I sure miss my LTS which closed after the owner passed away. I used to stop on my way home from work 2 -3 times a month, sometimes just to see what was new. Often he would keep an eye out for me if something he knew I liked came in used. I miss that personal touch. Now I have to go to Nick Smith's, which is like 45 minute drive for me.
The Hobbytown USA store where I live, about the same size with similar product selection, seems to be thriving. Difference may be that it is, for all practical purposes, one of only two hobby shops in a metropolitan area with 2.3 million people. The second hobby shop has been around forever but is so small it reminds me of a shoe box (with parking to match); anyone suffering from claustrophobia would be uncomfortable.
Is this the Railyard Hobbies in Elverson PA.
Originally Posted by pandw:
Is this the Railyard Hobbies in Elverson PA.
The location is mentioned in the very first post in this thread.
I agree Rich but it seems like yesterday when we where all talking about the future of the internet. Wow, over the past ten years it's been like a tsunami in the business world. About ten years ago I can remember saying on these pages that I did not trust websites, today I find it hard to trust a business who has none, or a bad one.
That's the nice thing about getting old, we can have our archaic and eat it too.
Originally Posted by Charlienassau:
Then the biggest issue is the web site. For all practical issues there is none. You cant see product or buy it. They are 100% dependent on walk-ins and in this industry that is not enough.
Charlie, you are right on the mark with this statement.
In today's world of business, if you do not have a functioning web site including an easy-to-use web store where you actually sell product, you are doomed to fail. The days of surviving exclusively on walk-in trade are over.
I would like thank everyone for who sympathetic words for the closing of my store. I thank you very much. It was a very hard decision, but one that had to be made. The closing which I announced over the last few weeks has been planned since earlier this year.
A closing of any business shouldn't be made as a spur of moment thing. Some of you seem to think this was just done with your comments about there not being a webstore. I had a webstore but we closed it months ago as part of a expense reduction. Unlike some simple web stores mine was extremely well done and user friendly. It had over 10,000+ sku's on it. The expense of maintaining our type of website can be high what with hosting, web site maintenance, SEO and just keeping up with the product maintenance. When our contract for hosting, SEO and maintenance came up for renewal we didn't renew.
So all of you who have been making constant comments about the lack of a website need to cool down. We had one, it was closed as part of store expense reductions.
As I said above the vast majority of you have been very respectful to me and the store about its closing. But I feel that I need to correct some misconceptions that the remaining of you seem to have had.
1. RC is not a fad that has gone bust. It is a strong hobby and one that is much larger than the train category. I gave equal billing to both and sales on both were very strong.
2. We had way to much space. The video you saw was taken on Grand Opening day in Nov 2013. Yes we had space and it was all planned out. What you didn't see was the different events that took place that filled that space. All that space also allowed us to do anything we wanted and expand how we needed to, to make for a better customer experience. In my store shopping could be a treasure hunt because of all the brands we carried not because you had to root through store areas to find what you were looking for.
3. A couple of you say you made comments to me early on that we were gonna fail for one reason or another. I don't know who you are. Your user name and picture don't ring bells. So instead of hiding behind the veil of an internet forum why don't you stop by and see me. Your profiles show you as being local.
4. Finally for charlienasseau. I have never met you, talked with you, been in your store or even sent you an email for advice. I respect you for the long term success that you have had. But how can you talk down a failed store and their business plan when you don't know either.
I tried something different and the store failed. Not due to a bad business model. I know where the mistakes were made but financially I am in to deep to do a fix.
I will miss the many loyal customers who came by weekly and monthly. They all enjoyed our customer experience and wished me well on the closing. I thank them all for their support the last 4 years. We grew from a 2700 sqft store to a 30,000 sqft on their suggestions and product needs. I don't second guess that all.
Any of you on this forum who were customers I thank you as well.
Thank you,
Paul Bleile
Owner
Railyard Hobbies
Elverson, Pa
Mr. Bleile,
Thank you taking the risk of struggling with a brick and mortar business. Fate and fortune are not always commanded by will. Often business success is due to intangibles and failure blamed on events or factors which were happenstance. Good luck to you in this difficult time.
Good luck with your next venture. Joe
To Paul Bleile: Thank you for posting this information. It must be hard to write it, and do so while keeping it professional. Kudos. I never made it to your store, but man was that place great based on the video.
Very sad day for any business to shut down. You owe no explanations to anyone. However, by doing so here you have established some facts and that is good because the rumor mill can meander and then fiction becomes fact.
I seen other hobby shops fail after moving to a larger store, It's a shame there rapidly vanishing. We have none here in Tampa now.
Mr. Bleile,
Thank you for addressing the forum concerning the closure of your store. I take my hat off to you for trying to make your business a success and I wish you a lot of luck and good fortune as you travel down a different path. You take care and have a wonderful and safe day.
Wishing you all the best, Paul. I wish I visited your store.
I am one that enjoys both RC and trains.
Jim Ledet
Originally Posted by cooperthebeagle:
To Paul Bleile: Thank you for posting this information. It must be hard to write it, and do so while keeping it professional. Kudos. I never made it to your store, but man was that place great based on the video.
Very sad day for any business to shut down. You owe no explanations to anyone. However, by doing so here you have established some facts and that is good because the rumor mill can meander and then fiction becomes fact.
John,
Very well stated and professional. I share the same thoughts for, Mr. Bleile.
We are all very sad at the Lost of your business Paul. It took courage to open a retail store, especially one of such magnitude and you have all of our respect for doing that.
I hope your next endeavor is a success. It is people like you who make this hobby possible for people like me to enjoy it.
Good luck and God Bless buddy, I'm sure you took a lot of valuable knowledge out of this whole thing and hopefully you will be able to turn this bitter pill sweet in a future success.
