…and I am banning myself from any further non-railroad comments in this discussion!!!
John, good choice, we were getting a bit close to the line.
Since I have been traveling more, I have found out there are more train shops around then I was aware of. Most are small corners of other businesses, and the selection is sparse. In Zelienople, there is a corner of a hardware store that has some HO, and O MTH, but not much else. And when I was rolling through a small town in PA, I didn’t catch its name, I did see a Lionel sign in the window of another hardware store.
But since we are in a niche scale of a small hobby, I seldom see large scale in these kinds of shops. If I do, its either used stuff, or just one of this and one of that.
My point was not to rile on politics or our local governments actions. I was only pointing out that a lot of LHS have a lot more outside pressure on them, then just the dwindling RR/Train market.
Dave, I know. I mean, I know that was where you were going. Everything costs more, from insuring the contents of the store, to the electric bill, to employee wages and insurances on them, to cost of the product and costs of shipping and…
I was close enough to upper management, at one of my jobs, to know a bit about P&L sheets, and what goes in what column. And that is why I will never be in management, nor own my own company. My brain just cant handle all of that without hurting. I don’t like it when my brain hurts.
John Passaro said:
I half-expected to see Kevin there on his hands and knees digging through more g-scale stuff in the back rooms, but, nope, he was nowhere in sight!
You missed me by two days. I was in there on Friday after I heard things were 50% off. Picked up a QSI large scale Titan decoder for $100! (They still had 4 left!) Don’t you worry… I’ve spent my fair share of time (and $$$) there since they announced they’re closing. I’ll check in next week when I return from vacation to see if there’s anything left, but the pickings are getting very slim. They say their last day will be Sept. 25th. Truth be told, I don’t think they’ll have anything to sell but dust bunnies by then.
Later,
K
I just saw an ad on Facebook that appears to show that Caboose Hobbies will remain open on the internet. Interesting. Can someone verify this?
Steve the Caboose Hobbies post I beleive you are referring too is listed as a “Collectables Store” I wonder if it they continuing under a different product line. IIRC didnt the brick and morter store also have a non-trains section?
So then what might be the impending “exciting news” that is now being announced on the Caboose Hobbies website home page?
I would guess someone bout the business and is going internet sales only.
Interesting, since now they need to compete with the rest of the discount Internet people. Caboose Hobbies was not known for their discount prices.
We shall see, thanks, Steve and Al for noticing this.
Greg
Hi,
Spoke to Caboose Hobbies today and they said, they are closed but would not elaborate on future plans other than to say that there will be an announcement on their website in the next week or two.
Until then, they are still taking preorders, Internet related orders and dealing with consignments at 303-777-7892.
This is only what they told me, if it helps!
Greg Elmassian said:
I would guess someone bout the business and is going internet sales only.
Interesting, since now they need to compete with the rest of the discount Internet people. Caboose Hobbies was not known for their discount prices.
We shall see, thanks, Al for noticing this.
Greg
Greg, my name is not Al. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-tongue-out.gif)
Sorry Steve, I see you mentioned a posting on facebook, I guess I filtered out your comment because I filter out Farcebook as a rule, ha ha…
I have updated my post to thank both you and Al.
I hang my head in shame… sniff sniff
AL McEvoy said:
So then what might be the impending “exciting news” that is now being announced on the Caboose Hobbies website home page?
What? Steve F. bought Caboose Hobbies?
I thought Kevin Strong did…he and I have spent enough money there!
Well, maybe if Yunz had spent more, they would not be closing. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
'tweren’t me who bought it, but I’m told someone local did, and will revive the store. Whether that’s brick-and-mortar or just on-line from a warehouse, I don’t know. The current building–so I’ve also been told–will be torn down and a Chic-fil-a built in its place.
Later,
K
Could have been a great college fund for the kids, 
I like Chick Fil A but would rather shop for detail parts.
Great to see you and Mom in ME,
Tom
not to be nit picky, just accurate, “revive the store” means a real store. a warehouse that does internet sales is NOT a store, it’s a warehouse.
Like I said, very doubtful that if the original store could not make it with the original owners and the low rent, how are new owners going to do better with a higher rent in a tougher economy.
Internet sales I get, but then you are in tough competition, no more list price.
Greg
That’s kind of interesting.
http://www.caboosehobbies.com/catalog/index_brief.php
1_caboosehobbies by Forrest Wood, on Flickr
That’s the ad I saw several days ago.
Greg, it’s not a matter of “accuracy.” I simply do not draw a distinction between a brick-and-mortar store and internet store in this instance. “Revive the store” as I wrote it means the name “Caboose Hobbies” will live on as establishment from which you can purchase model trains; ie, a “store.” Since the new owner’s intentions were not communicated to me, I chose not to speculate on any definitive course of action–just to say the name will live on, and the ability to (at least) go online and buy what I need from them will continue.
No doubt a brick-and-mortar re-incarnation of Caboose would be phenomenal to have. Caboose was a “destination” store drawing locals and out-of-town visitors from all over the Denver metro area regardless of where they were staying. Whether a new store is downtown or out in the 'burbs, folks would still drive there to visit provided the inventory and experience are similar. That gives the new owner a greater deal of flexibility in looking for a suitable space. Whether that happens–again–was not communicated to me. At least owning the name “Caboose Hobbies” would give them a decided advantage over an upstart just trying to fill the void if they were.
Later,
K