I think what bothers me was expressed well by someone else, it is almost the idea that because an LHS is an LHS, it is our duty to support them somehow, and that if we don't like what they are doing, we have the right not to buy there (but then how are we supposed to support them if we don't shop there?). People talk about the free market, deride socialism as taking away choices, but then in effect people are doing that, they are saying that somehow the LHS owner is a businessman/god and how dare we criticize them or critique their business model?
I saw the same crap over the years growing up. When NJ finally got rid of its idiotic blue laws when I was in college (I worked at a department store, and the blue laws were unbelievably stupid and hard to fathom, if someone came with a pair of socks to the register I was working at the time, if they were sports socks from sporting goods it was okay, if they were sports socks from the men's department, couldn't wring them up). Besides the religious types who wanted to force their religious beliefs on everyone else, the big guilty parties were small business owners, who complained and moaned that if we got rid of those laws, they would have to be open Sunday.
Lots of righteous indignation about the fate of the small business owner, but want to know something? I agree with my dad, I felt no sympathy for them, because in turn they had no concept of customer service, I don't give a crap about all the mythologizing about small businesses, the personal service, it often wasn't true. For example,local hardware stores were often open 8-4 Monday to friday, and maybe had hours 9-12 on Saturday if you were lucky...because the store owner wanted regular hours. Smart? No, because most people work during the week. On top of that, they were often nasty, arrogant SOB's, and quite frankly, I shed no tears when they went under. It didn't dawn on the jerks it would be a lot better perhaps to be open Saturday and Sunday, and close during the week (when business is lighter), or maybe open later and stay open later..but they wanted that 9-5 job in their own business. For many years, that is all we had, they faced no competition so they got settled in their ways, and thought they were king of the rat pack..and they tried to use the laws for years to protect them, rather then figuring out customers mattered.
LHS are often the same way, I am sorry to say. Yes, it is a hard business, most small businesses are, and they face the fact that it isn't really a high volume market, it is a niche market, and the manufacturers don't exactly favor small business (large volumes are a lot more profitable, even at volume discounts, to sell to) and believe it or not my sympathies are with them. On the other hand, at least try to compete, at least try to find a business model that allows you to operate, instead of complaining and moaning about how 'the internet has ruined my business', that is an excuse, and not a very good one.
The real problem is that the LHS now faces competition, while it is true that you could always pick up a copy of a train magazine (like OGRR or CTT, or before then, Model Railroader) and see adds from Trainworld, Ro, etc, to see prices, in reality the LHS often was the world when it came to trains, and they got used to that. Now that there is an Internet, people know what prices are, they know what the volume discounters are doing, and they have to pick and choose what they are doing, compete with what they have. Yep, the internet can be a danger to them, but it is a friend, they can find ways to market their own shop, they can do internet sales, they also might be able to develop a supply chain where they can pick up stuff at good prices and make some profit on that.
Sure, the store owner can wait until someone is willing to pay ridiculous prices on old stock, but then they shouldn't whine people should be buying from them. if they were smart, and knew that X engine was out in PS3 and they had the PS2 Model at the same price, or they heard it was coming out in PS3, if someone comes in and makes a decent offer, take it. If they have old stock that doesn't sell, they can do a bit of research on flea bay or elsewhere, look at a greenberg guide, and realize that maybe, just maybe, to use someone else's analogy, they have a 1980 Chevy Citation, not a Corvette, and no one is going to pay full MSRP for a 32 year old beater like that. Among other things, what the dealer is telling their potential customers is either that they are really stupid, and therefore will be dumb enough to buy their stuff, or they are playing Mad Max in the second Road Warrior movie, and are saying "you want's the gasoline, you comes to me", and both are quite frankly foolish.
The key is asking themselves how do I differentiate myself? How do I find a way given my business model to get people to shop and buy from me, even if I can't compete with the big discounters...it seems an obvious question, but IMO a lot aren't asking that. Maybe it is tailoring store hours to the hours people actually work (and in all fairness, lots of stores do that).Maybe it is having workshops at the store, to teach about things like how to use command control, how to do basic maintenance on rolling stock, how to get started in the hobby. Maybe it is doing outreach, with groups like boy scouts or other groups dedicated to kids, to get them interested...the list has been talked about ad infinitum, and there were a lot of great thoughts out there, it revolves around service, it revolves around making your store the first place people want to go. And I recognize that there are a lot of hypocritical customers, the grumpy old farts I have run into, who will bemoan the lost of LHSs, but then will go to an LHS, look at the unit, then use the Net to find the cheapest price, and even if the local store isn't that much more expensive, will complain about 'gouging' by the lHS and buy it on the net...and that kind of customer, whom the cheapest price is the only thing, is lost to you. But there are people if a store is reasonable and honest, who offer a lot more then cheap prices, will shop there, if they know about it.
It could also be that market forces have made the LHS, obsolete, but my take is from what I have seen, a lot of them have not even tried, they pine for the good old days, rather then trying to make the best of what they have. There is an LHS near me that has been in business a long time, their prices are not cheap by any means, but they also are a pretty cool place to go, the employees are really, really nice, they have decent hours, and they do the right thing. I bought an old new stock engine there, not under warrantee, that about 2 months after I bought it had issues, they didn't even fight with me, tried it on their in store layout, saw it didn't work, and fixed it for free. In other cases where I bought stuff for them that needed fixing, they fixed it and we split the cost.....and they have kept my business because of it, what there is of it. When I get into serious layout building, I am going to order what I can from them, because they have gotten my trust and I want to help support them where I can.
As for the store mentioned in the original post, if they are making enough money to stay in business and feel happy about their status, hey, all I can say, to quote a recent Bon Jovi song, is 'Have a nice day'
