Hobby Shop owner rub you the wrong way

[Gary B]

We've got a guy here who runs a warehouse full of stuff. Half the lights are out. It's hot as hell in summer. It stinks from his tropical birds. There is stuff laying everywhere to trip over. You cannot even find the counter. The dude has no personnel hygen and an abrasive personality. But he got tons of stuff to browse through so a couple of times a year I hold my nose and venture in. Last year I show up and the sign said he was closed. He shows up at the door and offers to let me in if I was going to grab a quick item. Seems some women says something to him so he 'Told the bi- (well I can't repeat it)' She called the local cops and they shut him down for a few days. Having enough violations to have your business condemned, you would think he would not get into a fight, but nooooooooooooo!

 

[jackn2mpu]

I guess I'm really having good experiences with lhs's! I had a sales guy help me look for Maine Central stuff. He found a GP38, and i told him "Way too late! I'm doing transition era..."
He promptly found me a GP7. When he found out it was a bit out of my budget... he hid the engine so nobody else would buy it!
That's sales help. And he's just the intern guy, not even the shop owner!

The guy that owned/ran the now defunct DKB Railways in Hightstown (NJ) was like that. He knew through various conversations that I was modeling the NYC & NYNH&H and would tip me to stuff coming out. When you find someone like that - hold onto him as long as you can.

 

[whowey]

I guess I am lucky.. I have never had a bad experience at a local shop. A few negative ones at the chain places, but I suspect that is probably to be expected these days.


I will share a positive experience with a local hobby shop.
The shop is a hobby shop and not a train shop, so the last few years his train specific inventory has dropped a bit and other hobbies have eaten up more square footage in his store. He has a family to feed just like all of us, so this doesn't bother me. If we don't spend enough money there, he needs to find something that will let him take care of his business.

I was in the shop picking up some little bits, a jar of paint, some scale lumber, etc. I am also a Cubmaster for a smaller Cub Scout pack. We were getting ready to do a model car night for our pack and I needed more cars. I asked the young lady at the counter if I made a larger order could they help us on the price. She said I would have to come back when her dad was there, but she was sure that dad would be able to help us.

I drove back the next day and talked to her dad(the owner). He was able to give us a VERY good price under what even the Meglo*Mart wanted for them. He also had them shipped to my house to save me an extra round trip(70 miles or so). So now I have an excuse to take my wife out for lunch on a few Saturdays and stop at his shop more often.