I was shipped out to Chicago to work at a factory, which was a good thing. For me its a chance to go shopping at what used to be my favorite model train store Des Plaines Hobbies.
Stopping by there allowed me to pick up $72 worth of detail parts. I bought queen posts, brake wheels and tons of other items for the cars I'm building. They were out of turnbuckles, so I'll order them direct.
I've decided that you must be socially ignorant to work in a hobby shop. I'm so tired of going in to these stores and either being ignored or overlooked. The young guy behind the counter didn't even speak to me when I walked in. He just kept working on the computer. I looked around a while and then had to go poke him with a stick to get him to help me. After getting a dose of attitude I did finally get him to find the parts I needed. You couldn't find them on your own because they were dumped in boxes all over the place, not hanging nicely on the wall.
There was another guy there who was no help at all. As a traveler I got into hobby shops all over the place and get the same thing. You would think that if you walk in dressed nicely and say you are into the hobby and need to buy stuff that they would want to help you. I guess they hire these people because they know trains, but really I need someone to sell stuff to me. Someone with a personality.
Hobby shops, in my opinion, are quickly becoming a thing of the past. While there may be a few out there doing it right, the vast majority are just a waste of time and energy. I'm going to start mail ordering even more.
Got a thought? Post a comment below!
I was in that same hobby shop a few weeks ago and one of their employees was pretty helpful and pointing me to the things I asked about.
ReplyDeleteThe owner got chatty when I asked a few questions but seemed pretty absorbed in a conversation with a long time customer that was griping about something.
It's hit or miss at most hobby shops in my experience. Since they know there aren't many options for local stores, they probably think they have you over a barrel.