Say it aint so- another brick and mortar bites the dust (2 Viewers)

[Currahee Chris]

Had the pleasure of visiting Mike Russo's shop stockade miniatures in Stroudsburg Saturday. Always a fun guy, very engaging and knowledgeable about the hobby. Was crushed when he told me he was probably going to be closing his doors at the end of May. He isn't getting out of dealing but rather moving to an internet presence. Just can't afford to pay the bills at the shop. Real shame to see him go as he was the guy who got me into collecting again back in 2000. Sold me all the KC Yanks sets and all the low number DD and WS sets back in the day. It was always such a great cap to a week out of town at work on a client- swing by his shop on the way home and grab a squad of KC, Britains or Conte figures. Looks like those days are gone now.

While the guy aint dying obviously it does still sadden me. We have known him and his wife for a very very long time now. They both remember when my college age son first came in pushing his stroller at age 4 lol. They have clandestinely worked with my wife, parents and sister in law to get me christmas and birthday presents over the years. His window displays always grab the attention of passers by- both young and old. He still takes great pride in those and even had an Alamo display up currently- to commemerate the battle- even though his shop will be closing soon.

Given that he is going to an internet presence- I told him it might be time to clean up that website as it gets all the KC junkies in a teenage panic to see all those old sets on sale there at retail still!!! {sm4} Hopefully he can get that webmaster moving.

Mike is heavily invested in Soldiers of the World- for you guys out there that are fans of those glossies, give them another look!!! He had a huge display case stocking them. Great looking stuff- can still revisit the glory days of the hobby and pick up a squad of 4 for $80!!!

It's unfortunate to see this happen but I guess it's a sign of the times. Stroudsburg just doesn't get the tourist foot travel like it used to and I think that was a big part of the demise. At any rate, give him a shout. He's selling everything there- display cases, Britains, you name it.

 

[4th Hussar]

Sad news but speciality shops seem to be a thing of the past

 

[lancer]

Sorry to hear this. Mike has sold me all of my SoW sets. At least he is staying in the business. Just a sign of the times, I'm afraid. -- Al

 

[theBaron]

I visited the shop once, stumbling upon it by accident on my way home after a client conference up at Skytop. I knew the Russos from the show circuit, of course, but it was neat to see the shop.

I don't know, but I don't think it's that sad. I think I've acclimated to the Internet and the way the current market works. I buy things online, and at shows, and I just don't need to go to a physical shop. I can see how a merchant would decide to divest himself of the costs of maintaining a shop, too. It just doesn't make business sense these days, with the Internet.

Prost!
Brad

 

[lancer]

I visited the shop once, stumbling upon it by accident on my way home after a client conference up at Skytop. I knew the Russos from the show circuit, of course, but it was neat to see the shop.

I don't know, but I don't think it's that sad. I think I've acclimated to the Internet and the way the current market works. I buy things online, and at shows, and I just don't need to go to a physical shop. I can see how a merchant would decide to divest himself of the costs of maintaining a shop, too. It just doesn't make business sense these days, with the Internet.

Prost!
Brad

True enough. It's been years since I was in a shop or at a show. I buy everything via the internet and the internet is obviously responsible for how widespread this hobby has become. It just reaches everywhere and just about everyone. -- Al

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

The hobby shop is going the way of the video store these days. No offense, but hopefully, that website gets a makeover Not sure how you can operate an internet business without a live shopping cart system.

 

[theBaron]

The hobby shop is going the way of the video store these days...

This is a popular and recurring topic on the scale modeling forums, too. I've observed that the Internet per se isn't necessarily a death knell for a bricks-and-mortar store. It's a change. How a merchant deals with that change is up to him. True, many vendors decide to close up, but I know of others who do adapt and take advantage of the technology. The hobby shop that I visited as a kid, is still going strong, Penn Valley Hobbies in Lansdale, PA. They made the transition to the digital age by aggressive use of a web site and an eBay store, in addition to their physical location. True, they only have store hours once a week, on Saturdays, but their location also serves as their warehouse. It's crammed in to half a twin in a row of houses on the main street.

I know another LHS that has stayed open, and which does not have a website, and that's Trains & Lanes, outside Nazareth, PA. They've obviously got a different set of circumstances from other stores, including more diverse merchandise, including model railroad and RC supplies, as well as slot cars (with one of the few surviving tracks in SE PA), a go-kart track outside, and even an indoor batting cage.

The places around here that have gone under, were all classic hobby shops, run by a single proprietor, who, as he got older, couldn't/wouldn't/didn't interest someone in taking over his business. In many cases, they were really one step up from a mail-order business. And many of those guys didn't give a second thought to technology--that is, they weren't about to invest the time and money in a computer and learning to use the technology.

In any case, it's just change. It may be sad to see an era pass, but it doesn't mean the end of our hobby. You can make a strong case that we're in a new golden age, for collectors, just as we are for scale modeling.

Prost!
Brad

 

[wds0855]

I think this is the website.
http://www.stockade-miniatures.com/contents.htm

I didn't even know there was a store in Stroudsburg, PA. I might have to stop in this weekend if they are open.

Walt

 

[jazzeum]

The hobby shop is going the way of the video store these days. No offense, but hopefully, that website gets a makeover Not sure how you can operate an internet business without a live shopping cart system.

They've had that order form for years. I don't know why anyone would bother with that when you can buy online with a simple "Add to Your Cart" keystroke. Unless they modernize the website, I can't see them staying around too long online either.

 

[Warrior]

This is a popular and recurring topic on the scale modeling forums, too. I've observed that the Internet per se isn't necessarily a death knell for a bricks-and-mortar store. It's a change. How a merchant deals with that change is up to him. True, many vendors decide to close up, but I know of others who do adapt and take advantage of the technology. The hobby shop that I visited as a kid, is still going strong, Penn Valley Hobbies in Lansdale, PA. They made the transition to the digital age by aggressive use of a web site and an eBay store, in addition to their physical location. True, they only have store hours once a week, on Saturdays, but their location also serves as their warehouse. It's crammed in to half a twin in a row of houses on the main street.

I know another LHS that has stayed open, and which does not have a website, and that's Trains & Lanes, outside Nazareth, PA. They've obviously got a different set of circumstances from other stores, including more diverse merchandise, including model railroad and RC supplies, as well as slot cars (with one of the few surviving tracks in SE PA), a go-kart track outside, and even an indoor batting cage.

The places around here that have gone under, were all classic hobby shops, run by a single proprietor, who, as he got older, couldn't/wouldn't/didn't interest someone in taking over his business. In many cases, they were really one step up from a mail-order business. And many of those guys didn't give a second thought to technology--that is, they weren't about to invest the time and money in a computer and learning to use the technology.

In any case, it's just change. It may be sad to see an era pass, but it doesn't mean the end of our hobby. You can make a strong case that we're in a new golden age, for collectors, just as we are for scale modeling.

Prost!
Brad

This is spot on analysis. If you have a store, it's essential you couple it with a strong internet presence. Either a website or an Ebay store. In Massachusetts, hobby shops have dropped like flies, pretty much the last one standing is The Hobby Bunker.

He's much more than a traditional toy soldier shop (or is it shoppe?), he's pretty much all things to all people; toy soldiers, wargaming items, paints, brushes, books, magazines, model kits of all shapes and sizes, just about anything you'd want for hobby related items outside of trains. No need for that as there is a huge train store in Malden as well.

In this day and age, to have a walk up storefront and depend on walks ins to pay your bills is not going to cut it. My accountant talked me out of having a store and I'm glad he did; I do so many shows, who would be there while I am gone? Not to mention that when you go to a show, you've got a captive audience of people who come for the most part to buy something, not to just kill time or poke around.

At the recent New Jersey show, there were close to 400 attendees; that's potentially 400 sales, you won't get that at a hole in the wall store in the middle or nowhere on a Sunday, not going to happen.

Plus with a store, you have rent, utilities, insurance, employees, not to mention you have to fill the place and keep it full of inventory.

No thanks, I'll sell on the internet and do shows..........................

 

[Leadmen]

Sorry to hear Mike is closing his store. I have not seen him in a few years but he would be at Chicago or Indy shows in the past. I still have some of his WOW Roger Ranger figures. He always treated everyone well. John

 

[Andanna]

Only indirectly related: the internet is not a fix-all. You need to have great service and inventory for your customers. I got this email several weeks ago:

February 2, 2015
Colorado Miniatures is going out of business.

 

[Jack]

Like anything, you have to use it or lose it. An old theatre near my home closed down over ten years ago. It still had the old seats and a few rows of the even older hessian ones. I had gone to the theatre many times in my youth and so had a bit of a whinge when it closed. Then I did the math and realised I had not been there to see a movie for ten years. Shops close when they are no longer financially viable. They stay open when they are still making money or the owner still has the interest. I am fortunate to have a shop close by. I do not buy off the internet and instead spend my money in the bricks and mortar store. If there was no shop I would need the internet. Until then, I will drive the ten minutes to the store and spend my dollars.

 

[theBaron]

Only indirectly related: the internet is not a fix-all. You need to have great service and inventory for your customers. I got this email several weeks ago:

February 2, 2015
Colorado Miniatures is going out of business.

Servus, Andreas!

Gray Creager also runs the Timelines-Historica forum. His posts there can give a little insight into his decision to wind his online store down:

http://www.timelinesforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15345&highlight=colorado+miniatures

http://www.timelinesforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15999&highlight=colorado+miniatures

Prost!
Brad

 

[theBaron]

Like anything, you have to use it or lose it. An old theatre near my home closed down over ten years ago. It still had the old seats and a few rows of the even older hessian ones. I had gone to the theatre many times in my youth and so had a bit of a whinge when it closed. Then I did the math and realised I had not been there to see a movie for ten years. Shops close when they are no longer financially viable. They stay open when they are still making money or the owner still has the interest. I am fortunate to have a shop close by. I do not buy off the internet and instead spend my money in the bricks and mortar store. If there was no shop I would need the internet. Until then, I will drive the ten minutes to the store and spend my dollars.

That's admirable, and I try to do that, too, as far as hobby supplies go. We have 4 chain stores here in the area that carry hobby supplies, albeit only one that is a dedicated hobby store, while the other 3 are craft stores that stock supplies that we use, and some kits. There are also 2 old-time sole-proprietor hobby shops. I do try to buy from the hobby shops, but they don't stock everything I need, and in some cases, they can't order it, either, because they have no relationships with distributors who carry the products. None of them can get anything from Gunze-Sangyo/Mr Color/Mr etc, for example. Or, if they can order them, they can't necessarily get them when I need them. True, I can delay completing a build while I wait for HobbyTown to order a can of Tamiya aircraft paint and deliver it in 4 to 6 weeks, that I can order online from Tamiya USA and get in days. Sometimes I do, sometimes I order it online.

As far as toy soldiers go, there are two shops in a 30-mile radius, London Bridge, in Emmaus, and Stockade. Apart from the old Scheid castings and Britains replacement parts at London Bridge, neither shop carries anything else that I collect. And Stockade is closing, and Ron Ruddell has got to be ready to retire at this point.

So, it's shows, and the Internet, where I do my buying. If I were to start up a toy soldier business myself, I wouldn't bother with the cost of a shop, either. It'd be Internet/mail-order sales.

Prost!
Brad

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Like anything, you have to use it or lose it. An old theatre near my home closed down over ten years ago. It still had the old seats and a few rows of the even older hessian ones. I had gone to the theatre many times in my youth and so had a bit of a whinge when it closed. Then I did the math and realised I had not been there to see a movie for ten years. Shops close when they are no longer financially viable. They stay open when they are still making money or the owner still has the interest. I am fortunate to have a shop close by. I do not buy off the internet and instead spend my money in the bricks and mortar store. If there was no shop I would need the internet. Until then, I will drive the ten minutes to the store and spend my dollars.

You very fortunate having a store so close. I would love to have toy soldier store so close to my house. Unfortunately they just don't exist. The closest store to me is Dutkins in Cherry Hill. Over an hour away, and even they are only open part of the week. The store is also in need of a serious makeover. "Hobby Masters" in Redbank is about 30 miles from me. This is a giant two story hobby store that has been there for years. They use to be packed with everything you would ever need. They also carried some Britains figures. I bought my first matte figures from him in the 90's. Now every time I go in there they have less and less merchandise. Now they basically carry fantasy war gamers supplies, a few O gauge trains, RC cars, and plastic model kits. No more LGB trains, figure kits, or toy soldiers. One of the employees I know said the reason they're still open is that the owner owns the building so no rent. They have a website but it doesn't seem to be helping. For me no internet means no toy soldier collecting.

 

[Go for Broke]

I try to buy locally too. When the store clerk tells me I can check online, I tell them I'm trying to keep them employed. There's an old mom and pop butcher and grocery store near my house, on a busy street for old timers. Everyone will stop instantly to let people cross the street and let them get out of their parking stalls. At an old restaurant that has since closed, customers would bus their own tables and say thank-you when they leave. Try and get that from a big box store or online. Just like this hobby, its the people that makes life good. On a doctor advise radio show, he would end the show with, "you don't have to have a MD in front of your name to heal people. A hello, smile or pat on the back will heal people".

 

[Currahee Chris]

This is spot on analysis.................No thanks, I'll sell on the internet and do shows..........................

I think we can both agree we probably see this through different lenses- true, business models need to change and adapt or they run the risk of going belly up. That is you looking at it from a business owners perspective.

I can look at it from a collectors perspective and hey, that's the guy that set me on the course to get back into the hobby. Good bad or indifferent, to some extent the money you have made from my business George is a result of guys like Mike getting me back into the hobby.....all because I was walking through town one day and saw his shop. If it hadn't been for many discussions I had with Mike I would have never known the hobby is what it was/currently is or have found out about the shows where I ran into you- the rest the say is history.

I can say without any reservation that if I did a search for King and COuntry, First Legion, etc today on the internet and the term "TREEFROG TREASURES" came up would I even remotely think that had anything to do with military soldiers. {sm4}

I know three dealers in Gettysburg who have a modest, if any internet presence- foot traffic there suffices for them. One guy's shop in London does a brisk business because where he is located too. Stroudsburg and the poconos have taken a hit over the years.

What happens when the shows start to dwindle down? ^&confuse I keep reading the doom and gloom reports from Chicago about numbers being down.

Ive heard over the years all the merits of "gotta go to Chicago- cant beat the experience of meeting collectors first hand"- couldnt agree more- and I think it's fair to say the same thing happens when you walk into B&M shops as well.

My point is that as a collector, it's always a buzzkill to see this thing happen.

Interesting to read all the opnions voiced and not one person has mentioned, myself included, that the price increases are driving people out of the hobby which leads to shops closing. Perhaps all the discussion about price increases being the deathknell of the hobby really dont have any legs.........

Again, just to reiterate- Mike is still going to sell, just going to revamp his website and he will be at GBurg in April

 

[Warrior]

Chris,
Don't misunderstand my comments as I agree with a lot of what you are saying. When I first got back into the hobby in the mid 1990's, I did so largely due to Matt's Fathers old store, Excalibur Hobbies in Malden, he had an entire aisle in his store dedicated to what I collected, ho/oo scale figures. I also bought mail order from Stone Castle Hobbies, who is no longer in business.

I discovered the shows around the same time and attended most of the East Coast shows as well as Chicago; they were all mobbed, packed with sellers and buyers. This was when the internet was in it's infancy, it was barely a blip on the radar screen; back then, you could find a lot of great deals on old toy soldiers at the shows.

One of my prized possessions is an old Marx Miniature ACW playset, I had one as a kid, but most of the figures got destroyed/lost in the dirt outside my old house/sucked up into the vacuum cleaner. I found one at our local Dedham MA show (it has since moved to Woburn MA), the Marxman, aka, John Stengle had it, he sold it to me for a very fair price at the time of 150.00; you never see these sets at shows anymore, they are being sold now on Ebay.

Speaking of which, slowly over time, Ebay began to be a bigger and bigger force, the bargains at the shows dried up and all the vintage stuff was being peddled to the highest bidder on Ebay. It's funny because if you go to a show now, bargains are starting to pop up again as Ebay is not what it used to be (gee, what a shame).

I am sure a lot of current collectors got reintroduced to the hobby thanks to a local hobby shop or toy soldier store like you did and I did.

Not to sound like a "Get off my lawn!" type, but times are changing, shops are slowly fading away for the most part, as are the shows to be frank. It's getting difficult for promoters to fill the room with toy soldier dealers; at the recent Edison show, there were numerous general toy dealers there too; years ago, this show was in Schutzen Park NJ and there were two rooms, a huge ballroom in the front loaded with toy soldier dealers, then a smaller room in the back with general toy dealers.

This hobby will continue to evolve into an internet based pursuit; myself, I'll continue to attend shows until the cost outweights the benefits, hopefully that won't happen anytime soon...................

 

[Toy Soldier Brigade]

Speaking of which, slowly over time, Ebay began to be a bigger and bigger force, the bargains at the shows dried up and all the vintage stuff was being peddled to the highest bidder on Ebay. It's funny because if you go to a show now, bargains are starting to pop up again as Ebay is not what it used to be (gee, what a shame).

If your a seller on eBay you still can't beat the exposure, but the fees are getting out of control. If your a buyer well it's good to be a buyer on eBay right now. Prices are all over the place for new items. Take the new Britan's ACW mortar set prices range from 210.95 to 239.95 some with free shipping. And these are not fly by night dealers. As a buyer I like it. But as a retailer I am starting to see what has happened in the one sixth world over the last 14 years. Dealers who know nothing about business charging rediculouly low prices and the manufacturers not enforcing the suggested retail. Dealers who just need to raise funds to buy the next new release, and start price cutting in a panic. You can't stay in business long if your just turning inventory.

One more the new 16015 - British Royal Artillery 6 Pound Gun Set 140.00 to 169.98