Dave45681 posted:jd-train posted:I would disagree that it should be a totally closed meet.
If the public sales help make is worthwhile for the dealers to go to York, I see this as a win for everyone!
Jim
But that point is under debate, to the best of my knowledge.
For years, the cry from dealers was to let the public in, so they could experience the meet. That has now happened for the dealer halls over the last few meets, but this is the meet where several importers and magazine companies decided to not attend, so apparently the public did not enhance their bottom line enough to balance the decline due to other factors.
So whether it helped is debatable. As J611 mentioned, the demographic remains the same. That factor cannot be altered much by admitting the public, it would seem.
The (sad, but true) joke among me and my dealer and some other colleagues that socialize at York is that "20 years ago, when I joined (shortly after graduating college and having a real job), I was one of the youngest members of the TCA. It's now 20+ years later, and I am still one of the youngest members of the TCA."
-Dave
I guess that I am struggling with coming up with a reason why it would be bad for the dealer halls to be open to the public?
Having the halls open to the public at worst would have no impact on the vendors. Anything else but worse case, would be a plus for them in terms of sales. Even a modest $1,000 - $2,000 in additional sales might be enough to make their attendance worthwhile. Whether total sales from TCA members plus the public is enough to justify a vendor's cost to attend York, is something only that vendor could decide.
I just don't see a downside to having the dealer halls open to the public.
Lionel made their own decision not to attend based on what they perceived as best for them. I wonder, however, at what other venue would there be around 10,000 o-gauge model train hobbiest?
Jim
