This is an aging hobby. Layouts get completed and collections do fill up.
Even malls are closing, and they used to be great places for socializing, but folks just walking around and having an occasional snack have not been enough to keep brick-and-mortar businesses in business. An example would be what is happening to Sears, and they used to be almost a required presence at a mall to get it up and running. Another example would be Toys Are Us. What happened to them? We at the TCA Meets at York, PA are not immune to such pressures and realities, are we.
The buildings at York are temporary brick-and-mortar market places. If the socializing draws people in, then that is advantageous. If folks make purchases, then the event can continue.
If more and more purchases are made on-line, like my wife's and mine are for everything else besides trains, and we used to spend whole afternoons at malls, then the "writing is on the wall," alas. I think the only thing I still buy in-person at a store is a new car, and those events are far apart.
I used to have a booth in the Orange Hall.
At each Meet, I sold everything I had made for that event (usually 41 - 48 pieces, from @$29 - $1,400 each). Yet, even my biggest customers had their layouts eventually reach completion. They needed less and less. Plus, since I am aging, I have my own particular limitations, nowadays, so I do not go to York any further, though I do continue to sell on-line from my website and over the phone.
WE are in the midst of big economic and social changes, currently, as everybody knows. If vendors at York continue to participate but sell very little, I can imagine continued attendance may become a challenge, regardless of how pleasantly folks are there meeting with friends. The social aspect provides a conducive atmosphere, but if sales approach ZERO, why should a vendor keep participating? Participation as a vendor is a lot of work, you know.
Money talks.
FrankM, Layout Refinements, and Moon Township, USA