Mine didn’t give you the light of day if you weren’t into that warhammer stuff, its like they didn’t even want to ring you up if you were buying a plastic kit.
How’s this; every month our club meets at the local mall in a vacant store front that’s available to the general public. Coy (the owner of the hobbyshop) has paid the rent rate of $35 for the last Thursday night (about 2.5 hours) of the month and has done so for the past four years. He gives all club members a 10% discount on all purchases (including clearance items) and will go all out to get you the best deal on any order.
Well, three months ago and without notice (after four years) the mall gave our room to the plump little Mary Kay girls…
not just on OUR night but every Thursday night of the month. I asked the MK ringleader if they could schedule another night because of our seniority… all I got from that scheming fluff was that hurt little girl look and a “I’m sorry”.
The mall management said it was their mistake but other than that offered us no alternative. We always took care of the room and would leave it the way we found it. Man, was I pi$$ed. How’s that for gratitude?
Did I mention the raffle? At the end of each meeting we sell raffle tickets (two dollars each or 3 for $5. The winner gets the collected amount plus the $35 Coy donates to the raffle since he isn’t using it to pay for the room anymore. The only catch is that you have to spend it in the store, however, you can special order or wait as long as you need 'til you make your decision. The recent raffles exceeded $75.
That sounds like a great arrangement, disastermaster! Our guys in Spartanburg, SC do pretty much the same, we set up the tables after they close and everyone gets a chance to shop after the meeting (at a discount as well). As far as making your wallet leap from your pocket, that’s salesmanship at it’s finest. I’d rather someone be involved enough to actually care than to stand there, watching the Home Shopping Network, waiting to ring up the one little square bottle of Testors. I know a lot of folks hate sales people, but a caring, knowledgeable PROFESSIONAL salesperson can really add to any buying experience.
My LHS just disappeared one day last year. Lad was a fantastic guy, who would bend over backwards for you. I went up a few days after Xmas and all that was there was a vacant store.
I’m still in mourning. I felt like I lost a family member.
The guy is an entreprenurial salesman and would be a success selling 1:1 cars, snake-oil, or whatever he sets his mind to. He has learned what pushes your & your buddies buttons. He is the kind of owner who may make it through the economic downturn better than the guy who just sits there and is a disinterested observer. More power to him. The hobby needs more folks like him.
Then again you need to be the educated consumer. You need to be aware of the market and be ready to call bull… on him when he tries to run a scare con (they’re raising prices next month) on you.
I guess it is a good thing to be deaf sometimes… so salesmen can not smooth talk me into buying something unless they can SIGN! One day I should make a video of the actual salesman knocking on my front door to sell me something but he ends up running for his life after I gesture nicely to him that I am deaf… [%-)]
Nah, the guys at my LHS are great… they help me if I need them and we use my BlackBerry to type text backforth or so.
Your LHS owner sounds like a shrewd businessman who knows his clients well. Repeat buyers are the mainstay I’m sure of his operation. Like any good “dealer” he knows how to keep his clients hooked! So long as you don’t buy into the BS and get your fix happily on a weekly basis, it’s a great arrangement. [;)]
I stopped shopping at my LHS for kits a looooong time ago. They had to be arm-twisted into stocking DML new releases and when they did, everything was always marked at MSRP or higher and the prices never came down months or even years later. There isn’t anything coming out these days that I just have to have right this second, so my kit buying is done exclusively with the online discount dealers as a result. Does that mean I don’t get the person-to-person interaction? Sure…but this is a business transaction for both parties and $$ are $$. [;)] The LHS guys used to be very friendly to the IPMS local organization, but they got tired of them coming in and constantly opening kits but not buying them and eventually ended the preferential treatment like discounts and other fringe benefits. Can’t blame them really on that score.
At Hobbyland, we don’t really smooth talk people into buying things. But we definately try to make the sale! Bill is the most honest person I’ve ever met. If he thinks that a model is too advanced, he’ll let you know. If that RC plane your looking is definately not for begginers, he’ll tell you. We make plenty of sales, and we special order a lot of things in. I love working at my LHS!
Oh, and on Friday nights, at about 6:30 people come in and build models. A lot of times guys will buy other items they need, which helps!
I can agree on that. Bill is a great guy for sure. I’ve only made it to one meeting so far. It was great fun and everyone was surprised that a 19 year old was there.
I guess the best words to descibe my LHS owner is ‘ladiesman’. I’m not saying he’s not a great LHS owner, because he’ll help you out with questions. He’ll order paints, tools, and kits for you when you ask. But overall I’ve noticed he does give more attention to the women in the store(their’s a suprisingly good amount.[8D]) I’ve overheard him chatting it up with them, flirting, and overall giving them an extra hand.[;)] Take this for an example: he may spend one minute answering your question(if your a dude) and five minutes answering the same question if a woman asks.
No way, the guy I deal with is an old friend. Come to think of it I still have outstanding bills over with him. Our guy is very well known and well respected as a very helpful guy. He knows that not everybody can get to his shop so he organises deliveries by alowing any of our friends to drop stuff off when passing. Its real service. We are normally more expensive that the UK over here but our friend tries to sell at Pound Sterling to Euro.
Nope. The LHS near me recognizes the economy and would never force feed anyone a line. I have seen 3 hobby stores fold during my time and I’m sure we can all relate to that so I try to frequent them as much as possible and stay away from online sales.
Little over a year ago the Hobbyland near me went out of buisness. One of the two employees is now a good friend of mine but he was slick as snot on a marble. He had the lines to suck a guy in like catfish to pork livers. Got me many times and for months my average take was about $70 a week. Another friend of mine usually got nailed for $200-$400 monthly. One day I finally came to my senses and caught him applying his variety of smoothness. I wised up and finally gained control but there for about a year he had the hook buried. I still razz him about it. Guy could sell a glass of ice water to an Eskimo.
