Lionel store Concord NC

Everything is usually MSRP but they may have some sales going on.

Should be a fun place to visit and talk about trains.  I'm not sure about the pricing, but tend to agree with the other member's comment.  When they had the pop-up stores in NYC the prices were full retail.  They did, however, have some collectibles that were unique to the store.  Have a safe trip!!

Well, that was not what I had hoped. There were 2 employees. They were not Lionel knowledgeable. At all. The one guy was a part timer who could not answer any questions. The manager could answer some questions but seemed unfamiliar with what she had, They had a display on the wall behind the counter with LC+ 2.0 engines. When asked about LC+ 2 I was directed to the shelf with the Berkshires and was told that was it. I found some more while going through other shelves.

Some stuff was on sale 15% off. Among other things i got a mechanized aquarium car with a train that ran around in it. They had leftover engines from the warehouse clearance. She did say they were all new and were kept to swap out if someone sent one in. They were all set engines LC only. I did grab the NYC RS-3 for $50. No remote, of course. But it likes my universal ok.

Frank

@ftauss posted:

Well, that was not what I had hoped. There were 2 employees. They were not Lionel knowledgeable. At all. The one guy was a part timer who could not answer any questions. The manager could answer some questions but seemed unfamiliar with what she had, They had a display on the wall behind the counter with LC+ 2.0 engines. When asked about LC+ 2 I was directed to the shelf with the Berkshires and was told that was it. I found some more while going through other shelves.

Some stuff was on sale 15% off. Among other things i got a mechanized aquarium car with a train that ran around in it. They had leftover engines from the warehouse clearance. She did say they were all new and were kept to swap out if someone sent one in. They were all set engines LC only. I did grab the NYC RS-3 for $50. No remote, of course. But it likes my universal ok.

Frank

I agree.  Call it like it is.  Pretty weak for a train buff.  Good for impulsive consumer to get caught in the ether.  That was my take.

My other hobby is photography and nothing bothers me more than to go in a camera store (if you can still find one) or a hobby train store (if you can still find one) and the people working there are clueless about what they are selling.

My thoughts are, your going to have fun, make it Great by expecting a fun experience, take some pictures and post them on the forum for us to review. There are very few stores anymore with trained folks on what they represent. They know how to operate cash registers, take credit cards, etc. But, go into an AT&T store and they know what’s going on. There should be a giant demonstration layout to see, lots of creative ideas to view, and you can find out about the new catalog coming on January 22nd. Also, you can find out about Lionels repair department and see what’s causing repair delays. It’s going to be an educational experience, one you are going to remember for a lifetime. Enjoy the moment. Happy Railroading Everyone.

I forgot something very important, while visiting the Lionel store, ask if there are fellows in the area with home layouts, that’s something that I would do, I love visiting fellow members layouts. I enjoy when forum members come to see my layout, it’s always fun to see folks with similar interests. I’ve been to at least 150 different layouts in my life, all fun to view, some small, some large, but all really cool views. Enjoy your trip, it’s going to be fun.

@ftauss posted:

Well, that was not what I had hoped. There were 2 employees, not Lionel knowledgeable.  At all.  One was a part timer who could not answer questions. The manager could answer some questions but seemed unfamiliar with what she had.  They had a display behind the counter with LC+ 2.0 engines.  When asked about LC+ 2, I was directed to a shelf with the Berkshires & was told that was it.  I found some more while going through other shelves.

Some stuff was 15% off.  I got an aquarium car.  They had leftover engines from warehouse clearance.  She said they were all new and kept to swap out if someone sent one in.  They were all set engines LC only. Frank

I am not surprised -  thats they way  the Philly-area Lionel pop-up store was when they had it like 10 years ago.  The prices were so high, they would scare away any soccer moms whose kids were showing interest in buying a train set.  Clueless employees untrained to handle questions from seasoned hobbists because the store is designed to attract newbies.

@leapinlarry posted:

While visiting the Lionel store, ask if there are fellows in the area with home layouts.   I love visiting fellow members layouts.

Do you really think the minimum wage employees at the Lionel store would know of local buffs with layouts?  Plus, if you were a local layout person, would you want your name and address being given out to those who wonder into the store?  Its a different world now.

They weren't running the layouts and they had many and they were all nice.

I noticed that a lot of the starter sets only have a circle of track. What genius thought that was a good idea?

Frank

RadioRon, I would not be so quick to judge the character of the Lionel employees of this store, as you never know who you might run into. Also, I have an email in my profile and other forum members have reached out to me in years past to visit my home layout, I enjoy the company. I live in the Nashville Tennessee area and there’s 5 nice layouts to visit. I belong to the TCA, LCCA and they list hobbiest in all the states. You might not be quite as outgoing as I am, so, I wish Frank the best. There are a lot of model railroaders in the North Carolina area. The only problem I see is this pandemic, which is scary. Now, if your ever near me in Tennessee, you always welcome. Happy Railroading Everyone

Frank, just wondering if you had a good time at the Lionel store? Also, did you get some pictures and learn anything about what might be in the upcoming 2021 Signature catalog around January 22nd? Please give us a review as it’s a long drive from Tennessee. Thank you very much l Happy Railroading Everyone

LC RS-3 for $50. Good find.  I assume that was in-store only and not available on the web?

Rick

I worked at the Lionel Store in White Plains when it was there about 8 years ago or so. The people that ran the store knew nothing about trains, but they got guys from Toms Trains to work there and we all knew our stuff. Lionel contracted with some company that specializes with pop up stores. Toms was ok with it because the Lionel store was in the Westchester Mall in White Plains, very high end.  We sold everything, out of the 5 stores we did 2nd most in sales after the store on 6th ave. With every sale we gave the customer a Toms Trains business card. Tom got many customers from that.

There’s some confusion about this 2-year-old mall store in North Carolina that was discussed in detail when it opened.

It’s primarily just another mall store, albeit one tied directly to Lionel, not a showcase store or information portal for serious hobbyists looking for the latest pre-production information.

The store was reportedly an experiment to generate more sales for Lionel. Supposedly, workshops for all skill levels were planned, but I don’t know if that happened.

Here’s the original news release.
http://www.lionel.com/articles...s-for-Concord-Mills/

Finally had a chance to venture out that way from east of Raleigh yesterday, it was worth the drive!  As stated above, this is merely just a mall store that features Lionel..That said, all staff were very friendly, knew just enough about trains to hold conversation, and were easy to work with.  For anyone looking deals, they had some solid LC offerings in the back- Rio 0-4-0 for 75, NYC RS3 for 50, Polar + remote 125. Beyond that, pricing is close to retail on most items. That said, I was able to pick up the brand new GE Demo Tier 4 set for 15% off- didn't know until I got to checkout. So they won the best pricing on that set compared to any online retailer after shipping and wait times.    Selection was good, finally got to lay eyes on the Warbonnet LC 2.0 set, since it seems to be a ghost in terms of good video/photo coverage.  Don't go in there expecting the usual hobby shop experience, and you'll have a great time. All operable layouts were neat to see, and most importantly Lionel having a storefront to at least show off the product line to a larger crowd than most shows will be able to amass in this climate.

Some shots of the layouts and store overview for those who haven't been able to visit- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-9gYGDvUzY

We went to the Lionel open house in 11/19. For every $100 you spent you received a $10 credit at the store.

Here's some pics of both.

Called the store to get a LC RS-3 for $50, but they don’t ship. 🙁

Rick

I found the staff helpful. They are good at locating hard to find items and usually every Tuesday morning they request the factory which is almost across the street to check their inventory. The store has refurbished items on the website at reasonable prices. I live in the Knoxville area and a train club friend and I go about every other month. I enjoy the outing of a 4 hour drive each way plus dinner. We normally make our wish list available to the manager who points us in the right direction.

Frank,  Question, would you make a return trip, or was Once enough? Also, just for fun did you ask if there were any folks with layouts in the area? Also, did you take some pictures? Just wondering. I live 10 hours from their store and plan to go this spring. CSXJoe, Thank you for the beautiful pictures. I’ve been buying Lionel trains since 1953, so hearing about this store was exciting for me. Thank you for the thread, Happy Railroading Everyone

While Lionel has a store in a mall setting, the focus is on getting the name back out there that Lionel is still producing toy trains.
Many folks think the company does not exist. You would be surprised when folks come to a train show and they are amazed that Lionel is still in business after 121 years. They are keeping the hobby alive.  

I was there yesterday. They still had a few of their warehouse items on a couple of tables. I did get a 4 disconnect cars for $50.00. They had some passenger cars and some of the LionCheif engines on the tables as well.

Scott Smith