From the Dome Car: Train 5 Track 5 (November-December, 1995)

 

"Weekend Warriors”—there’s a term I haven’t heard for a long time! Weekend Warriors is what we used to call people who operated hobby shops out of their homes, selling new products at weekend train shows across the country. Hobby shops disliked them for cutting into their sales since they could sell items so much cheaper due to not paying rent, salaries and taxes. Morgan took the topic head on in this Dome Car, and in a special investigative report in the magazine written by yours truly. (I think this was my first byline in the magazine.) 

The ongoing controversy between hobby shops and the so-called 'weekend warriors'—people working out of their homes who sell new model railroad products at weekend shows—was recently brought to our attention here at CRM. It's our policy at CRM not to mention swap meets in Subdivision Footnotes. The column is intended to provide free space to clubs which want to promote their shows. 

But a hobby shop owner in southern Ontario informed us that about half-dozen of the shows in his area were, in fact, swap meets. The hobby shop owner insisted he wasn't against modellers getting together to sell used and old model railroad equipment that they no longer have any use for. What bothered him is that the shows rented tables to people who have made a business out of selling new items at weekend shows. Because of their low overhead, they can sell items at low prices he can't compete with. 

From where we sit, there doesn't seem to be a clear-cut answer to the problem. People selling new items at discount prices at shows aren't doing anything illegal. As an advertisement for a national chain of stores states, "the lowest price is the law." 

We think this attitude could endanger the hobby. Why? Those who are affected by the sale of new items at discount prices at shows aren't just hobby shops, but all of us who enjoy the hobby of model railroading. If a hobby shop is forced to close due to lack of sales, it's you and I who suffer. Where will you go when you need a no. 60 drill, a sheet of styrene, some track nails, a scale ruler, a bottle of paint, a detail part or a hard-to-find decal? Who do you turn to when the new locomotive you bought doesn't run? Or the new kit is missing a door? Not to a weekend show, that's for sure. 

We will continue to list shows in Subdivision Footnotes as a service to our readers. But at the same time, we want to state that we support and respect the independent hobby shop owners who promote and serve our hobby. That's why we decided to devote some space to the controversy in this issue (p. 22; see article below). After reading it, let us know what you think. 

On a sad note, we regret to inform you of the passing of George Olieux, founder and owner of GEORGE'S TRAINS in Toronto, Ontario. There aren't many of us who don't know about GEORGE'S. The store, which began operations in the 1960s, is likely the best-known hobby shop in Canada. Sons John and Richard have managed the store for several years and will continue to do so. We offer our condolences to friends and family alike. 

On the magazine front, our last issue got a bit behind due to several factors, many of which were out of our control. It takes many hands and a lot of cooperation between individuals and companies to have everything come together on time. The main concern is that it did get out and future issues are in the works. So please bear with us and know that we are doing our best under some unpleasurable circumstances. 

We would still like to receive more Modellers Photos' along with articles on building structures. If you, as a reader, have something in mind that you feel we may be interested in, just drop us a line or give me a call some evening. Producing articles is not that difficult (as I explained in the last issue), and we are always happy to talk with new potential authors. The magazine doesn't happen without you! 

Well folks, that's about all for now. Halloween is over; it's time to think about Christmas, and in many parts of this great country, snow is already on the ground. Take care until we see you again in the next issue.

 

Good Service or Lowest Price? 

HOBBY SHOP OWNERS SAY CLUB SHOWS THREAT TO BUSINESS

If someone offered you a new locomotive at a third to half less than at your local hobby shop, would you be interested? Of course you would. But would you still buy it if it meant putting your local hobby shop out of business? Of course not, you say. 

But hobby shop owners say that their business is being threatened as more of us buy new items at model railroad shows across the country. 

"I'm not against shows, it's just that we're no longer talking about the average hobbyist with a few things to sell," says Richard Hobby, owner of Broughdale Hobby Shop in London, Ontario. "We're talking about guys with basements full of new items charging prices I can't compete with." 

What concerns owners are individuals who can charge a lot less for new items because they work out of their homes. "It isn't a level playing field," says Hal Kinsey of Vancouver's Central Hobbies. "They don't have to pay for things like rent, wages, business and other taxes, utilities and insurance." 

As a result, Kinsey says that people working out their homes in his area have prices ten to 15 percent below what he can afford to charge. 

In southern Ontario there are shows almost every other weekend from September through April. One owner estimates that 75 percent of tables at shows in his area are rented by people selling new items through home-based businesses. For hobby shops, the result is a loss of thousands of dollars of business. 

Hobby figures that the four sales in his area cost him about a month's worth of sales—around $10,000. "The week prior to a show is dead for sales," he says. 

Richard Olieux of George's Trains in Toronto also notices a decline in sales prior to nearby shows. "We just can't compete with their prices," he says. Adds another owner: "If there's a show within an hour's drive, I don't see my regulars that day." 

But owners say that what really irritates them is that only stores are supposed to be able to get new items—despite manufacturers saying they refuse to sell to anyone working out of their home. 

"Our policy is only to sell to store front retailers," says Walthers Customer Service Supervisor Sandy Allen. She says that Walthers "makes every effort to confirm and verify" that a new customer actually has a store. This includes requiring new accounts to send photos of their store to prove they are accessible to the public. 

She says that Walthers is "concerned" about the growing number of their products being sold at shows, but that "distance makes it hard" for them to police all their accounts. 

Plus, she adds, "people do lie and falsify things. We don't have the staff to do follow up." 

But Kinsey, for one, thinks that companies which make or distribute model railroad products should try harder. "They could call us to ask if someone has a legitimate store or not, or call the Better Business Bureau," he says. 

Olieux also wishes they would do more, but doesn't think some manufacturers really want to "crack down" on illicit retailers. "A lot of them [manufacturers] are hurting for business. They'll take it any way they can," he says. 

But Allen says it's unrealistic to expect companies like Walthers to police the situation. Plus, she adds, some hobby shops also set up at shows to sell over-stocked items at discount prices. "This makes it harder to regulate," she says. 

PROBLEM OVERBLOWN? 

Two people who sell new items at shows say the problem is overblown. "I think the shows draw even more business to hobby shops by promoting the hobby," says Dave Jaffray of London, who runs Hobby-Trek from his home. 

Jaffray, who does custom painting and sells one line of model railroad items, says that shows "are more of a good thing than a bad thing" for the hobby. Plus, the low prices "help keep prices down at the hobby shops . . . I've seen a lot of price-gouging over the years," he says. 

Peter Mumby, also of London, agrees. "Maybe hobby shops don't have to put the full mark-up on items," he says. Besides, he thinks that fewer people are going to shows to buy things. "My business has gone down over the past four to five years," he says. "I don't think I'm selling enough to hurt anybody." 

Mumby, who runs Peter's Trains, says other factors should also be considered, such as competition from the U.S. "It isn't strictly the shows that are to blame," he says. 

LOWEST PRICE OR SERVICE? 

Hobby shop owners realize that price is a major consideration for customers. "I'd just as soon pay five or ten dollars less, like everybody else," says Kinsey. 

But owners say that the advice, wide range of products and good service offered by hobby shops makes them valuable to modellers. "Just try taking something that doesn't work back to the guy who sold it to you at a show," says Hobby. 

Adds another owner: "I'm fighting back by being well stocked, by having one of everything." 

For Hobby, a quote from Model Retailer Magazine on the wall of his store sums it up for him. "It's time someone told people what a great deal the local hobby shop is.”