Brick & Mortar

[bbmiroku]

I've heard this, that, and the other about how some people's nearest Local Hobby Shop (LHS), when they were children, was waaaaay off in the distance, and how sometimes that's still true.

Myself, there was always a 'permanent' stall in the back of the local indoor every-weekend flea market that catered to trains (mostly), cars, and trucks.  And French's Hobby Store was just down the street.  Having grown up, French's closed (after 50+ years), the local flea market guy is still there, and I've found two more stores within public transportation distance of me.  So I consider myself lucky.

But now I've been wondering, just how lucky am I?

And the question I put to you is this:  Where's your nearest hobby store at a physical location, either as a child, as an adult, or both?

[Len]

As a kid the closest hobby shop with train stuff was about 3 miles away. The LHS my repair shop used to be in, which was only trains, was exactly 2 miles away. The only "train store" left in my area now is about 15 miles away. The next nearest is about 40 miles, give or take a mile.

These days I do almost all of my train shopping on line, or at one of the occasional train shows. 15 miles may not sound like much, but it involves driving through some of the heaviest traffic, highest accident rate, areas around here.

Len

[ebtnut]

When I was a kid, there was a hobby shop that was largely trains about 2 miles from the house.  When I was old enough, I could bike there.  Downtown DC once had three major hobby shops - one was trains exclusively, one was mostly trains but also boats and planes, the other was primarily Lionel.  There was another train shop about 6 miles the other way.  All of them ultimately were lost to various urban redevelopment projects.  Today, aside from the Timonium train shows, the only really decent train stores are Kline's, 45 miles away north of Baltimore and Mainline Hobbies, sixty miles away. 

[Hunt]

One of the top rated, year after year,  model trains only brick & mortar in USA is less than seven miles from me.  More than ten with model trains are within 15 miles.

[Trainman203]

My LHS is two friends who have no actual store, they only do train shows.  They are 10 miles away in Gulfport.  They order anything I need at a hugantic discount.  

It is way different than 55 years ago in south Louisiana when Houston was the nearest over 200 miles away.  There was no internet, anything I knew about I saw in the magazines. Dreams floated in splendor around the AHC ads and the ads for the models of the gods, the brass steam engines by Pacific Fast Mail, Akane, Gem, and Olympia.

We visited family in Houston 3 or 4 times a year .  I'd save my money and have maybe $30 if I was lucky.  They'd drop me off at the G&G Model Shop and come back 3 or 4 hours later.  I was in heaven.  The owners were top grade , they let me look in all the kits.  I'll never forget those days and those guys at G&G.

[Terry Toenges]

As a kid, when I lived in South St. Louis, Johnson's Train Shop was about five blocks away from me on Chippewa St. Chippewa was a major East-West street so we traveled West on Chippewa most of the time to get anywhere. When we we did, we passed Johnson's. They always had some kind of O27 or O layout in the window. Whether passing it while riding the bus or in a car or walking, it was always a thrill for me. I used to ride my bike up there sometimes just to look at the trains.
I had gotten an O27 set for Christmas about '59 or '60 so I liked drooling over the trains.
They used to sell used stuff, too. They had this little blue yard switcher on the shelf for $5.00. That might as well have been a million to me. I was determined that I would figure out a way to get it. I got 25 cents a week allowance. In '61 I think it was, I use to set pins at a bowling alley on weekends for a penny a frame and would make around $4.00 for the weekend. I saved whatever money I could and after a couple months, I was able to buy it. Such a thrill it was for me because I was only 11 and I bought something of my very own.
It looked like this one. I still have it but it sounds like a coffee grinder when running. It always was noisy.
Now, the nearest train store (if it's still there) is about 60 miles away.

[Piyer]

Hm.... From the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, growing up in Brooklyn, NY, my "hobby shops" were Toys'R'Us and Kay-Bee Toys at Kings Plaza, Walt's Hobby Shop in Bay Ridge, Train World (at their old Avenue M location), and Hobby King on Avenue U. The latter was the only one to carry things like styrene and detail parts. I spent enough money on their stuff that today, 25+/- years later I'm still using up what I bought there!

Today I live in Missouri, there are at least a half-dozen stores within easy driving distance (up to 1 hour each way), ranging from the slim pickings of Hobby Lobby and Menards, to the Micro Engineering factory / office where you can actually show up at their door an buy directly from them. In between you have a mixed bag of shops, including possibly the last place on Earth where you can buy a Varney model off the shelf in new condition.

Alas, there is also one store that is selling off it's model train items and dropping the hobby from its offerings. I was in there on Monday, and talking with the owners it seems their decision was two-fold: internet sales dominate the hobby and they are in no position to compete. The second is a perceived graying of the hobby based on who they are selling to. Ultimately, however, I think it comes down to the sound decision of making ends meet. They are focusing on RC racers and static model kits because that is what moves off the shelves. Meeting the rent, paying the bills, and still having something left over to put black ink on the books, is the bottom line for them - or any business, for that matter.

[Radioguy]

Wow. Polk's...and a few others too, but I was never so hardcore that I had to delve much into specialty shops when KB and TRU had decent sections for hobbies, and my budget (or allowance) was so small. Well, I did press my face against the FAO Schwarz Marklin displays more than once.

These days, I can't complain having Trainworld and Red Caboose in my city when others don't have such resources, but those are almost outposts in a desolate land. Not that Bachmann or other brands of classic model rail are as plentiful as was in TRU in their heyday, but the loss of TRU is a death knell to chain or average B&M shops having classic stuff like this. You just don't see hobbies like model trains (AC), model kits, or entry-level hobby-esque toys like kites, having the shelfspace they did back in the day. It bothers me that these are all very American in tradition, as well.

The phone, tablet, game console and PC have supplanted the tangible, and I don't think it's going to get better unless the grid goes down.

[jonathan]

As a kid, I remember hobby shops seemed to be quite common.

When I first moved to Northern Virginia, there were a number of choices, including a store within walking distance of my house.

In the last 12 years, ALL the stores have gone under.  I believe the closest physical store is a place called Star Hobby which is in Annapolis, a good 90 minutes from home.  Think I've been there once.

There is a Hobbylobby in my city... which is great... if you want the one trainset they carry, some glue, or some very expensive trees.  I shouldn't complain I guess.  They do carry a small selection of brass/steel wire and a very few other sundries.

Train shows seem to be the only venue left where once can explore, and pick up tools, details, kits... etc.

Regards,

Jonathan

[ACY]

Nearest Menards is 75 miles away (1 hr 22 min) and is also the furthest East location last I knew. I have not seen stuff in there myself but hear it is mostly carried during the holiday season.

Nearest Hobby Lobby is 33 minutes away, they carry 2 Bachmann HO train sets and 1 N scale and as mentioned previous very slim pickings. Hobby Lobby had a decent selection of mostly Bachmann products when they first opened.

The Nearest Hobbytown USA is 85 miles away (1 hr 43 min), there used to be one about 30 minutes away just down the road from Hobby Lobby but it went out of business 3 or 4 years ago. It had a better selection than Hobby Lobby ever had. They had Bowser and Accurail kits in addition to a lot of Bachmann stuff and some Athearn Genesis locomotives among other things.

There is a local hobby shop that used to carry some model train stuff but stopped carrying it about 15-20 years ago, they now only carry mainly RC stuff but absolutely no trains except around Christmas they carry 1 Bachmann HO and 1 Lionel O train set but no other related products. It is only 25 minutes away but doesn't matter since it has no model railroad stuff 11 months out of 12.

Another local hobby shop that had the largest selection in the area closed down 3 or 4 years ago after the owner died and cited the lack of ability to compete with mail order/online businesses.

Another local hobby shop used to be mostly model railroad stuff, now is mostly RC cars, boats, planes and model kits. The model railroad section is not being restocked but it not being reduced in price either. The current inventory includes American Flyer S scale, Lionel O scale, maybe a bit of Williams O scale stuff. They also have N scale but sold all remaining locomotives aside from some old train sets. There is a decent amount of HO stuff but only a couple locomotives and a trolley. This place is about 35 minutes away. The owner of the shop is in his 80's and going to retire this year and close if a buyer isn't found. He also will not order anything for you so there is no point in going there for me.

There is another shop that I heard has a pretty good selection for O scale mostly, that I haven't been to that is about an hour away. As far as I know it does not have much HO though.

And then any shops that may be in the Cleveland or Pittsburgh area are an hour and 45 minutes away.
I am not sure what is left in the Akron-Canton area but those would be an hour and 20 minutes away roughly. I think quite a few of the shops in this area are now closed from what I hear.

From the mid 90's and back there was a large amount of hobby shops with a large model railroad selection. Starting in the late 90's is when shops began to change their inventory and close down in my general area.

Train America was the closest hobby shop to me as a kid, those in O scale may recognize this name as he did quite a bit of aftermarket sound and digital control (TMCC etc) install for Lionel/O scale. All factory Lionel repairs were completed at a location about 5 minutes from my house for quite some time. The owner of Train America moved to North Carolina for his Lionel job and closed his shop and now a Dunkin Donuts and a plaza sit on top of the hobby shop's former location.

[James in FL]

Zitnik Trains, 5½ miles due East.
In Pinellas Park.
Visit Zitnik 1-2imes per month.
H&R Trains, about 9 +/- miles or so, same road, same direction, further east, in St Pete.
Haven't been there for about 6 months.
There is another shop up on Ulmerton Rd. in Largo, between Starkey and Belcher, which seems to be still in business.
10 +/- miles north of me.
The three times I've passed it, it has not been open.
But I think that's just timing, think they have been there 2-3 years.

[Joe323]

There is a little store here on Staten Island called EZ Catch or something like that selling trains and fish tackle.  However for better selection if I don't mind paying the toll on the Verrazano Bridge I can drive to  Trainworld or Trainland.

[Trainman203]

It's like a broken record.

LHS is closing because the aging owner wants to retire and can't sell the shop.

LHS is surviving because they've gone RC and dumped trains.

LHS that continues to do well with trains is likely in the northeast or the west coast.  Probably because population density can support it.

[RAM]

At one time there was a mail order place called something like railway postoffice.  They got mad at MR and dropped their ads and went to MRC.  Are they still around?

[Trainman203]

The LHS I can't figure out is Hawkins Rail in Indiana somewhere. Every month they run an ad in the magazines saying to come see their 130 car grain train running on their layout.  The ad revels in a pre computer Stone Age ethos :  no website, they say they don't have a catalog but to send them a SASE (you young people know what that is?) and they'll send you a list of what they have.  Reading it is being back in 1963 all over again.  But they seem to stay in business.  Anyone ever actually been there or ordered anything from them?