I’m relatively new to the world of large scale but have been blessed with having linked up with Fred and the other guys at OVGRS. Am learning a lot and enjoying the experience. Coming from the smaller scales I have always tried to support the local hobby shops. There is only one shop in town that carries Large Scale and he is close so have bought from him in the past, however he refuses to sell such items as aluminum track and the revolution with sound. Claims they are poor products and doesn’t want to handle the complaints. As a result I am forced to go on line and order from other sources, frustrating but that seems to be the way it is. First time I’ve ever had to deal with someone who doesn’t want to take my money. I understand now why the local guys seem to shop elsewhere. Sometimes you just can’t do what seems right and support the local hobby shops!
Steve McKenzie said:
I’m relatively new to the world of large scale but have been blessed with having linked up with Fred and the other guys at OVGRS. Am learning a lot and enjoying the experience. Coming from the smaller scales I have always tried to support the local hobby shops. There is only one shop in town that carries Large Scale and he is close so have bought from him in the past, however he refuses to sell such items as aluminum track and the revolution with sound. Claims they are poor products and doesn’t want to handle the complaints. As a result I am forced to go on line and order from other sources, frustrating but that seems to be the way it is. First time I’ve ever had to deal with someone who doesn’t want to take my money. I understand now why the local guys seem to shop elsewhere. Sometimes you just can’t do what seems right and support the local hobby shops!
I think most of those guys up there usually buy on line and have it shipped to a guy they know in Ogdensburg to save the import fees and whatever else is associated with that.
Great bunch of guys you’ve linked up with up there and what a wealth of knowledge and experience.
Hopefully I’ll get to meet you in July during the Invasion…
His loss is another retailer’s gain. I’ve run into that on occasion as well, though not trains. Retail 101: When there’s a customer in front of you waving cash in his hand, do whatever you can to deprive him of it. Especially when you’re a niche retailer in a soft economy! That’s what special orders are for.
The way I look at it in situations like that; I tried to support the local guy. The guy I ended up supporting is someone else’s local guy, so I’m helping him out. I’m all for supporting the local guy, but it’s got to be reciprocal. He’s got to support me and my needs as a customer.
Later,
K
Steve,
I hear you, but from experience I know that it gets worse when the one LHS closes up — age and the tight economy see to that. While we have a good size model railroader community (all scales) in the Okanagan Valley most of them are “very frugal” i.e. the big event is going to the shows with a large contingent of used items/basement operators. From which they return with bags of “goodies”. Ordering on the Internet usually involves shipping charges 
and the HST/GST/PST. 
OTOH I can understand the dealer, too. In my previous life there were certain machine tool products I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole.
my LHS quit selling RR stuff of all gauges last year, and moved it to their primary location 45min away. It wasn’t that big of a deal though—they were MSRP ++ on every single LS Item in the store. I can’t afford to buy much nowadays anyways, so the weak dollar has to stretch farther and the good On-line dealers help with that.
sadly
Cale-a mulit small local biz owner
Steve, I hear you, I tried to support our LHS, buying Bachmann Annies at $340, USA Trains at full list and above, Kadees by the handful at list.
All of these are available online at significant discounts from list.
All that happened is the “hole” on the shelves caused by my purchases were still there months afterwards.
I gave up.
Greg
If My local hobby shop closed it’s doors, we would be in trouble!
“My Local Hobby Shop” is… Charles Ro ( USA Trains)
There is a all scale train shop about 30 minutes from my house in Swansea MA that has a incredible inventory on large scale.
Many German made LGB locomotives that I would love to add to my collection, along with a TON of Aristo engines and rolling stock.
The store is so crowded with product you can hardly move in it.
However it has a few issues related to purchasing said material…
Biggest issue, he is CASH ONLY
Next issue, pricing is very high, especially on older NIB items that you would think he would be looking to make a deal on.
I have been buying items from the store for about 15-years now and only recently has he been starting to give some better deals on items he has in stock.
Nice older man that owns the shop, loves to talk, just wish he would be a little more creative on pricing.
Vincent
Do you hear airplanes in the distance?
My LHS carries some limited LGB track, a few Kadee couplers, and some consignment rolling stock in Large Scale. A bit of 0 gauge in both 2 and 3 rail, AtlasO and Lionel, rare MTH, and the majority of his stock is H0, and N. He is just making it, says it is his hobby, and keeps him out of the house. He is 20 miles away, but then I live out in the sticks ( Edge of the World-2 Miles).
Sean McGillicuddy said:
Vincent
Do you hear airplanes in the distance?
I always hear airplanes, my house is 1/4 mile away from the main runway at TF Green… and we are in the DIRECT flight path for all incoming aircraft.
Not to far from my house!(Hr)
My local hobby shop is another msrp + + + kinda store. Old Aristo power transmission towers… ready for this… $150.00. I shop on line or ECLSTS.
-Kevin.
My LHS is a pretty good place and the owner has become a close friend over the years. He’s a model railroader himself, and has MRR classes every Saturday morning before he opens the store (we also meet at 0630 for breakfast on Saturdays, usually a group of 6-9 gents).
He deals in model vehicles, aircraft, etc., but his main emphasis is on model railroading. HO and N are his most stocked items (obviously) but he does stock some large scale items. He is also very good about getting special orders in when asked, and usually a few times a year he’ll have some pretty good “sales” through his store.
For example, every year he runs a “12 days 'til Christmas” sale where each of the 12 days leading up to Christmas he will put something in the store on sale, sending out an email to those who are signed up on his email list, and posts the sale information in the store as well. Yesterday, which was the 10th day 'til Christmas, he put all HOn3 rolling stock (kits or rtr) on sale for $10.00 each, up to three per day. These cards are usually $25.00 and up, so he puts a pretty good mark down for his sales events.
One thing I have enjoyed from him is if he can’t get something at a good price but knows where I can get it at a much better discount, he usually lets me know and doesn’t worry about not making a particular “sale”.
My nearest large scale dealer is only about thirty miles away, but his speciality is stuff that comes in the big red boxes and a dabble of live steam of the usual suspects - AccuCraft, Roundhouse and Regner. Great selection of paints and needful hobby stuff like that, too.
Sadly, his idea of fun is to take the p!ss out of the customer with a barrage of unwarranted sarcasm and snide remarks that must have gained him few friends.
HE may well believe it’s all good clean fun, but once was enough for this boy, and I’m NEVER going back.
Lucky for a few of us around here, the largest LS show in the entire UK is held annually at the local Peterborough Showgrounds - a HUGE set-up of many useful buildings that’s two minutes off the major N-S highway, itself only two minutes away for me to access it. I can be parking up in the 12,000 space car park within fifteen minutes of leaving the house, and nobody there is going to take the p!ss out of me, either.
tac
Ottawa Valley GRS
My LHS has very very limited large scale to offer… at full MSRP btw. The only dedicated LS shops are 40 miles to 70 miles away, all have very very limited websites so I usually just use ebay most of the time. not that I have been purchasing much these days.
Because of the time between sales, the local guy probably has to make his MSRP++ mark to keep the store going between. A lot of local shops will give a little under-the-table discount to regulars or large volume buyers. The economics of a small business isn’t the same as internet where they can afford to frop prices because they have no rent, utilities, upkeep etc. to deal with. Plus, most stores are sitting on thousands of dollars of stock that they have already paid for. It’s tough being small! Even larges brick-and-mortat stores are struggling these days.
Sean McGillicuddy said:
If My local hobby shop closed it’s doors, we would be in trouble!
“My Local Hobby Shop” is… Charles Ro ( USA Trains)
That is a great shop! We went up to Logan Sunday to pick up my visiting Mother in Law and I said to my wife “oh good we can swing by Charles Ro” The look I got told me “don’t even think about it” BUT the trains were calling me!! LOL
My local shop only carries a bit of LGB stuff at FULL RETAIL plus! They are like a dept. store so they have lots of other stuff too. If I had to spend $20 for 2 pieces of 12" straight track I wouldn’t be into large scale.
Our in city vendors all gave up on LS due to too many ‘shelf queens’. Stating the LS hobbyists fault … I quickly enlightened them (with all due respect) to the fact that if you charge msrp or higher you are going to have shelf queens !!
The regional vendor an hour south is still selling LS but then they never ‘gouged’ us !!! They still operate under a viable business model. The only problem is accessing product as often as they did, previous to the u.s. economy collapse !!
“…think most of those guys up there usually buy on line and have it shipped to a guy they know in Ogdensburg to save the import fees and whatever else is associated with that. …”
As there is no duty charged on model railroad equipment coming into Canada … I guess they save something on shpg and the CBSA $10 handling fee. But fed. and prov. tax have to be paid at the border even if they do a pickup themselves, every once in-a-while from the other side of the ‘fence’. Then there is gas to pay unless they ride a bicycle with trailer, over and back !!
The Dealer that Steve speaks of, is also the one that won’t carry any of the railroad magazines, and has been noted as refusing to sell Kadee couplers to anyone that didn’t purchase the cars at his store.
The magazines used to draw customers into his shop, at least once a month, and they would tend to purchase items when they were there. Then he started charging more than the published prices for the magazines, and that turned people away.
His prices are always much higher than MSRP. He is basically a Lionel collector who started the business, in order to get Lionel at dealer prices for himself. He is also famous for turning customers off. For example a, a couple going to his store in order to purchase some Aristo product, years ago. He promptly tried to sell them Lionel, even though they knew what they wanted. He also would only stock what he wanted, not what customers said they wanted, then he would bitch and complain that no-one was buying any LS product.
Too many, possibly well meaning people start up businesses without being schooled in public relations, or with any sense of how to run a business.
Today with any business, it is costly to survive. Without any inventory, it is almost impossible.
The old saying, for survival in a “Brick & Mortar”, was: “If it isn’t on the shelf, you can’t sell it”…but the price has to be competitive, especially with the Internet, where prices can be found with the touch of fingers on a keyboard.
What shocks me the most, is the stupidity of some people, paying the prices they do, on Evilbay, in spite of online dealers selling new items, at better prices…“Let the buyer beware”