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| To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com |
| The Retailer's Complaint | |
| We’ve got a reputation, we model railroaders. “Exacting” and “precise” are a couple of terms. “Rivet counters” is another. When I drop into forums and such, I hear complaints from modelers about retailers, but it wasn’t until I started dropping in on trade shows that I started hearing the other side of the issue. Very few shops can make it on model trains alone, so most hobby shops deal in a large variety of items, and trains are just one section. Radio control airplanes, boats, and cars may be the most profitable line in the average store. Paints, glues, and other modeling supplies are usually general in their appeal. Plastic and die cast vehicle kits usually dominate a section of their own, and there is often a tool section along with another for magazines, books, and other publications. All of these sections must vie for shelf space based upon turn rate. This last term describes how often an item is sold. Multiply the number of times a product turns every year against the markup to determine how much money that bit of shelf space earns each year. Retail is a funny business, as I found out many years ago when I worked in sales. A person can make a living, but isn’t likely to get rich. Most hobby retailers I’ve talked to have a sort of love/hate relationship with model railroading. On one hand, the merchandise is interesting and it can be fun to sell. On the other hand…. It seems that some model railroad hobbyists have some habits which drive hobby retailers to distraction. All hobbyists are cheap at some level, wanting to get more stuff for the same money. Hobby shop owners all face those days when someone brings in a half assembled plane, car, train, boat, or other item and wants a refund, even though the retailer can’t resell the item. So these aren’t the problems which set model railroaders apart from the rest of the hobby world. Retailers can count on dumb questions and shoplifters, so neither of these can be laid exclusively at our feet. No, the one biggest complaint they have about model railroaders is that we yell at retailers. By “yell” I mean that we (and I include myself here) issue strongly worded preferences and opinions. Really, how much good does it do to rag out your local hobby shop guy because he has that Baldwin Sharknose in New York Central but not in Delaware & Hudson? Worse, I have been in hobby shops when some guy fires up about how the handrails on that diesel just aren’t like the prototype and only a stupid, low-life, ignorant newby would take a piece of junk like that home. Meanwhile, standing down some aisle is a guy who was thinking about buying that very locomotive, thought it was actually pretty nice, but suddenly has lost his appetite. The end result is that this loco languishes on the shelf and can’t be sold because this “expert” has badmouthed it to the point where no one dares buy it. Now it’s using up an inventory slot and shelf space that might be filled with something else. Then there are the guys who come into the store and run down the inventory selection. One of our local hobby shops stocks a lot of Southern Pacific stuff because we live in the middle of SP Country and he sells a lot of Espee merchandise. If you come in and complain because he doesn’t carry a lot of D&H or L&N, you aren’t helping at all. Instead, ask him if he can special order those roads. Special orders are common in the hobby business, but he won’t stock them because his turn rate on either road is minimal. So the biggest complaint retailers have about model railroaders is that some of us say hurtful things. I’m learning to bite my tongue, and I’m trying to be more helpful. Just because I know stuff and am proud that I’ve learned it doesn’t constitute a good reason to stand around someone’s store and kill his sales. Of course, you’re probably not the problem, but you can cut this article out and give it to someone else! |
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John Sipple, Editor |
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| To respond to this month's Editorial, send comments to: Editorial@modelrailroadnews.com | |
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