Caboose hobby in Denver

[propmeup1]

I’ll be arriving in Denver tomorrow with some time to kill before my daughter is done working. What’s the word on Caboose Hobbies ?

[Dave V]

I’ll be arriving in Denver tomorrow with some time to kill before my daughter is done working. What’s the word on Caboose Hobbies ?

Still apparently closed indefinitely. It would only marginally be worth the time to visit even were it open.  The new management has been trying not to clutter the shelves with merchandise for sale.

[MichaelWinicki]

Still apparently closed indefinitely. It would only marginally be worth the time to visit even were it open.  The new management has been trying not to clutter the shelves with merchandise for sale.

A rather bold marketing move on their part!

[CRL]

Probably had enough capital for the original inventory purchase, but couldn’t afford to replace sold inventory.

Basic retail business death spiral.

[wcfn100]

I should probably go get my brass consignments.   

Jason

[learmoia]

I should probably go get my brass consignments.   

Jason

Good luck with that.. we had one of their customers calling demanding we return an engine we 'stole' from him..  After 5 minutes on the phone, he finally figured out he was talking to Caboose Stop Hobbies.. not Caboose Hobbies.

~Ian

[Dave V]

Either way, the Caboose of Lakewood is no longer the Caboose of Denver.  Even when it was open you couldn't buy basics like paint, stripwood, scenery materials, etc.  As @CRL says it looked like once the original inventory from the old store was sold, all they could really seem to do was deliver pre-orders.

It's very sad...I had high hopes for Caboose 2.0.  They're not doing mail-order right now either.

[Rossford Yard]

Limited hours, but the N Scale Supply store was an impressive treat, with lots of hard to get details, loads, etc.

[Brian M]

And not only has their inventory been more limited, but their prices are higher.  The old Caboose would price things on par with N Scale Supply and some other online stores.  Not so with the current Caboose.  Even if it were open, you'd be better off going to N Scale Supply.  Scott also stocks a fair amount of second hand items, so you never know what you might find.

Chris Palomarez, from Athearn, has taken over as GM at Caboose, and it has become an employee-owned business, so who knows?  Maybe better days are ahead for it?

-Brian.

[Kusi]

I was last year at Caboose Hobby and was quite disappointed. The shelves were so empty you needed luck to find something there. Also the store was empty. I was the only customer there. I went there because I heard so many things about Caboose Hobby but that was with the old management and at the old location. It's sad that such a store goes down the river. I had once a reputation and it seems that this is gone.

[railnerd]

Chris Palomarez, formerly of Athearn, has just joined the team at "The Caboose"

Should be interesting, as I think he could help them a great deal.

-Dave

[basementcalling]

Very glad my visit to Caboose Hobbies was under the old owners when it was a Mecca for the model train world.

[conrailthomas519]

The Good Ole days when Denver had many train stores! Now only two options.  N Scale Supply (limited retail store hours) and the disappointing Caboose. I hope that they will turn that store around.