Model Railroading > Things are changing at M.B. Klein again

I stopped by M.B. Klein this morning to look around - my periodic visit whenever I'm back home visiting family from wherever the Army has us stationed at the moment. They are in the process of reducing their showroom space back down to a small footprint - what used to be the back showroom with the HO layout, scenery supplies, styrene, paints, and magazines. The front showroom (where the checkout counter was) and the O scale room in the middle are being converted into additional warehouse space. Mail order is booming, and they need more room. One of the employees told me they only do 7% of their sales through walk-in customers that visit the brick and mortar store. They're going to attempt to use the much more limited showroom space to display the latest releases only, and everything else will be back to looking things up on the computer and requesting that they pull items from the warehouse. That's how I bought most of my items anyway, and I make most of my purchases from them via mail order, but it's a little sad to see. I'm just glad they're still in business (and mail order is definitely booming)!

On a semi-related note, I decided yesterday that I would stop by the Moose Caboose in Sykesville, MD for the first time after years of hearing about the store. My dad and I drove out there and pulled up to an empty store with a sign that said "Thanks for 14 great years!" Apparently I was a couple months too late.

Dave

I first noticed some re-arranging last winter when I dropped by during the Timonium show. The back room was partially closed off and some items have been moved to the front area. Part of the main entrance room had been re-arranged. The big glass cases were still on each opposite wall with HO and N scale stuff and there was still store stock out on the shelves which some of was sold out on the online site.

Are you saying that the front/main room that you walk into is closed off too and being reclaimed for mail order space? What part is open for walk-in customers? I'm a little confused now.

Cheers, Jim Fitch



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/17 14:20 by SPDRGWfan.

I bought from their store when we lived in the DC area in the '80s.
Now I buy online out here in the Great Mojave Desert! Service is super, selection is great, and there are no more LHSs around here any more.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

I was in the store last week and got the rundown from one of the managers. Internet sales continue to drive the business and their recent reassignment of floor space reflects that reality. The space in the showroom where you previously entered the store is now assigned to the receiving department. The center showroom (formerly O scale) will be used as an employee meeting room. The third showroom will be their remaining retail space. Stock will be rotated through that area to reflect what the walk in customers usually purchase. A handicapped entryway is planned, until then you can use the old entry ramp and ring the doorbell to enter.

Yes, I too will miss being able to wander through the store for inspiration and a bit of window shopping. Given the number of hobby shops that are closing I'm glad they're still here and adjusting to the current market so they can remain in business. The retail showroom remains well staffed.

I've been shopping at M.B.Klein's since the mid 70s. Hoping I'll be able to do so for years to come.

Jim Kleeman



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/17 17:34 by JayK.

Jim (Fitch), if you think of the original entrance as Showroom 1 (on the far left as you look at the front of the store), the large scale room as Showroom 2, and then the last room past that as Showroom 3 (where the computers were on the left as you entered the room, and there were rotary racks of magazines and modeling books on the far right by the windows), now Showroom 3 is the only storefront. There is a new front door right where those magazine racks used to be. They moved the glass wall display cases from the original Showroom 1, but there are fewer of them and only a couple dozen HO locomotives on display in them. Essentially it looks like a similar setup to the old Showroom 1, with shelves and pegboards with an assortment of models, track, and accessories on display, but they're still in the process of stocking the new, smaller storefront. I did recognize some of the same models on the shelves that have been sitting in the original Showroom 1 for a while now. As you alluded to, some of those are things that are no longer listed on the website because they've sold out. Once products are put on display, they are removed from the inventory.

I'm sure it will be better stocked and organized once they get things settled, but they're literally in the middle of this change. They're basically reverting back to the size of the original Cockeysville store when they first moved up there from downtown.

Dave

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/17 15:50 by drolsen.

OK thanks Dave. Sounds like it has really changed. Even the mighty MBK now has a walk in store a fraction of it's former self. During the past year there were fewer staff to help I noticed.

Hopefully the revised store will still have some store stock reserved for walkins.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/19/17 17:29 by SPDRGWfan.

Brick and mortar ( actually corrugated metal) continues to thrive at Mainline Hobby Supply in tiny Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., not far from Gettysburg, Pa, and Hagerstown, Md. Outstanding inventory in every scale, and all the latest releases. Owners Brian and Bonnie Wolfe have bucked the trend, but yes, they do Internet sales as well. Visiting the large store holding thousands of items, everything from the newest locomotive and rolling stock releases down to an uncountable number of detail parts, structures, books, magazines etc., is like Christmas every day. It remains one of the best railroad hobby shops anywhere.

Art House
Gettysburg, Pa.

aehouse Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Brick and mortar ( actually corrugated metal)
> continues to thrive at Mainline Hobby Supply in
> tiny Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., not far from
> Gettysburg, Pa, and Hagerstown, Md. Outstanding
> inventory in every scale, and all the latest
> releases. Owners Brian and Bonnie Wolfe have
> bucked the trend, but yes, they do Internet sales
> as well. Visiting the large store holding
> thousands of items, everything from the newest
> locomotive and rolling stock releases down to an
> uncountable number of detail parts, structures,
> books, magazines etc., is like Christmas every
> day. It remains one of the best railroad hobby
> shops anywhere.
>
> Art House
> Gettysburg, Pa.

I've heard other shops described that way only to hear some years later of decline and closure. Look at Caboose Hobbies and countless others. Here today, gone tomorrow. The down side to many hobby shops is that they are ran and owned by one or two people and all too soon they are retiring or pass away and then the fun's over. What would be more ideal is if those successful shops could have a life beyond the owners and could be maintained past their retirement.

I wish them well. Enjoy them while they are in your area. Where I live, there are not "decent" hobby shops in huge metropolitan area with unemployment among the lowest in the country, even during the recession. I have to drive over 1 1/2 hours to get to MBK - and their walk in area is reportedly now 1/3rd of last spring. Online and mail order has become the norm for many of us.

Cheers, Jim Fitch

I agree with you Art on Mainline Hobbies. That is a great place and always worth the drive up. I'm down in central Virginia and I take the scenic route up and also hit Tommy Gilbert's in Gettysburg. Railfanning along the way too! A definite day trip that I'll probably do in the next couple of weeks.

Shannon Crabtree
Fredericksburg, VA
Virginia Midland Railroad Blog

SPDRGWfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've heard other shops described that way only to
> hear some years later of decline and closure.
> Look at Caboose Hobbies and countless others.
> Here today, gone tomorrow. The down side to many
> hobby shops is that they are ran and owned by one
> or two people and all too soon they are retiring
> or pass away and then the fun's over. What would
> be more ideal is if those successful shops could
> have a life beyond the owners and could be
> maintained past their retirement.

It seems like every time the owners of trains shops decide to retire they try to find someone to buy the store but nobody is ever interested in doing so. I suspect most people see no future for train shops or too small return on investment.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/23/17 10:58 by EricSP.

I do have concerns about where MBK will go when Ted Klein is no longer at the helm. He's in his 80s now but still helps manage the place from his home office. He has always been the major force behind the purchasing, using his industry contacts to source the products for the great deals that the store offers (I will never forget the shipment of 180 cases of Proto2000 E8s that started their $30 ea sales bonanza). Someone will have to not only purchase the business, but also be capable of managing it so they can maintain the prices that have made them so successful over the last twenty years.

Dave

In most cases, yes, no one wants to take over a hobby shop. It's definitely a "calling" of sorts. Caboose Hobbies didn't manage to keep the same shop going but at least someone decided to replace it with something pretty good.

As for MBK, hopefully there is someone who can keep it going for a long time to come. I've been ordering from them for the past 20 years so I'd really miss them.

Cheers, Jim