Good News...Bad News

The really bad news is no web site. 

I would have to say bad news, when a LHS, goes out....

Gary

I loved visiting the Boardman/Youngstown area as a kid. Amers, Boardman Hobby, The Great Train Store, Triggs (later Train America), Trumbull Camera & Hobby, Lionel Kiddie City, and Crouse Hardware were all within a few miles of each other. The 70's & 80's were a great time to be a kid in that area! I wish them a happy retirement.

good luck on retirement. I was thinking Amer's had already closed. I'll have to make a run up there. Thanks Rich.

Again, sad to hear. It seems this is happening a lot.

Talk about bad news.....

 

Before we moved to Key West, we lived just south of Youngstown, my dad on very special occasions would take me to Amers, I can see the store in my memory clear as if it were yesterday and it is a place that I will always associate with happiness of youth and spending time with my dad.

 

I will be making a trip up there to see it one last time, I'll take my son, and hope that he too will have happy thoughts of spending time with his dad.

 

Best,

Jason

 

Yup, it's always a downer to hear about these big sales at such stores and have no way to check it out and participate.

What O-gauge lines did they carry?

 

Dave

Its terrible news, kinda not surprised though, seems jack has been planning this for awhile. Jack is a nice guy and hope the best for him in retirement, now he has more time to spend at the Youngstown model railroad club. My dad got his 1st train set from Amer's in dec 48, he wasnt born until jul 49. Howard asked his grandfather how old his grandson is and he said not due until july, howard said how do you know it will be a boy, he said "what the hell else would my grandson be" he still has that train set! Quite ashame to see it going away!

It is sad to see more Train hobby shops closing.

 

Is it possible for some one to find out a list of what O scale models they have? MTH, Lionel, RK, Imperial, Premier, Legacy and/or Vision Line...

Is it possible for some one to find out a list of what O scale models they have? MTH, Lionel, RK, Imperial, Premier, Legacy and/or Vision Line...

More good news: that someone can be YOU.  The phone number is in the original post. 

Not much left there ..Amers..unless you're in HO

My first Lionel set came from Howard Amer and his original shop (closer to downtown Youngstown) in 1950, and many more sets and individual items followed over the next ten years or so.

 

The bad news, in addition to the closing, is that the current Amer's (Howard is long since gone) is far from the Lionel mecca it once was. Truth is, there's very little there for the serious Lionel fan (that's about the only line they ever carried in O). I haven't been there in a while now--no real reason to visit in recent times--but if you're into HO or N you might have better luck finding something you can use.

 

Another one bites the dust! That's  too bad for the hobby .

more bad news.

 

alliedtrains on the west coast

Seems like the industry is compacting fast. Shame, but after all the years of supporting the hobby retirement probably looks good.

 

All the best.

The first Lionel postwar engine I purchased as a kid I had cleaned and serviced at Amer's. I still have it to this day. I'll have to fire it up as it still runs like a top. 

 

In the case of Allied Trains:

 

STOCKHOLDERS?  I never envisioned ANY model train hobby shop large enough to have stockholders/dividends, etc. Sounds to me like this one got too big for itself at one point. Just what a marginal operation needs: Stockholders meddling in the business.

I took all that stockholder talk from Allied Model Trains to be "tongue in cheek" meaning the handful of folks that kept it open this long had simply had enough.

 

Perhaps, I was incorrect...but, that was my interpretation.

Sorry to hear about Amers.

 

It does seem that we've had a number of train store closings in a very short time.  Barry's, Allied, Maxwells, and now Amers.  I hope the pace of these closings isn't accelerating, but it would surprise me if it did.  The Baby Boomers (which form a big part of the train generation) are aging.

 

George

I wouldnt be alarmed, the hobby isnt going anywhere. Plenty of younger people interested. Yes there are several closing but i'd say thats mostly due to age or owners and/or refusal to change with times, no websites etc... But to their defense a lot of people just use hobby shops as a touch and feel display showcase, then go home and search online for best price, not saying thats wrong or not, but at sometime your local display may not be there.



       

Most of the time I prefer to order from the internet. The closest LHS to me is a 45 minute drive and I'm not making a special trip there when I can sit here and place an order from thousands of products and have it delivered to my front door. It's not about the price for me it's about the convenience. I can't drive to and from for less than the average delivery charge if I factor in my time, gas and wear and tear on the vehicle. I'm 67 so I don't think it has much to do with age. If I'm in the area of the LHS I do like stopping there and always buy something but no special trip.

We in Seattle lost North End Train Center and American Eagles Hobby up on Lake City Way, (north end of Lake Washington) 4 years ago. The shriking demographic of people from young to old that are interested in things beyond the digital universe and the effects of on-line competition. I really don't know what the model industry looks like from automobiles to trains but certainly the brick and mortar side appears very stressed and has been for a long time.

 

That said the swap meets in the local area seem well attended from Boeing Employee's Model Train Club show in Kent to the Puallup, Monroe and the lesser sized Lynden show up on the Canandian border. A trip across Lake Washington to Eastside Trains in Kirkland usually finds a sizeable crowd. But I admit that most of my purchases at least the bigger buck purchases are from the swap meets, Ebay and the web stores as prices are a lot better.

 

Bogie

 

This is the end of a long story for me.  My mother graduated from South High School on Market Street with Howard in the early '30s.  In the late forties or early 50's I remember visiting Howard's home basement with my Dad and being in awe of the orange boxes everywhere. Then Howard opened his first store just south of downtown Youngstown in the very early 50's.  I remember many pilgrimages there, again with my Dad, usually on a Saturday morning after breakfast at Mr. Wheelers and a visit to Stambaugh-Thompson's in the Uptown.  In 1952 my Christmas present from Mom and Dad was my Lionel 2056 Hudson freight set which I have to this day.  This was an extravagent gift when money was in short supply. The set was $59.50 plus I got some accessories too! I think I'll run it under the Christmas tree this year as a way to remember Howard.  Somehow too Howard was always ageless even in the last days running the shop.  Dapper in his white shirt, white hair and spectacles .... And always a gentleman.

Oh the memories!!

 

Mr. Wheelers was a great little place to eat in the Uptown area. My mom and dad often took me there as a kid.

 

And don't forget Howard's ever-present bow tie.

Thanks..I had forgotten about Mr Wheelers..