Model Railroading > Email today "Atlas Rolls Out Online Store"

Just posting for information...

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Atlas is proud to announce the launch of our new on-line store https://shop.atlasrr.com


We’re inviting all consumers to check out the new store and shop online. As a special welcome to our consumers we’re offering you a special coupon which we've extended and you can use until the end of the year which will give you free shipping on any orders $50 or more. ($50 minimum order. In stock items only. Order must be placed online.) On the shopping cart please use coupon code: SHOPWELCOME

Browse the new In Stock categories (under All Scales Ordering)
Browse Our In Stock Trains
Browse Our In Stock Track & Accessories

If you are an existing atlas consumer and you’ve provided us with an email; your account is already registered on https://shop.atlasrr.com so all you need to do is request your new password (see details below) to login to the online store.

Click the following link https://shop.atlasrr.com/signin.aspx this will bring you to the sign in page (shown below). Members should enter their email address in the User Verification Section, and click “Request Password”. This will generate an email that will contain your temporary password enabling you to log in to your account on the new on line store. Once logged into your account it is recommended that you update your password.

Note that passwords are case sensitive. Passwords that contain both letters and numbers are considered stronger passwords and recommended on any online account you have.




Enter the coupon code SHOPWELCOME in the SHOPPING CART COUPON box (example of shopping cart page below)




If you need assistance with resetting your password or have other questions about using our new online store please do not hesitate to contact us.


Atlas Customer Service cs@atlasrr.com
908-687-0880
Cynthia Cicero ccicero@atlasrr.com
908-687-0880 Ext 7134
Eric Mosher emosher@atlasrr.com
908-687-0880 Ext 7125
Kimberley Wilson kwilson@atlasrr.com
908-687-0880 Ext 7140


If you haven’t become a member of our Golden Spike Club you can join for 2014 here
You can also download the application here and mail or fax it back to us.


Thanks,

Atlas Model Railroad
378 Florence Ave.
Hillside, NJ 07205
908-687-0880
908-687-8857 Fax
Shop Online
Visit us on the Web
Become a fan on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter



"You're on the Right Track...with Atlas"

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Yet another manufacturer shoving a knife into the backs of hobby retailers who have supported them so many years. Being a retailer these days, with a brick & mortar location, regular store hours, employees, etc. is a very difficult and trying endeavor. It's hard enough competing with other retailers, web only warehouses located in the middle of nowhere, ebay and train shows, but to have to directly compete with the frigging manufacturers for retail sales is just too much. Hobby shop owners are just supposed to bend over and say: thank you sir, may I have another? The next time you visit a hobby shop, if you enjoy the experience, BUY SOMETHING! Maybe pay something more than you know you can find it for online, but walk out knowing that you did something to somewhat stem the wave of shop closings, even if it's only for a short while longer. Go visit your LHS today and be glad you still can.

Ditto!

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Yet another manufacturer shoving a knife into the
> backs of hobby retailers who have supported them
> so many years. Being a retailer these days, with
> a brick & mortar location, regular store hours,
> employees, etc. is a very difficult and trying
> endeavor. It's hard enough competing with other
> retailers, web only warehouses located in the
> middle of nowhere, ebay and train shows, but to
> have to directly compete with the frigging
> manufacturers for retail sales is just too much.
> Hobby shop owners are just supposed to bend over
> and say: thank you sir, may I have another? The
> next time you visit a hobby shop, if you enjoy the
> experience, BUY SOMETHING! Maybe pay something
> more than you know you can find it for online, but
> walk out knowing that you did something to
> somewhat stem the wave of shop closings, even if
> it's only for a short while longer. Go visit your
> LHS today and be glad you still can.

Just looked at the ATLAS web store. As always the Atlas website is the slowest on the planet. And when I dug to get an answer about a GP38, my reward was finally "Sold out at Atlas try your local dealer"!!!!! Ha, ha, ha, what a joke--what dealer are they still supporting???

Looks like everything is full retail. I do not believe it will threaten the LHS unless they start discounting. Nice selection of parts at reasonable prices though.

Jay

Atlas has had an online store for years, so that "knife" is pretty old. It looks like it's just a new format for their existing store.

Dave

My LHS doesnt charge full retail for Atlas so why would I order online at full bore?
Roger Beckett

up833 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My LHS doesnt charge full retail for Atlas so why
> would I order online at full bore?
> Roger Beckett

Because someone will and they'll make money off of it.

- Jeff

It appears at full retail (as noted) PLUS $5.00+ of some item above their own MSRP. Probably to cover their "Free Shipping"...

Tony R.

Some of you guys would bitch about being hung with
a new rope! If you don't want to buy direct then don't!
Some of us don't have a local hobby shop any more, and some of the
ones that are still around are just hanging on by a thread.
They have a limited inventory and then whine and complain
about their business going to pot.
But I'll take Atlas engines any day. And they just keep
getting better with each new release.
I would hate to think of where this great hobby would be
today without Atlas. cf7

They sent me the email last week. Couldn't really see any point in paying retail from the manufacturer when just about everyone discounts these days - except for SOME brick and mortar stores that wonder why they don't sell much.

Baltimore

Like it or not, this is the future. With the rising attrition rate of hobby shops and increasing pricing pressures on the manufacturers themselves, I suspect that, in 10 years or so, most manufacturers will sell direct. For many (most?), this will come at the exclusion of distributors and the local shops - what few are left....

-Rick

Rick Selby
Redmond, WA
Pacific Northwest RPM

There is an upside and downside -

Frankly - someone at Atlas is thinking that they can recover some lost market share by opening an online store - but to keep their retail folks happy, they do everything at full retail. Does it work - yeah - for about 5-7%. I was a VP of marketing, we tried it. That 5% is worth it.
It's a great place to sell the stuff sitting in the back room that no dealer will stock - and the B stock/returns.

Now the real question is how do we - customers - loyal to our local retailer and hobby shop - use this information. Simply, for me, it is a tool. If I see something that my dealer can/will get, I will call them and get it ordered. And - the price will be lower than the site. IF there is some obscure part that I see on the site, I will buy it. I saw some coil cars on there that I had not seen before, tomorrow I will reach out to my dealer and order them.

It's obvious by the responses that we all support our local dealer, so look at this as a regularly updated online catalog with 'reference' pricing, and something you can use to expand the relationship with your local hobby shop. Then it is a grand success for everyone.

Be well folks. Don't be angry, it'll get in the way of your happiness.

J

Joel Brazy
Coatesville, PA

RAS Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Like it or not, this is the future. With the
> rising attrition rate of hobby shops and
> increasing pricing pressures on the manufacturers
> themselves, I suspect that, in 10 years or so,
> most manufacturers will sell direct. For many
> (most?), this will come at the exclusion of
> distributors and the local shops - what few are
> left....
>
> -Rick

I suspect that in 10 years or so, most MR manufacturers will be no more than a memory. Whomever is cashing out of Horizon Hobby, is looking beyond the horizon and not seeing a rosy future for the hobby/MR business. Every year, thousands of serious model railroaders pass away, while maybe 1 in 100 is replaced by a newcomer.

I guess then the legacy is our responsibility to embrace and preserve.

My CEO recently 'cashed out' after 30 years of building his company, I am very happy for him, he deserves the reward for his effort. Like Horizon's owner, he sold part of the business and took a minority shareholder position and a board position.

So, will train mfr's disappear? Highly unlikely. There are too many passionate enthusiasts. Will the face of it change? Probably. Subsequent generations will make it their own. I am certain there were MANY resistant people to DCC and LED's, but on they came, regardless. Change is inevitable. It is what we choose to do with the knowledge of the change that determines the outcome.

Joel Brazy
Coatesville, PA

Hmmm... the Branchline HO car parts that disappeared from the previous iteration of the Atlas online store are still missing. Hopefully they reappear in the future.

Doug Stark

jobrazy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess then the legacy is our responsibility to
> embrace and preserve.
>
> So, will train mfr's disappear? Highly unlikely.
> There are too many passionate enthusiasts. Will
> the face of it change? Probably. Subsequent
> generations will make it their own.

Well, I hate to disagree, but how can train manufacturers NOT disappear, when their clientele are DYING OFF and are not being replaced by up and coming younger modelers, at any reasonably acceptable ratio? Go to any NMRA meet and look around. The number of oxygen bottles, wheelchairs and electric scooters portends the future of our hobby, not to mention the sea of silver hair and bald heads. The Baby Boomer generation represents the last of the avid model railroaders. Are there some younger enthusiasts? Of course, but so few that there is no way manufacturers will be able to stay in business supplying their MINISCULE numbers. At the rate we old guys are moving on to that big roundhouse in the sky, in ten years, there will be virtually no market for new MR products, especially since virtually ALL of the stuff we currently treasure will be on eBay, being sold at bargain basement prices, by the TRUCK LOAD, just so our kids & grand kids can get rid of it. Now, who wants apple pie?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/11/13 10:07 by Streamliner.

Folks;

I am not sure that model railroading is dying out with the baby boomer generation. This hobby (or if you prefer "passion") has an older clientele. This is because this group has the disposable income to participate. In addition this group is living longer. So I am not ready to write the hobby off just yet.
Will there be changes in the hobby ..absolutely! What has occurred in the last few years has been amazing. (DCC, the level of scale detailing with plastic, etc.)
So...get in... hold on... and enjoy the ride.

Regards

Jere Ingram

I'll take some apple pie. It is that time of year!

It's a site where people can buy things... they've had that option for quite some time. This is their "new" store. Some of us are losing shops left and right for a multitude of reasons. Are we likely to buy everything directly? No. Will Atlas do this as an exclusive and cut out the dealers (ExactRail)? No. They still discount to dealers and distributors? Yes. No real issue here.

Yes, NMRA meetings are loaded with an older generation. While not one of them, I can say that I prefer to attend RPM's instead. The future will probably be smaller quantity, greater detailed runs that can be completed with a slightly higher frequency. Things such as 3D printing are just starting to push ideas like this forward. All of us (any generation) hopefully appreciate a decent model when we see one, but might not share the same prototype interest. Oh well.

In that vain, I can say: If this overabundance of older generation manufacturer R&D telling me they're listening to "my demand" and producing another F-unit goes away, I won't shed too many tears. ..Cause their hearing aids aren't working so well.

Just my thought.



Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jobrazy Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I guess then the legacy is our responsibility
> to
> > embrace and preserve.
> >
> > So, will train mfr's disappear? Highly
> unlikely.
> > There are too many passionate enthusiasts. Will
> > the face of it change? Probably. Subsequent
> > generations will make it their own.
>
> Well, I hate to disagree, but how can train
> manufacturers NOT disappear, when their clientele
> are DYING OFF and are not being replaced by up and
> coming younger modelers, at any reasonably
> acceptable ratio? Go to any NMRA meet and look
> around. The number of oxygen bottles, wheelchairs
> and electric scooters portends the future of our
> hobby, not to mention the sea of silver hair and
> bald heads. The Baby Boomer generation represents
> the last of the avid model railroaders. Are there
> some younger enthusiasts? Of course, but so few
> that there is no way manufacturers will be able to
> stay in business supplying their MINISCULE
> numbers. At the rate we old guys are moving on to
> that big roundhouse in the sky, in ten years,
> there will be virtually no market for new MR
> products, especially since virtually ALL of the
> stuff we currently treasure will be on eBay, being
> sold at bargain basement prices, by the TRUCK
> LOAD, just so our kids & grand kids can get rid of
> it. Now, who wants apple pie?

Its not that there isnt a younger modeler base out there, its the fact we're doing it differently. . Your generation was big on clubs pubs and organizations.. the younger generation isnt into big groups where one person runs the show.. yes times have changed. It's amazing how many people I knew but had no idea they were into the hobby..

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