by TCurtin
I have heard some comment that Walthers is in serious financial trouble. Is there anything to this? (I know better than to believe everything I hear).
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Once upon a time Walthers could be counted on to provide hobbyists with virtually any and everything one saw in their catalog...and do so within a week. Today what stock they do maintain is certainly not in any depth and a very high percentage of items are listed on back-order with an arrival date noted as "unknown". Now I understand that many businesses these days follow the current business model that says maintain minimal stock However, this highly constrains a hobbyist's progress when he can not obtain from the presumed premier supplier some critical items he wants for his layout.Another issue in play is that many of Walthers' suppliers are garage businesses who do limited runs once in a while when they get around to it, or have other issues to deal with (I've seen a sad share of obits in the trade press), or have simply gone out of business. Walthers has remaining stock for these lines and will list it until it's gone, and too often, when it's gone, it's gone for good. Look for 3D printing to fill some of the void. All you need is someone to design it, and it gets printed on demand. No inventory overhead. But Walthers isn't into that niche yet.
I would add that in recent years Walthers seems to be turning increasingly toward offering high-end locos, cars and whole trains, the latter approaching what were brass prices not all that long ago (they are not alone in this either). Paying upwards of $1,000 for a set of plastic diesels and some accompanying cars says to me that Walthers' current business direction is heading more and more toward an elite collectors market and no longer is targeting the average hobbyist.That's where everyone is going, seemingly. High price, detail packed offerings, ready to run. I've said it before, I'm glad I got my start in the hobby with $30 Athearn Blue Box locomotives and $5 MDC freight cars. And I still love kits and superdetailing. But to be fair, the argument is that this movement is a response to what the market demands. People want it detailed to the max and plunk it on the track and go right out of the box, so that's what's being made. As far as plastic versus brass, well, nowadays plastic can be as good or finer detail than brass, so it's priced closer that way. And unlike typical brass offerings, it will run great, and you won't be so afraid to take it out of the box and actually use it.
jwhite07 wrote:Once upon a time Walthers could be counted on to provide hobbyists with virtually any and everything one saw in their catalog...and do so within a week. Today what stock they do maintain is certainly not in any depth and a very high percentage of items are listed on back-order with an arrival date noted as "unknown". Now I understand that many businesses these days follow the current business model that says maintain minimal stock However, this highly constrains a hobbyist's progress when he can not obtain from the presumed premier supplier some critical items he wants for his layout.Another issue in play is that many of Walthers' suppliers are garage businesses who do limited runs once in a while when they get around to it, or have other issues to deal with (I've seen a sad share of obits in the trade press), or have simply gone out of business. Walthers has remaining stock for these lines and will list it until it's gone, and too often, when it's gone, it's gone for good. Look for 3D printing to fill some of the void. All you need is someone to design it, and it gets printed on demand. No inventory overhead. But Walthers isn't into that niche yet.
Roger Hensley wrote:Athearn was bought out by Horizon and then MDC went the same way to Horizon. That cut out a lot of Walthers sales. Then Atlas got into a problem with its supplier. There went another group of sales. All in all, Walthers has done a pretty good job even staying in business.