Hello Carey!
If I may speak for Rex as well as myself, thinking that this idea of not allowing kids in the store unless accompanied by an adult does not serve the LHS well in the long term, probably comes from our own childhood experiences (see above as we wax enthusiastic).
Our interest in this hobby, which has burned bright for over 45 years (at least in my case) came about only because we could walk into our LHS - usually after walking or riding a bicycle many miles (Yes, and we walked miles and miles to school; in driving rain and freezing snow - Yes, heard that before...) - and be welcomed as a customer whose money, as meager as it was, was welcomed like any adult's.
Those LHS were, at least to my mind, grooming their future customers. That no longer happens; at least I don't see it.
And that simple fact, to my mind, spells doom for the LHS. The online retailers cannot do this, and frankly don't care, as they have a customer base that has very few boundaries. The LHS was, and is for the most part (unless they have an online facility) dependent upon the neighborhood.
Of course, one can argue that we don't really have neighborhoods any longer. One can jump in the car and go for miles to get what one wants. Actually, I think that this is the exception that proves the rule. If the LHS fails to groom it's future customer base, then it may find that that customer base has indeed fled to greener pastures. They got in the car and went!
I know that when I was a kid in the US, and even as an adult in Germany, when and where the LHS was king; I identified with my LHS. At school and at clubs, we all touted our LHS as being the best. Sometimes, especially in Germany, it got as personal as the football team we cheered for.
So when I see a "No Unaccompanied Children" sign, I see an LHS that is trying to slit it's own throat. And based on the ever shrinking number of LHS; succeeding only too well.
David
I don't think you understood what I wrote.
Here's what I said;
"I have to disagree, at least for this shop.
Our LHS has that sign as well,
but given the location of the store, on a busy 4-lane highway, no traffic lights, schools or residences really near, that is not a real problem for them, and probably won't ever be. The few kids that do come in alone gets treated with respect as any other customer is."
Skip a sentence about brio/thomas;
"... is really
for the parents to see what lights up their child's eyes when the child "drags" their parents into the shop, while the parents are coming to shop at others stores in this strip mall."
I have to describe the area a little better. Its located on a major artery into Birmingham. According to ALDOT, (Alabama Department of Transportation), just today's traffic count on US-31 was 33,268, since midnight, with the majority of the traffic between the hours of 9AM and 7PM. No parent in their right mind is going to allow their "minor children" to walk, or bike along this busy of a highway.
There is nothing but other commercial enterprises along the highway here for at least 5 miles in each direction. These range from 7-11 type stores to major retail stores to medium industrial areas. Even the closest school, 1 mile away, won't allow their children to walk or bike to or from the school due to US-31.
The owners have been in the train store business for over 25yrs before they moved here from Florida, due to Florida's new tax laws. They came here in August looking to open a new store, or to buy one out. They bought out a LHS that was more concentrated toward RC than trains. The store is now over 60% trains. New inventory is coming in daily, and they are working with a Web Design co. to get a new web site for the store. Dave and his wife Beth, also has the smarts to ask what the locals want or need. Then he goes and gets it.
I've never had an LHS like you or Rex describe while I was growing up. Instead I did have very supportive parents.
Please read my last comments to Trent in the, "Atlas Turnout Mod", thread just a little further down here in discussions, to see my experiences with my not so LHS growing up.
I got my first train, A Marx Clockwork, at 4. My first electric at 5. For my 6th Christmas, I got 2 American Flyer train sets. At age 8 I discovered HO at the train shop in Prattville. Been in HO since, and I'm pushing 56yo now. I even still have my first car kit,
Silver Streak, Southern RR, 40ft Automobile car. That car has been rebuilt several times since then, but I do still have it.
When it comes to LHS's, I figure that someone who has run a successful one for 25yrs, knows a little more about the business than either you or I do. If they want to keep a sign that they themselves chose to ignore in practice,
(wonder if they have it for insurance purposes???) who are we to argue?
