No different than the radio control hobby and the LHS. Heck it's even better for the LHS for us R/C pilots (I fly). EVERY plane has an expiration date. It's not if, but when, you will crash no matter how good you are. It could be mechanical failure or mid-air collision (those are the best ). So more so than MRR, R/C airplane guys always need parts, if not an entire new airplane. Same goes for the R/C cars. Ever seen one crash into a curb at full bore? Spectacular! Even with more frequent visits by us R/C guys, the LHS still can not keep up with changing times. Times change and new concepts and ideology appear. Along comes Amazon. Remember Sears, EJ Korvette, Bradley, Two Guys, Gimbals, K-Mart, Woolworth's, etc.? The concept of a department store has ran its course.
The hobby shop I primarily deal with was founded in 1913 as as time went by expanded. When mail order came about the store was one of the first to enter that part of the market and the same with the internet and it has flourished. They still maintain a brick and mortar store and a large warehouse. They maintain a real time inventory and deal in all scales and and all facets of the hobby including tools and equipment. In short an example of how to do it right. I have never had an item take more than a week to arrive, never any item broken in handling and shipping, and always over packed. When I used to go to shows they would occasionally be there and always were the most attended booth. When I finally started internet ordering about 20 years ago when the last old time hobby shop went defunct in my area due to poor management and high prices, it was them and I have never looked back. The business also does international orders. Sorry I can't name them but they are located West of Baltimore.
I think we all know who that is. Started out as a hardware store. Unfortunately/fortunately they are the very few who "got it" and survived to this very day.
When I was a kid in HO the nearest 'real' train hobby shop was 50 miles out, and there was one store in town that had one shelf of model trains, a handful of blue-box Athearn kits, and some track. I got to the 'real' hobby shop once or twice a year as a kid, and it was so memorable... But I did have MR. And those Americas Hobby Center multi-page ads that had everything, and a postage-stamp sized order form. I mail-ordered a lot, and it would come, eventually. But I'll never forget that the Tyco 2-6-2 I got looked NOTHING like the crude drawing in the ad and I was so dissapointed. By the time I was in N we had an excellent hobby shop in the town for many years, the owner, an NMRA master model railroader, finally retired and closed up. And I WORKED in a hobby shop as my very first job in college and learned firsthand, as I was in college for accounting, just how miserable and difficult running a retail hobby shop could become, alternating a summer starvation with a winter flood. It folded two years after I graduated, with everything sold at bank auction. That hobby store had a pop machine and we were three blocks down from the high school. In the summer the only thing that kept us going was a constant line of kids hitting that vending machine during summer school. Tough business, and I really respect anybody that can make it work, as it takes more talent and courage that most people give it. The one local shop we still have now is a combination boat marina and hobby shop, that's the kind of mix it takes to survive.
I also race R/C cars, but the problem is the same with almost EVERY activity or sport. Why race an R/C car (that takes time to build, set up and learn to drive) when you can race a "real" car on a gaming console? The same for R/C planes when you can fly a WW2 fighter in a dogfight or play football (or just about any other sport) against the greats of the game...with your friends, online, without hardly any effort or skill required. Trains? Why build a layout when you can operate a 'real' (simulated) train. You don't need to know anything about electronics, or modeling, or building benchwork, or creating scenery, or have a bunch of unused space, or have any real skill. Sad, and I wish it wasn't true, but it seems to be. Soon (if not already) we will just need to have a game system and an internet connection and we can 'do' anything we want...
Growing up I had a great LHS called Hobby Warehouse in Lakewood,CA. They had everything at great prices and several guys in there that knew a lot. Got older and moved away I heard it burned down, reopened across the street then closed a few years later. I also used to go to a Longs Drug Store that somehow had a vast amount of Trains, and only trains. After going there several times I kept hearing from a few other shop owners that it was a front for a very large online retailer we all know. Never found out if that was true but they had and could get anything. And for a great price. My favorite shop was one in Rowland Heights, Ca that was ran by two brothers. They were great and I would spend hours in there talking to the guys and of course buying stuff. To bad they are all gone, and I will have to resort to Online and EBAY for a lot of things as they are not found anywhere else.
SoCal there. Hobby Wharehouse was great because you never knew what you could find in the back of a shelf. Never heard that about Longs Drugs (Moreno Valley), just that they rented out space in the back of the store. How about Discount Train Warehouse or the Iron Horse, both in Brea? At one time there used to be over a dozen really great train stores you could go to in So Cal...now there's only like two or three stores left(?)
When they first started with trains at Longs Drugs, they had probably 12 to 15 shelving gondolas about 20' long. Later they moved a lot of stuff into a big space in the stockroom. That lasted about 5 more years until CVS bought them. I don't remember when they got rid of everything or where it went. Used to go to Discount Train Warehouse every once in a while when I was in the area.
Thinking about other businesses, I'm blessed to have a good woodworker's store across town, so do my purchases there to build their marketshare. They too must prevail against dotcom competitors and they do a fine job at it with knowledgeable salespeople, good inventory and well-attended in-store classes. It's nice to be able to progress on a project, rather than await delivery.
Stopped by An Affair With Trains in Phoenix, AZ today and they were gone. I checked and they have gone online. Sad.
Real sorry to hear that. I discovered that shop last year when visiting Phoenix and found it to be a well stocked and friendly shop. At that time they told me that they were the only hobby shop left in the Phoenix area. So I guess now there are none.
They were OK, but that's about all you can say about most stores these days. The reality is a B&M store has to do something different to get people in the door as there are far more efficient ways to shop in the modern era. No layouts, clinics, special products, retailer specials, bulk purchase incentives, displays, clubs, repair services, etc., well what do you bring to the table then? Certainly not "convenience" in an industry where people are preordering things sometimes years in advance and the chances you have the exact object of desire for anyone is nill. It is a regrettable circumstance in many hobbies with the shift to online retail, but so many local hobby shops are failing to shift their own business model to compete. Boutique shops are best able to provide other value besides saving a few pennies, but they have to actually do that. I'm happy to shop at locally owned places, but they can't have less options for more money and offer nothing more than a checkout experience and expect me to remain a customer. Just like they would say they aren't a charity, well, me neither frankly. If you're just a shop then I'm afraid that's how you'll be treated.
For the first ten years or so I lived in Fairbanks there was a hobby shop on Phillips Field road (where Sampson Hardware is today - a whole ‘nother story) in an inconspicuous location. Eventually they moved across the intersection from Freds west. The owner died and the younger fellow kept it going for a while and then it passed to another “group” (pink hair and all). Well, the police shut them down for selling drugs “out the back door”. Shop’s gone! Next shop, in the Dimond Mall in Anchorage. That’s 360 miles but a good shop, friendly and a reasonable stock (combination of plastic, RC, trains, etc.). Owner retired, shops gone and now down to one shop in the downtown area. Not an inspiring place and a strange collection of “train stuff” with no railroading expertise to speak of. Model railroading is not a big player in Alaska but there is a club in Fairbanks and two in Anchorage. Now living in the DFW area. Two shops quite close and I buy nearly everything from the two to try and keep them healthy. Doesn’t hurt that one shop is run by a retired B-52 Navigator and I was a gunner. I buy whatever I can in Buddy’s shop! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The closest hobby shop to me is a combination auto parts, R/C and model RR. Have not been there for a while. Seems like a good excuse for making a drive and checking ....
While this tends to be a 'woe are us' thread here's a revival - for years "Craft World" in Jamestown NY was the major hobby shop with trains, they relocated out of town, and then closed up last August. The original owner (father) has come out of retirement and reopened on the south side of Jamestown at a new location with a new name. Stopped by a couple weeks ago and it's a pretty decent full-feature train shop worth going out of your way to visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Hobby-Store/Terrys-Train-Shop-235445107005624/
It's funny you mention the combination shop, not far from my house is a shop listed as "American Hobby Center / Speed Center" They sell trains, mostly Lionel, in the rear of the shop and auto parts in the front of the shop. I always thought that was a odd combination as I work with a few guys who enjoy restoring classic cars, but they have zero interesting in trains.
