LOCAL HOBBY SHOPS THAT STOCK Z

Hi guys, first time posting. Long time Zer. Took a hiatus to take care of ailing parents and in-laws. Just getting back and surprised at how many of the local shops in the south-eastern Michigan are out of business or no longer carry Z scale. I just recently was in the Columbus, Ohio area and visited Robbie's Hobbies. Robbie's was advertized in MR. I expected to find a large selection of Z but the had maybe 3 engines, 1 set and some track. All Marlin. Could we start a blog or a list or something that mentions local shops that handle Z. I travel on a regular basis to cities within 500 miles of Detroit and occasionally futher. I sure be nice to find some shops that carry Z.

I have 2 LHS's here in Kamloops, BC, Canada, 1 carries Z scale, but is such an a**, many of us will not deal with him.

The other one doesn't carry Z, mainly because there are only maybe 3 of us in the area that model Z, but they will order anything in we need.

Two here too -- that I know of; neither has much of a selection: Hub/Richfield & Scale Model Supplies/St. Paul.

Theres two hobby shops that stock z in the Ft lauderdale area. One is discount hobbies, and the other is Warricks. Discount Trains has a large selection, but Warrick has new ownership and their stock in z is dropping. If you are into Marklins, South Dade has Micro Mundo. It has just about anything Marklin makes in z.

If you are in Columbus again, give us a call. We have a ton of Z scale here at the Ztrack offices, both to see and to purchase. Plus we have a great Z community in Columbus with a number of large Z layouts.

Rob

Guys, saying what you have "here" doesn't do much good without stating where "here" actually is (city/state).

Z Scalers looking to visit/move to Northeastern Wisconsin be forewarned:

Appleton, Wisconsin has only one true hobby shop (Galaxy Hobby) with zilch - nada - zero in Z Scale. The closest otherwise is EngineHouse Services in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is not a hobby shop, but a proper model railroad shop, except they usually have only one MTL engine and a handful of cars.

There are no Z Scale clubs or users groups in the area, and I've only heard whispers of one other Z Scaler "somewhere" in the area hiding under a layout or otherwise incognito. Even ads I placed on Craigslist searching for other Z scalers proved fruitless.

Another reason why there should be starter sets.

I have no local hobby/trains stores, but I'm on my every-other-month hobby shop crawl to fill my shopping list. I visit about a dozen stores in northern Californis in the Sacramento and Bay areas. A couple of stores in Sacramento have gone out of business since my last visit and it's looking like none of the stores stock Z.
In every store I ask why no Z, and the conversation starts with: "we used to have Z scale" but continues on with one or more of:
Marklin is bankrupt, Z scale is dead...
MTL can't make it anymore....
Nobody buys it...
It's too expensive....
It's always out of stock (I can't get what my customer wants)...
In a couple of trains stores, I've convinced them to order a couple of MTLs new releases with their N scale order (including I believe one that Kelley reported visiting). And 2 months later I find myself buying out the stock, to demonstrate that someone does by Z.

Mark

Chen's trains in the city had a bit of Z, though kind of pricy. I think the other one was "The Train Shop" that had some Z as well, think it was in Santa Clara, I did pic of a CB&Q book there that was a store copy for at least 20 years or more. I did a google search and a map and rented bike and went allll over that part of CA looking for Z. I really love old time mom and pop stores and just be able to talk with the guys that always hang out in them.
None of the guys making Z cars wants to make enough of them to stock anywhere.

Kelly,
Hadn't heard of Chen's in the city, thanks. The Santa Clara store is about the best place for scratch supplies and books, particularly OOP. They regularly try to stock some Z. Didn't see any there in Dec. and I bought the last 2 of the MTL boxcars in Oct. A hobby shop in Campbell carries (carried) Z. The last time I was there is seemed that they just had old Marklin. There is also a store in Redwood City that's supposed to be good, but they open by appointment only and I haven't been there yet. There is a long time toy store in San Mateo that carried trains, but the web site suggests they may have given up on model railroading. There's a train store in Concord that's willing to order Z and has had some in stock, but someone besides myself needs to buy something there.
In the Scaramento area there is still a train store in Roseville.

Something that might help these stores would be for Z information sources, sites like zcentralstation or Ztrack magazine or MTL's newsletter to offer free first time ads to stores that have Z: if zscalers don't know they have Z, they probably won't be selling Z.

Mark

stonysmith wrote:

markm wrote: Something that might help these stores would be for Z information sources, sites like zcentralstation offer free first time ads to stores that have Z: if zscalers don't know they have Z, they probably won't be selling Z.

We have tried hard to get various outlets to work with us, but it's been slow going. Here's a thought.. what if we offered a "bounty"? Anyone who helps sign up a new advertiser gets a free year-long membership here at ZCS.

<just kidding - our memberships already ARE free>

Stony, I'm not sure that is what is meant by "spare no expense".

My LHS no longer carries any Z scale items. Mostly all they had was Marklin anyway. Jim

If your in the Baltimore area (a little more than your 500 mile limit) M.B. Klein has some z. Their prices are reasonable and the z selection seems to be growing (for now). They keep their online and in-store inventories separate, but in-store shoppers have access to both inventories.

Thsnks to all that replied. Looks like almost everyone is in the same boat. I have always tried to support the LHS but I guess in Zs case I'm just going to have to M/O. It won't taking a good look and holding things in your hand.

Thanks again

I think the one in Concord was the one that was a nice old timey train store that had a lot of cool stuff but no Z. Funny thing was I swore I seen them on MTL's Facebook page. If it is the same one they had a nice big HO display. Chen's trains is in SF has been there a while and they did have a bit of Z.

Kelley, I went to Chens trains when I went to SF. That restarted my passion for z.

Good Afternoon
We are not in the areas listed
We are in British Columbia Canada

www.ontrackhobbies.com
We have a brick & mortar store as well as the webstore.
We will ship anywhere.

Thanks

Kelley, all,
A quick update. I was in the Train Store in Santa Clara today and they are again stocking MTL (no Marklin): a couple of SD-40s and a dozen or so of the 2013 release rolling stock. Kelly, this is a the store that has all the books, so if you commented to them about the lack of Z, they've rectified it.

Mark