices keep going up for the same stuff that has been on the shelf forever

Very sad day. I miss the old store on 5th, as well as the Gilbert Hall of Science,

Savoy Merchandise and the Lionel showroom. First visited Polk's in the late '40's.

All gone along with the great department store layouts.

What I miss most, however are my conversations with Nat Polk. He knew everone

in the business and gave me a lot of information about A C Gilbert and American Flyer.

I always regarded my talks with Nat as one of the highlights of my trips to York.

Herb Wasserman

A sad day indeed.
As a single person with two jobs
I barly make ends meet. All I have left is my hobbies to enjoy. The prices of things today make me have to only get limited things once a year. I still manage to buy things, but not like I use too.
They can shut down the goverment and destroy our economy from the inside out, but they will have to pry my trains from my cold dead hands!!
This may only be polk and aristocraft for now. I fear this is only the tip of the iceberg as far as our hobby goes.
As stated people on goverment hand outs can not afford hobbies.
I don't see lionel or mth taking food stampes for trains any time soon.  

It is somewhat sad to hear of Polk/Aristo's closing.  The current economic climate is certainly challenging for the model train industry, while arguably some other business segments are booming.  Yes, there are companies that are currently doing exceptionally well while other segments languish.  But the economic debate is certainly for a different place than here.

 

Although I hope I am wrong, I think we will continue to see shake out in the model train industry that will lead to a combination of closings, consolidations, and especially more of the new normal practice of production tied to pre-orders.

 

Model Railroading is not an inexpensive pastime.  There are some many activities competing for the available leisure time and money.  I strongly believe that new or more specifically young blood is becoming less and less interested, or even aware of model trains.  The absence of real and model trains in our society are making toy trains less relevant.  Likely, unless you have someone in your family that can carry on the tradition and enjoyment of toy trains, the general population will continue to move away to other activities.  The technological advances that make us "ooh and ahh" to the new model train features are also making huge strides with xbox, playstation, Wii, iPad-Pod video games, radio controlled toys and activities for often less than a piece of rolling stock.  Compound that with the fact that youth athletic activities that were once seasonal, are now run year round and often at a significant financial and time cost to a family.

 

I think the challenges ahead for model railroading in the U.S. are daunting.  We are in a declining niche hobby that won't necessarily go away, but will be significantly different than many of us have become accustomed.  Current economic factors aside, this model railroad industry decline might be somewhat similar to that of the camera shops, record stores, video rental stores, and all the other businesses that are either gone or just a mere shadow of their former self due to changes in business and technological markets and personal choices.  This opinion more and more reinforces the belief that this hobby needs continued toy train ambassadors and those people and organizations to promote the hobby.

Sage observations made by Keystone (a couple of posts above this one).  I couldn't find anything there I don't agree with.

I would just like to point out that there are no facts anywhere that say that RMT is going the way of the doe doe bird.  I see nothing on RMT's web site.  I see nothing in any of the courthouse filings to which I have access that indicates they have filed any legal papers to protect themselves.  As far as I can tell, based on the facts in front of me, RMT is a going concern. 

 

Walt may have some business decisions to make and until he does so, I do not think it serves him well, as a sponsor of this FREE forum, to dig a bigger hole than he needs by speculating about the future of the company.  He is probably dealing with a ton of stuff.

 

I have no connections to Walt other than he has offered some nice deals here and I have several RMT items.  I personally hope that his business model can go solo and/or he can find another partner to fill the void that Aristocraft's departure is creating.

 

 

To show my support, I am now off to make a purchase from RMT.  Seriously, I am.

I do agree that Walter more than likely is working on a very full plate of decisions. But that silence leads to much wild speculation and guessing. It would serve RMT and himself well to chime in if only to say 'some news will follow' because as it is.......it worry-sum....

 

I have a number of RMT products and was looking forward to the Box Cab units. Good luck Walter!

I live in NYC and am familiar with this building. This Street level storefront is now a Game Stop Videogame franchise store. It's a bit ironic that they sell console videogames at a time when most people play games on thier phones or Ipads downloaded online. The current occupiers of that space are selling hobby goods also at a time of change in the market.
       

Since we do not have any knowledge of the RMT/Polk-Aristo agreement and the legal implications and restrictions, we can not/should not expect Walter to offer much on this forum.  For all we know, Walter's heart might be screaming out "RMT will continue on!" but I would guess that based on the timing, specific circumstances and legal advice obtained, his brain is keeping him quiet.

 

The above posts of RMT's "direct sales approach" over the past two years allude to what was most likely thought by Polk-Aristo/RMT to be the new and only way to continue.  Granted, we do not know if the company first offered dealers special pricing or gave significant dealer notice that on a certain date the company would start to sell direct at the advertised prices.  But based on what a number of us heard from some dealers, that decision was obviously at the expense of very strained or broken dealer relations due to their customer direct prices were undercutting the dealers.

 

Another consideration is that within the last 10 months or so, Aristo-Polk/RMT realized the possibility and probability of today's announcement.  Their continued sales of existing stock was their way of performing an orderly liquidation which generally has a greater financial return as compared to a bulk liquidation/quick sale.

 

In the meantime we can only speculate and wish the Polk family, their employees, and Walter well in their future endeavors.

I agree, I think this was a long time coming. I never brought this up but with all those sales I just knew something was up but didn't want to really believe it. Sorry to hear this is happening. On a local note. Everyone keeps talking about the tourist numbers are up here. But the numbers on spending are way down. Companies are cutting back on workers hours. That only means one thing. We have a long, long way to go. Don