In the past the internet has been slammed for being the death knell of the local hobby store. However, the hobby store propietor has to take stock of the situation he finds himself in. My local hobby store has no large scale, no ‘O’ scale (not even Bachmann ‘On30’) and the only small train items are second hand twenty year old ‘OO’ coaches at ridiculously high prices. He cannot even keep a stock of basic paints on his shelves. He does though have lots of plastic car and ship kits and lots of military modelling kits. At times he cannot even supply plastic hobby glue. For two months he kept telling me that he could not source the stuff and yet my local craft/artist supply could get it.
I live in a city of over three million people. To go to a decent small scale (‘h.o.’ or ‘OO’ scale) I have to travel about an hour each way. To get U.S. standard gauge items, like Aristo and USA Trains I need to travel for a similar time and then take potluck at what may or may not be on the shelves.
To get LGB I need to travel about two hours south and pay full retail. The dealer has less stock available then what I already have on my railroad. Why would I travel for four hours in the car, pay full retail and most likely find the dealer does not even have an item in stock. Even getting basic track items can be a hassle. Why not simply log in to the internet, pay by PayPal and simply await delivery. Seems more civilised than travelling across the country in the hope of finding something on a dealer’s shelf.
The Aristo internet selling method may be controversial but then how controversial is a hobby store that does not have hobby items on the shelves. The hobby store needs to redefine itself and its purpose in today’s internet hungry world. Our local major retail centres are lobbying the federal governemnt to impose a goods and services tax on ALL online sales. The government has replied that to impliment the tax would cost three times the anticpated tax revenue. Still the major retail stores are lobbying harder. The stores have set up their own internet sites but are selling items the same price as instore. Who are they kidding? They want to sabotage overseas online sales plus maintain a control over all internal online sales and maintain retail price levels. Have they not heard of competition?
The hobby store needs to look at itself as a ‘hobby’ store, not simply a box retailer. The hobbyist purchasing a toy train set is just at the beginning of the journey. Postal restrictions limit the transport of dangerous goods like paints, solvents, glues, etc. A smart hobby store will change his business model to cater for the changing needs. He cannot compete with online stores. Typically a largescale Bachmann locomotive retails here for around $1200. One can buy the same item online at an Australian eBay seller for $499 plus $30 shipping. It is not computer science. Someone is making a huge profit margin markup!
Come to think of it, I think there was a 15 inch RR that operated along the Columbia River on the North Bank, east of Vancouver, WA, for a while. It was soon replaced by the SP&S.