Who is the largest Lionel dealer in the U.S.

Hands down....Charley Ro...both selection, inventory and tremendous service....and very fair pricing.

Thank you Ron and Jim.

Wonder if the Muffins might be getting close?

TrainWorld has claimed that title recently.  Not sure what the criteria is but I remember it being a pretty big deal.

Any answer to that question would only be pure speculation unless one had access to actual annual sales figures for Lionel trains (only) from any/all dealers who would be, or might be, in contention for that ranking (or from Lionel LLC, which ain't gonna happen).

I agree with Allan, this is something that isn't easy to determine because of what the exact criteria is that you are looking for. If you meant products by Lionel(from way back when to now), or just more recent. Any way you slice it, it is going to be all over the place. The other part would be overall sales, which would be impossible to get numbers I would think. At best, you could probably get a list(in no particular order) of who are the largest distributors of Lionel across the US(and or anywhere else) as I am sure there are some big names all across the country besides who we know off the top of our head's.

@Grampstrains posted:

Charles Ro claims to be the largest train store.  No specific brand.

Ro's website lays claim to "World's Largest Lionel Dealer" in addition to "Number One Train Dealer in America".  Expect Lionel would not allow were it not true.

What, me worry?

Another possible way to get directionally close would be to look at the discounts provided on new releases when a catalog drops. I'm assuming (and could very well be wrong) that the larger the dealer, the larger the discount. I suppose that some dealers could keep more of that spread as margin, but I'd be surprised with as easy as it is to order things online.

@J.Dooley posted:

Another possible way to get directionally close would be to look at the discounts provided on new releases when a catalog drops. I'm assuming (and could very well be wrong) that the larger the dealer, the larger the discount. I suppose that some dealers could keep more of that spread as margin, but I'd be surprised with as easy as it is to order things online.

One factor in the equation that is difficult to know is whether or not a dealer is also a distributor.  While MTH sold (and still sells) directly to dealers, Lionel shipped everything to a handful of distributors (most of whom we've never heard of) and dealers bought from them.  I know this was true a few years ago, but don't know if it's still the case.  I don't know if Ro was/is one of those distributors - if Ro is a distributor it would skew the volume in their favor.

I don't think being the biggest matters a whole lot.  If you find a dealer that has prices, terms, and service policies you like, give them your business.

Train Express in Indianapolis claimed to be #2 behind Ro for a long time.  Being big didn't keep them in business - they've been gone for many years. 

This is from TrainWorld's Facebook page early this year.  Maybe @TrainWorld.com can answer what the criteria is.

Jim asked who has the largest inventory. Sorry to be a party pooper. I have no idea, but inventory is different than sales. And I don't know why you would want the largest inventory (unless you acquired it really, really cheap). That's money tied up. Years ago Marty took me to Charles Ro and I got a tour of the basement. Believe me, they had a whole lot of inventory. I have no idea how much inventory Trainworld or Mr. Muffin have.

Gerry

@gmorlitz posted:

Jim asked who has the largest inventory. Sorry to be a party pooper. I have no idea, but inventory is different than sales. And I don't know why you would want the largest inventory (unless you acquired it really, really cheap). That's money tied up. Years ago Marty took me to Charles Ro and I got a tour of the basement. Believe me, they had a whole lot of inventory. I have no idea how much inventory Trainworld or Mr. Muffin have.

Gerry

His title and post are 2 different questions I guess.

Being 55 miles away or an hour and 48 minutes to Charles Ro , yes Boston traffic is BAD…  I find myself buying from others . One is the above mentioned and the other is avoiding taxes .

Marty is right: The initial post is really asking two different questions. . . neither of which can be accurately answered by anyone on this forum. Indeed, inventory (stock on hand) is different than sales (income from quantity sold), but the two are nevertheless somewhat related. In most instances, a dealer would not want a whole lot of inventory sitting on shelves gathering dust, and a better measure of success would most likely be based on overall sales of that product over a specified period.

Good point Allen. Definitely two different questions.

if the criteria were square footage of their respective buildings just judging by pictures I would say Charles Ro. Isn’t Trainworld (Brooklyn location) a mail order only business? Does that make it into the equation?

My opinion is there are several different criteria and I doubt no single dealer is number 1 in all of them. It’s really just bragging rights as all the dealers mentioned are great dealers. However it is fun to discuss it.

Still thought everything is a factor whether you are asking either of the questions. Who is the largest dealer or who has the largest inventory? What would be the yard stick to figure these things out? Inventory you could have plenty of warehouses for sure, but if you don't sell a lot, would that make you a not so large dealer? If someone moves nearly all of his inventory compared to the person who has warehouses of the stuff who is the larger dealer? Like I said, no matter how you slice it you have to factor in what you are actually talking about about. It sounds like we're talking about apples and oranges, but not considering how old of the stuff or how new.  You could have a person who has tons of postwar stuff, some rare prewar items, and a descent amount of newer stuff, then you could have someone who just deals with new stuff, where do you draw the line on what you're asking?

The purpose of a business is to move product to generate money, we all know this. Sitting on inventory isn't very profitable. Heck, I give up because it is an interesting question to ask, just hard to answer if it is pretty open ended.

Jim,

I thought that the train store in Homer City, Pennsylvania that I can't seem to remember the name to was the largest Lionel dealer in the U.S. I also can't seem to remember the name of the owner of that store, but he had a good reputation.

Erol Gurcan 

Erol, Thanks for the kind words and thoughts.

So many good dealers out there. Doesn't have to be the absolute biggest to try and be the best. If they stand behind their stuff and do their best, I'm happy!

I always wonder if factory reps say they'll back up dealers' decisions or leave them out there on their own?

From a tunnel vision aspect of shoppers in the field, the "biggest" dealer is the one who has in stock at your price the elusive item you are hunting.

@colorado hirailer posted:

From a tunnel vision aspect of shoppers in the field, the "biggest" dealer is the one who has in stock at your price the elusive item you are hunting.

You hit that nail square on the head!

@Mallard4468 posted:

One factor in the equation that is difficult to know is whether or not a dealer is also a distributor.  While MTH sold (and still sells) directly to dealers, Lionel shipped everything to a handful of distributors (most of whom we've never heard of) and dealers bought from them.  I know this was true a few years ago, but don't know if it's still the case.

That was what I was told as well. It's been a number of years ago, and don't know if this is still the way it works, but a dealer had to be of a certain size in order to receive product direct from Lionel. For smaller dealers (being most dealers in the country),  they received their inventory through various independent national distributors, who were distributors for many companies besides Lionel. The larger Lionel dealers were not distributors. Sometimes when I bought Lionel products from local dealers, they would be in shipping boxes with the name of the distributor on a shipping label.

Inventory sitting on shelves..... Madison Hardware has that title.

I suppose the award would go to whomever has the largest number of Lionel items available most of the time instead of who has the largest number of back orders.

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OK  someone already said that.....................................................sorry

John

Charles Ro also has a big inventory of N gauge, HO gauge, and USA trains which he makes.

I was just in the Charles Ro Supply store and it is impressive. Their prices and shipping charges can not be beat. They are strictly a hobby store of electric trains of various gauges and electric train supplies. As far as smoke fluid goes they got every scent under the sun. They do not do a lot of custom runs though. For custom road names you would have to go somewhere else. They don't stock much in the way of parts. I don't think they do service. I wish they did.

@Dave 69 GTEL posted:

I was just in the Charles Ro Supply store and it is impressive. Their prices and shipping charges can not be beat.

Can confirm this part, for sure. No idea whether it's because of their size or because they just don't have the same margin as others, but the discounts on locomotives and rolling stock are the best I was able to find of the dealers that are online. The shipping costs are nothing short of ridiculous and can make a huge difference on larger orders. It was cheaper to place and ship my last preorder from CRo than it was to pre-order and pickup from a dealer 2 hours from my house.