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The
Time has come:
We
are out of Business
The building has been sold, and our lease is up. After
almost 65 years (the last 16
with owners Bob and Jane), North End Train Center closed its doors for the last
time on Saturday,
April 9th.
It’s
been a privilege to serve everyone for the last 16 years.
I’ve made a lot of friends, learned a lot about trains, and when I’m
in the south of France sipping wine and playing Petanque, I will think of you.
Our
phone number is still the same (206-362-4959), however our mail address
has changed. You can send mail to us at:
North
End Train Center
12345
Lake City Way NE #371
Seattle
WA, 98125
We Were The Northwest’s #1 Scale Model Train Store
I
received a lot of e-mails after our announcement and I want to share some with
you:
Joe
was the first in with;
Sorry
to see it end. Have a great retirement
The
next was from Forrest;
Wow,
that is a big shock, but I certainly understand. an end of an era, I was
a customer of Bob and Ron's on Roosevelt back in the '70's. wish you all
the best in closing up and moving on. Best of luck to you and Jane!
Will be by to say goodbye and maybe pick up a deal or two.
Meredith's
comment was very simple; NOT OK.
Phil
in Everett posted;
Wow!! This is a
kick in the ..................didn't see this coming. Which
means I have to go the east side for my fixes! I am
saddened by this, on the other hand I am envious of the
prospects of wine, cheese, and trains, it sounds delightful.. I will
be back as often as I can before the doors close, not for the sales,
but for the friendship, (well, the sales do help ) Thanks Bob and Hank,
you guys are da bomb!
Did
not get who sent this one;
To
Bob & everyone else at North End.....I had heard some small rumors of this
potential, and hoped it wasn't true...And now reading this makes me sad, and
the reality of it, even sadder... I've always enjoyed my trips to your store,
and the staff, even way back at the smaller location south of your current
location. I believe my first purchase in that store was a pair of Stewart
"FT's". Well, obviously yet another trip is in order just for the
sake of it, to say Hi & Goodbye, and well wishes to you and your friendly,
informative staff.....God Bless
John
in Port Townsend posted this;
Bob, I too am 73, and I
know what you mean. I am downsizing, if I can ever sell my home for a decent
price, and as I sip my Cab in Sooke, BC, I will be thinking of you,
too! God speed and god bless.
Dave posted this;
Bob, you
ran an excellent train store and it will be sorely missed by the model
railroad community.
William wrote
Its with
great sorrow that I read your e-mail, but I'm glad that you are going to
retire and start to enjoy the good life. I've enjoyed coming into your
store and chatting with you and buying the railroad items that I needed.
I hate to see the end of North End Trains, I guess there is nobody
that would buy the store to carry on the great name. Well, then its
yours forever.
David posted
the following;
I
was surprised by your email yesterday, especially since I was in the store
yesterday and you said very little to me. It is sad the building is
being sold. I can understand that this is a good time to go out of
business if you want to do that. It would be a lot of work to find a
new location and move the inventory. I will miss you and the store.
You provided someone to talk with when I need to get out of the house.
Based on the amount of stuff I have purchased over the year I can
safely say I have a compulsive buying disorder. I will stop by and we
can talk it you want. I will miss you being close at hand.
Ron sent
this;
Hi Bob,
what's this I hear about you closing down the store? Apparently I'm
not on your E mail list. This comes at a really bad time since it
looks like the Train Center may be doing the same. I'm hoping my
info is wrong,
Robert
dashed off the following; What how could you retire in mid second childhood?
John sent
this;
Just
a note to let you know how much I’ve appreciated doing business with you
all these years. We’ll miss you and the store a lot.
Rich sent
me the following;
Dear
Bob, This is without a doubt the saddest e-mail I have ever received.
I will sure miss your good service, well-stocked store, and advice on
all things electronic. From my own experience with retirement,
however, I am sure you have made the right decision--have fun!!!
Sincerely
Mike
added the following;
Good bye and
good luck. I have enjoyed shopping at your store over the years.
And from Tom we got the
following;
Bob &
"the Gang" ...here is a heartfelt wish of success & health
& happiness to each and all....God Bless
Not all of the e-mails
were heartfelt, I did receive one negative.
The few times
I've been in your store, you've followed me around as if I were some
thief, when in fact, on one of my early visits, you tried to rip me off
by charging what your computer had recorded as a price instead of what
was on the sticker on the book I was buying. And when I pointed it
out to you, you resented my insisting on paying the marked price. I
hope your wine tastes like vinegar and you lose big at petanque.
I won't tell you
his name nor will I confess to even knowing who he is. He said I treated
him like a thief, I may have done that if he gave me reason. It's a sad
fact that we lost on average over $500.00 per month to shoplifting. That's
$6,000.00 each year that we owned the store. From September 1995 until
April 2011 thief's stole around $94,000.00 from Jane and I. As far as the
computer vs. marked price, we always charged the lower price. As for the
wine, it has been good. And Petangue, I came in 4th at our Seattle
tournament (highest ranked from our own Seattle club). I was 3rd at our
end of the year singles tournament. And with my 2 teammates we won the
Republic, WA tournament. Did not do well at a tournament in Portland, but
had a lot of fun which is what it's all about anyway.
Thank you to
all of our customers and friends of North End Train Center.
North End Train Center’s focus is to provide a supportive and
friendly environment where customers are introduced to the model train hobby and
are encouraged to improve their modeling skills by using North End Train Center
as a resource and a means for networking. Some of the things we do to
accomplish this are: stock detail parts, scratch building materials and paints;
have a large selection of magazines and books; have a "what’s new"
area; provide stools for customers to sit and swap stories; maintain a bulletin
board with current railfan and modeling activities and introduce people to each
other.
North End Train Center also provides model railroad products that are useful
to all types of model railroaders, from beginners to experts, and everything in
between. Just starting out? We stock train sets, and helpful books to get you
started off right.
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