Wings Hobby Shop closing after more than 67 years in business

Sad to see it go.  However, the few times I was there SEVERAL years, they didn't much in the way of Lionel or O Scale.

These guys are only a few miles West on Detroit Road in Rocky River:

http://www.jandellflowers.com/modeltrains.html

I like the post-story reader comments.... especially the 4th or 5th one in by a guy who went to "Wings" with a friend and was totally IGNORED by the owner, who was engrossed in a personal conversation with a woman at the cash register.  He said that not once did the owner ask if he could be of help or if they were looking for anything.  That tells a big part of the story right there.

Go to the reader comments.  It tells the whole story better than the author of the article.

This comment in the article is telling...

"Al Cicerchi concentrated on what was in the 3,000-square-foot store, never interested in creating a website or expanding online"

This may also have something to do with it's demise...

"After 49 years behind the register, he, too, is ready to move on".

Readers that commented to the article add reasons not found in the author's story.

• Limited hours, including not open on weekends.
• No web site.
• Typical "good ol' boy" in-store atmosphere.

Why am I not surprised. 

It's NOT the economy, 9/11 or anything else the owner wants to blame it on. It is the owner himself that caused this. He refused to keep up with the times.

Model train hobby shops CAN make it in today's world. Just ask Dave Minarek about his NEW hobby shop or Mr. Muffin about his. They are doing well because they know how to do business in today's world.

quote:

"After 49 years behind the register, he, too, is ready to move on".

The owner was probably ready to move on for a while before he actually scheduled the closing of the store.

That's probably the reason he wasn't customer centric, and let things slip.

As for a web presence: I still meet plenty of people who are not computer / internet savy.

Can't say I'm surprised either. I used to stop there all the time when in the area, just to look around and pickup a magazine or two. The owner usually ignored me, never-ever greeted me, and pretty much acted like he could care less when I checked out at the cash register. There were no deals to be had, mostly HO and N gauge, with a little O that you could find easily elsewhere. If you asked a question it was answered with a short "matter of fact" reply. But it wasn't so much what was for sale, but the poor attitude you were greeted with, feeling like you were being a nuisance by being there. Reminds me of the saying: "there are people in retail, that shouldn't be". 

All too familiar in the hobby industry.  **** poor service and prices will always lead to the demise of a shop. Not to mention customer service and poor stock.  I had a hobby shop for 10 years that did well, I really enjoyed it, but not enough to keep me from exploring a college degree and what that can and has brought me.

I just took all my pre-orders that I had with Jason's Hobby Shop and found a great shop in Delaware. Not that Jason was any of the above, but due to him closing I stumbled across a great dealer with very friendly customer service and a nice internet site.  I'd like to support my LHS more, but when a large item costs $50 more or even higher, plus taxes...... I work too hard not to get the best price. 

I live in the area and I frequented the shop for years. The owner has been looking for an excuse to get out for a while. I had a conversation with him once where he told me that the business had been passed down to him and that he didn't really want it to begin with. I believe they own the building though so perhaps leasing it to someone else looks better than running the shop.

I spent quite a bit of money in their shop and not once did I ever get any kind of discount for being a good customer. I wanted to support the local shop so I would go their, get treated rudely, and pay at or near retail. I finally had enough so I quit going unless I wanted an out of print book.

A few years back I offered to help the owner create a website for the store and he flat out told me he wasn't interested. He didn't want to do mail or internet sales.

So IMO, this article is a bunch of crap. He wanted out and he is using the changing times as a convenient excuse. That's his prerogative, but it just goes to show that if a business doesn't change with the times they will soon be gone.

i always had an issue buying anything at a hobby shop in cuyahoga county since they had the highest sales tax  rate in the state.wings never had too much O gauge, but they had alot of books and magazines. i think they lost alot of foot traffic when I-90 was built, which is just north of detroit ave from st rt83 right in to cleveland.-jim

Rich and several others of you, hit the nail on the head;  this shop was not run like the owner wanted to run the shop in the first place.  First of all, I don't believe that a general purpose "hobby shop" really offers a service to train guys.  Sometimes, even train oriented shops don't cut it if they also offer HO, N gauge and everything else related to trains.  The investment would be way too high.  When yo start to offer airplanes, rockets, automobile and ship models, you dilute the offering that you make to "0" gaugers.

My kind of shop is a shop like Dave Minarek's Mercer Trains, or even like Uncle Ray's Trains in Avon,OH.  These guys, and others like them, carry only "0" gauge trains, concentrating on us three rail guys.  they also talk

 our language and make us feel right at home.  They'll special order stuff for us if they don't have it in stock and they don't hold us up with high prices.

There are, of course, other such shops in the country and those are the ones who will remain successful.  I've been to Wings, now a few years ago, and they really did not carry anything that I needed.

Paul Fischer

I don,t know Rich, but it would be interesting to know if O Gauge RR magazine or Dave,s or Mr. Muffins shops will manage to stay around for 67 years. 

we should be careful how we cast dispersions toward someone who has kept a business viable for that long a period of time! 

I wish the gentleman a long and enjoyable retirement.

Happy railroading,

Don

Rich, You forgot the most important thing

"Didn't sponsor the OGR Forum"

I was thinking the same thing, myself (LOL). Every time a new thread appears on a LHS closing, all the geniuses, most of whom have never run as much as a lemonaid stand start the usual inane critiques. This guy did it his way and went out on his own terms. Not many can lay claim to that.

The rest of the business geniuses are still charging locomotives to their credit cards while he's out hiring guys like Rich Melvin to drive his King Air. My hat's off to this guy; best wishes to him.

JMHO, as usual.

Sorry to see them go. It sounds like it was just time for the disinterested owner to move on. He was probably burned out but it is possible to make money selling trains. Charlie Ro is still going strong as are many others. In todays business climate doing it "the old fashioned way" is not the formula for success.

Someone cut and paste this into a "sticky" or similar so it can be used each time we hear of another beloved hobby shop closing.  This has been my experience as well.

While not disputing that times have changes, and with it the ways of doing business, the bottom line comes from this quote directly from the article:

"I want to retire." All three of his children live in the area, so he has five grandchildren he wants to spoil.

Sure can't blame a fellow for that after long years behind the cash register, regardless of whether business was booming or not so good.  Every life is filled with priorities; seems to me he has ranked his pretty well.