Lantz Hobby Shop Inc. Has Been Serving Customers On-Line Now for Over a Decade.
With our On-Line store, Wholesaletrains.com and Wholesaleplanes.com we became one of the first hobby shops ever with an internet presence and a few years later in 2001, certainly one of the first of a handfull of retail shops to go live with secure On-Line 24/7 shopping for our customers. Our website database is maintained in house by our staff who work around the clock bringing you up to the minute changes in the industry. We are unique in the world of websites today in that we actually own all of our computer servers and equipment and dedicate them exclusively to this site.

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	Left - The Home Page of Our Website in 1999
		Above - Gregg Lantz of GPL Integrated IT begins in store equipment installation bringing us to the internet in 1998. Gregg has an outstanding reputation in the technologies industry and makes it all work for us 24/7 every day of the year.

In 1998 we began by specializing in offering Garden Scale Trains On-Line. Garden Scale Trains or "G Scale" was of particular interest shared by many of our store staff and it proved a natural fit for us. Many aspects of G scale trains have changed and the hobby has grown significantly since those early days. Today garden railroad products remain as one of our most popular offerings.

Right - Boxes of G scale model trains are stacked awaiting shipment out to our customers Below - In 2002 we purchased our facility and expanded operations to three floors. Below Right - Our retail store occupies the street level floor.

Early on we discovered that manufacturers and wholesalers were becoming increasingly reliant on us to use our website to quickly get information of product sales, overstocks and special offers to customers. In the past it was necessary to rely on print or magazine advertising to get information to buyers. A magazine advertisement would not get to the buyer until months later. By having a full time dedicated website staff we could have our customers informed within hours of a phone call and our shipping department getting the products packed and shipped as soon as the supplier could get them to us. In addition we could now discount a portion or "trim" an items supply to reduce inventory by just having a limited time sale. In the past the entire supply was sometimes liquidated in a magazine advertisement or sold out before the magazine was even on newstands. A new revolution had been brought to the industry and it was clear there would be no turning back. Suppliers rely on us now daily to quickly move out 1 or 100 items at a greatly reduced cost which could be passed on to customers through further reduced prices. Today we work around the clock trying to keep our website updated with the latest changes and offerings from over 200 different suppliers. The next step is in the works now. With a new 64 bit server farm now installed and extremely powerful database software being set up, we are excited about what we will be able to offer going forward.

	Left - The ground floor was converted into a full time packing and shipping facility in 2004
Right - Gary Lantz (an avid garden railroader and model airplane flyer) randomly inspects a package off the sorting line before it is labeled for shipment. Gary often spends many late nights working on the website adding detailed information to items that could help beginner hobbiests to better understand a product.

In 2007 over 30 thousand packages of Hobby Supplies were shipped out of our upstate NY packing and sorting facility to our customers around the globe.

	Left - Owner Lisa Lantz (a sports enthusiast) gets up early each morning to get her daily excecize workout unloading freight off trucks before she starts her day managing the day to day operations of the company.
Right - Shipping Supervisor Bill Clark inspects production of a custom built crate being made to hold a pre-built ready to fly Corsair for shipment to a waiting customer on the other side of the continent. Bill takes product packaging very seriously and his military background helps to keep things organized especially during the holiday season.

 

Late in 2011 a new mail order and retail facility was added just down the street from the original building to handle the higher volume of daily shipments.

	Left - Manager jenny in her new office.
Right - Theresa on the telephone.

But nothing is more important to us than you are. Our customers are the boss! We are always looking for your input to help us to try and do our job better. If there is anything we can do to serve you better please call one of us any time.