Model Railroading > Franciscan Hobbies closing

Just received a E mail that Franciscan Hobbies is closing down January 31st. It once was a great hobby shop but has declined the last 10 years



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/14 21:28 by dmaffei.

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Closes end of January, from what I understand.

Sic Transit Gloria..

Cheers,
Harry

Franciscan was one of the great Bay Area hobby shops.

I often wonder how many post baby boomers got into the hobby by seeing a train running in a department store Christmas display or by walking into a shop like Franciscian. One thing I think we can all pretty much agree on, and that is that virtually nobody gets into the hobby by going to a train show or seeing a model train running on a web page. Unless it is passed from father to son or perhaps through a friend, these days there are only a tiny fraction of the places one can see their first model train in action and to possibly catch the fever. Franciscian was one of those places and now there is one less.

Sorry to hear the news, but the model RR selection there declined quickly over the last couple of years. Knowledgeable staff, loved John, but tough to compete with the internet, etc. If everyone buys stuff on the internet, eventually we won't have any more hobby shops! Which way do you guys want it? Save a buck, or have no local hobby shop? You can't have it both ways! WISE UP! NOW! P.S. Those who think I am kidding, my first real job was working for Bart Austin at Trains-nothing-but-trains in San Mateo in the '70s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/14 21:30 by wpdude.

wpdude Wrote:
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> Sorry to hear the news, but the model RR selection
> there declined quickly over the last couple of
> years. Knowledgeable staff, loved John, but tough
> to compete with the internet, etc. If everyone
> buys stuff on the internet, eventually we won't
> have any more hobby shops! Which way do you guys
> want it? Save a buck, or have no local hobby shop?
> You can't have it both ways! WISE UP! NOW! P.S.
> Those who think I am kidding, my first real job
> was working for Bart Austin at
> Trains-nothing-but-trains in San Mateo in the
> '70s.


It's a vicious circle. Selection goes down because sales are down, they don't have what the customer wants so the customer orders it from the internet because they can get it quickly and so on and so on.
The current trend of limited edition merchandise hasn't helped either.

Franciscans could not keep pace with the other hobby shops in the San Francisco Bay Area. It was not just the internet. Other shops in our area have performed better with a greater selection and competitive pricing. One shop in particular is going very strong here compared with most.

Cheers,
Harry


wpdude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sorry to hear the news, but the model RR selection
> there declined quickly over the last couple of
> years. Knowledgeable staff, loved John, but tough
> to compete with the internet, etc. If everyone
> buys stuff on the internet, eventually we won't
> have any more hobby shops! Which way do you guys
> want it? Save a buck, or have no local hobby shop?
> You can't have it both ways! WISE UP! NOW! P.S.
> Those who think I am kidding, my first real job
> was working for Bart Austin at
> Trains-nothing-but-trains in San Mateo in the
> '70s.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/14 22:25 by tracktime.

It's really sad you guys don't have good model train store to support. We are so fortunate to have a good store in Lincoln that can get us anything and at a discount. Its amazing how far the customers come from to shop at this store. Also very few of them will support any thing that takes away from supporting the store. This includes internet discounters and manufacturers that won't deal with dealers so our store can support the local economy.
Like one of the posts above said, not many new Modelers come from seeing cheap sets at mass retailers or a picture of a train on the internet. But a lot of them come from seeing us play with and working on the layout at the store.
Steve

Not at all true. In the SF Bay Area, we thankfully have many other good and excellent hobby shops to support. It was just very sad to see Franciscans fall behind the times as much as they did, and now.. they are history.

Cheers,
Harry

wpjones Wrote:
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> It's really sad you guys don't have good model
> train store to support.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/01/14 22:35 by tracktime.

In February 1998, I visited the shop with a friend.
Surprisingly, there were about several boxes of the McKean model's ACF CenterFlow covered hopper which have been out of production. I bought 5 boxes. After returning to Japan, I assembled and painted them immediately. Since there were some other old rare models also, I think that the sales had fallen already at that time.

Kotaro Kuriu
Kyoto, Japan

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When we came to California in 2000, I had decided on the plane to get rid of my British N gauge layout, and commence with US HO. Franciscan Hobbies was one of the places I visited, and it seemed to be overflowing with goodies. I bought my first Proto 2000 kit there.

As Harry has said, you've go to keep up with the times, or you die.

Brian Moore
Plymouth, UK

It's always a real shame and tragedy to see a business fold after generations of service to the community. Unfortunately it happens, and most likely we know only a part of the story.

Recently a shop in the Philly area closed, again after decades in the community. In this case, the owner did not embrace opportunity of using the Internet as a sales channel and the market shifted, leaving him behind. I think, while brick and mortar is the most essential component of business, to ignore the necessity of using the power and reach of the electronic sales channel is shortsighted at this juncture.

My uncle closed our family's construction business after 3 generations, but this was because no family member wanted to run it. We all cried to see it close, but no one, including me, stepped up to save it. I only mention this as a note that if we want someone to stay successful or to rescue them, that we have to assume part of the responsibility to support and help them. I have always believed that if we have a choice to be part of the solution, or part of the problem.

Warm regards and happy new year to all.

J

Joel Brazy
Coatesville, PA

After Bill retired, it went downhill. Should have stayed across the street for what they ended up with in inventory

Franciscan was always a good stop after a day of classes at Silly College up the street



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/14 08:13 by WAF.

WAF Wrote:
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> After Bill retired, it went downhill. Should have
> stayed across the street for what they ended up
> with in inventory
>
> Franciscan was always a good stop after a day of
> classes at Silly College up the street

So true. It used to be THE hobby shop in the Bay Area. First time I visited was when I was 13. It took me two hours by bus and trolley to get there. It was the old store, packed to the rafters. Even when they moved across the street to the larger space, it was very good, with a huge selection of brass. When I got my first paycheck from my first, high-paying, post-college job, I spent it all at Franciscan on a Sunset O Scale brass SP C9 2-8-0. I finally sold it years later, on consignment, at...Train Shop in Santa Clara.

Mike



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/14 08:24 by WP282.

Let's be honest here - Franciscan was not the best shop. Bill was good, but with everything behind the cases, and the need to have someone to bring you anything, it was hardly user friendly. And, they made it less so when you had to be buzzed into the place. Some of the guys could be VERY snotty to some people, it was very much a cliquish and intimidating place for a lot of people.

Stuff behind counters - especially small detail parts is almost a necessity, but it was taken to extremes at Franciscan. I dislike seeing any shop closing, but saying the internet or anything else contributed to the closing is just not the case, it was a problem for over 40 years.

rswebber Wrote:
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>... And,
> they made it less so when you had to be buzzed
> into the place. Some of the guys could be VERY
> snotty to some people, it was very much a cliquish
> and intimidating place for a lot of people.

You are confusing Franciscan Hobbies with another across town "Chan's Trains". At Chan's Trains, they had to unlock the door via electric buzzer before a customer could go in. I'm surprised that Chan's still survives, but maybe it is a reasonable shop for the Lionel folks. Chan's rates at the bottom of my hobby shop list for sure. Franciscan's always had an open door where you could just walk right in.

Cheers,
Harry

Nope - went to both many years. For a while - in the late 70s early 80s - Franciscan had a buzzer.

rswebber Wrote:
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> Nope - went to both many years. For a while - in
> the late 70s early 80s - Franciscan had a buzzer.

I've been a steady patron of Franciscans since the late 70s as well. NO buzzer. The door was always wide open for me. =)

Cheers,
Harry

When did you go? Weekends, no buzzer, during the week, there was one. I took the street car from 1 Market to Franciscan at lunch (took a bit more than 2 hours) - during the week had ab buzzer. They had "problems" with some of the new "neighbors". There were a group of people who hung out near the old theater across the street. They weren't allowed in. It wasn't an issue when there were a few people working the store, but when only 1 or 2, they had the buzzer.

Chans I used to hit on my way home, I took a muni bus there from downtown, then the GGT from there. Mailways, I could walk to.

RSW,

I used to frequent the store on weeknight evenings (MWF open until 9pm), and the occasional visit on a weekend. So our vastly different experiences could both be accounted for. I never experienced a buzzer at the new location either. Perhaps it was just at the old location?

Cheers,
Harry



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/14 09:55 by tracktime.

They were part of the Hobby-shopping trip route a few years ago, bought plenty and lot of it is still on the workbench.

They had a real big problem with the local kids pocketing stuff. The attraction was the R/C and various race cars. Also noticed a lot of slow moving RR stuff went to E-Bay. Difficult location but sorry to see any LHS close.