New Train Store

[stripes]

Well I am excited!

I just rented a space and will be opening a hobby shop just for model railroaders! The shop is within one block of The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum, A large CN Yard and a Via Rail station!

So if anyone ever is up this way, stop in!

David

 

[rogerw]

will you take on line orders from the usa?

 

[N Gauger]

Cool!!! Break a leg!!!!!!!!!!

 

[myltlpny]

Best of luck. You're in it now!:thumb:

 

[Peter T Davis]

Congrats! Next time I'm in Ontario, I'll try to drop in.

 

[ezdays]

I don't think Ontario is quite on my path, but I do wish you the very best in your new venture. Word of mouth like this is going to be your best form of advertising, and the cheapest.:mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Ralph]

Congratulations David! Best of luck with the new venture!
Ralph

 

[Triplex]

Sounds like you found a great location!

 

[wickman]

Congrats David , are you going to set up a modelrailroad in the store? :mrgreen:

 

[stripes]

Thanks all, Yes I will continue to run the online store, and yes I am going to build a layout in the store! The other thing I was thinking of is to have childrens clinics or whatever you call them where on Saturdays they can come in and build a simple little kit and play with the trains!
David

 

[RobertInOntario]

Congrats! I also think it's a great idea to have children's clinics and to have a layout geared to their level, one that can even be rough-handled a fair bit! All the best, Rob

 

[TruckLover]

AWESSOME David!!! That is great news, Congrats, I hope everything works out for you :thumb: :mrgreen: :thumb: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[wickman]

Thanks all, Yes I will continue to run the online store, and yes I am going to build a layout in the store! The other thing I was thinking of is to have childrens clinics or whatever you call them where on Saturdays they can come in and build a simple little kit and play with the trains!
David

Great idea keep the kids busy so the parents can shop errrrrrrr or did I get that backwards?:twisted:

 

[thumsup]

:thumb: David,

Sounds exciting, best of luck and keep us posted.

Joe

 

[MasonJar]

David,

Beware the challenge of a store layout! My local store has a work in progress layout that has some great elements, but it is reasonably "static" in an unfinished state. I put in a bit of work on it with one of hte employees a while back, but we didn't get too far.

I really like your clinic idea. A couple of thoughts I had that would combine the two (and possibly spur business) would be to have a diorama, maybe combined with a contest.

The diorama would showcase a new kit or other new item and the clinic would show how it is used or built (or whatever). If you wanted to add the contest element, you could have people bring back their finished model for display in the store. At the end of the month, the winner would receive something (another kit, refund of purchase price, discount card, whatever).

Congratulations on your new venture. I wish you every success!

Andrew

 

[stripes]

Train shop

Thanks guys! The clinics that I was thinking about would be simple 2 hr. clinics for kids mostly. One I was planning is Scoring pad trees.
Scouring Pad Tree

I spent a fortune ordering products today! And I will post pictures of the shop as it progresses. I get the keys on June 15th. So the first pic. will be of a vacant building!
sign1
David

 

[MasonJar]

2 hr. clinics for kids

I don't know the age of your target audience, but "2 hours" + "kids" usually only works with teens and up (and not even always...!). I used to do tours for school groups (Grade 6 to college/university) and the general rule was <45 minutes for the younger ones, and no more than about an hour for the rest...!

Good luck!

Andrew

 

[stripes]

Whoever I can get hooked on trains is my target!! LOL

David

 

[MasonJar]

One other thought - I visited the Museum of Science and Tech (Ottawa) with my littlest one (almost 3) and the craft they had in the trains section was a condutors' hat. A circle, a hat band, and a peak. All pre-cut (several at a time) and ready to colour and assemble with tape.

Very easy and quick. Would be suitable for yoru younger set. Make sure you get washable crayons/markers if you go this route!

Andrew

 

[CNWman]

Four words for a little kid's area: THOMAS THE TANK ENGINE. That way you can have the little'uns busy while the parents shop. Plus you might also want to sell some of those wooden Thomas toys. They are still a big hit and can really generate some revenue easily. By the way, What's the new store gonna be called? "The Gauge"?