MKB - Worth Visiting Store?

[csxt4447]

Will be visting Baltimore, is MBK worth the visit? Are most items on their website available on the shelves and are prices same as on line?

[garr]

I have not visited the store but from other on-line discussions it appears a large amount of their inventory is not on shelves in the store. For all practical purposes you place an on-line order at one of the computers located in the store. Then your item is pulled from the warehouse.

Jay

[drolsen]

I think it's definitely worth a visit. I stop by there whenever I have a chance when I'm back home in Baltimore. The actual retail space has been expanded and is a decent size now, even though it's a shadow of its former self at the old location downtown. They have all the paints, tools, and other basic supplies on display. The N scale section is actually quite good, while the HO section has sort of a representation of each major manufacturer - Athearn, Atlas, ExactRail (what's left), Intermountain, Walthers and even some Tangent. There are probably a few dozen models from each line on the display on the shelves, while the rest are in the warehouse. The locomotive display case has most of the recent releases on display where you can ask to see them. They also have a decent number of Walthers structure kits on on the shelves, as well as track, vehicles, and other small items on wall hangers. There's also a section with books and magazines on racks. When I was there a few weeks ago, they were building an new HO display layout that's much more interesting than the old one, with scenery already in progress.

To clarify what Jay said, the way the computer process works is that you use one of two desktop computers in the store to look up items you're interested in to see if they are in stock. There is paper and pencils provided so you can write down the stock number you're interested in and ask one of the employees to go get it from the warehouse. You don't have to place an order - you can just ask to see an item and decide whether or not you want to buy it. It's a tedious process, and as I think Curt mentioned before, sometimes the employees have trouble finding a particular item, or it takes a few minutes, especially if they're busy, but it's better than ordering something sight-unseen, and they certainly have a large inventory to choose from. If you can stop by on a weekday, the store is definitely more quiet, so you'll have better success with the employees. Saturdays have always been hectic at the store, even in the old location where you still had to ask for help to get locomotive models from the warehouse or check for other things in the back, so that hasn't changed much. Prices are the same as online, and the website inventory represents what's in the warehouse on site. Some people have occasionally run into problems with the employees having trouble finding the item that's listed on the site - but I've never heard of someone ordering something online from them that's listed as in stock and then have it turn out to be sold out, so I think it's a problem with the employee finding it at that particular time (some of their employees are better than others).

Just to offer a personal experience there, I mail ordered some of ExactRail's BNSF rapid-discharge hoppers from Klein's a few years ago, and one of the 5-car sets showed up with broken details on it. I was heading up to Baltimore the next weekend, so I took the set with me and stopped by the store to exchange it. One of the employees went and got another set (about a 5 minute wait), and it turned out that one was damaged too. He went back to the warehouse to look for another set (about 10 more minutes), and he brought back 3 additional sets, all of which had some damage. He ended up swapping individual cars around between the sets so that I could have one set with 5 undamaged cars. It took a little while, but that's definitely something I couldn't have done via mail, so I really appreciated his help.

Dave

[atsfan]

The store actually has a separate out front inventory I am told some items "out of stock" you can find on a shelf. Most of the inventory is in the back so don't expect to be overwhelmed with volume when you walk in. There is also a discount shelf worth looking for. I get to Klien's maybe once a year during a trip. Unless you are just swamped with work it is worth the drive. Or you can even take Light Rail up there and get close I think.

[garr]

Dave,

Thanks for clarifying my post. I have always wanted to visit MBK but have not been to Baltimore in years. This has not kept me from ordering on-line from them though.

Jay

[calzephyr]

I have ordered from them in the past and enjoyed the fact they had stock and shipped it right away without delay. Most of my items were P2K locos when they were running absolutely great deals on Geeps and SD7's and 9's.
If I get to Baltimore again, I would certainly visit them.

Larry

[csxt4447]

Dave, atsfan - thanks for the good notes.

[atsfan]

Aug 27, 2012 22:33:58 GMT -8 drolsen said:

I think it's definitely worth a visit. I stop by there whenever I have a chance when I'm back home in Baltimore. The actual retail space has been expanded and is a decent size now, even though it's a shadow of its former self at the old location downtown. They have all the paints, tools, and other basic supplies on display. The N scale section is actually quite good, while the HO section has sort of a representation of each major manufacturer - Athearn, Atlas, ExactRail (what's left), Intermountain, Walthers and even some Tangent. There are probably a few dozen models from each line on the display on the shelves, while the rest are in the warehouse. The locomotive display case has most of the recent releases on display where you can ask to see them. They also have a decent number of Walthers structure kits on on the shelves, as well as track, vehicles, and other small items on wall hangers. There's also a section with books and magazines on racks. When I was there a few weeks ago, they were building an new HO display layout that's much more interesting than the old one, with scenery already in progress.

To clarify what Jay said, the way the computer process works is that you use one of two desktop computers in the store to look up items you're interested in to see if they are in stock. There is paper and pencils provided so you can write down the stock number you're interested in and ask one of the employees to go get it from the warehouse. You don't have to place an order - you can just ask to see an item and decide whether or not you want to buy it. It's a tedious process, and as I think Curt mentioned before, sometimes the employees have trouble finding a particular item, or it takes a few minutes, especially if they're busy, but it's better than ordering something sight-unseen, and they certainly have a large inventory to choose from. If you can stop by on a weekday, the store is definitely more quiet, so you'll have better success with the employees. Saturdays have always been hectic at the store, even in the old location where you still had to ask for help to get locomotive models from the warehouse or check for other things in the back, so that hasn't changed much. Prices are the same as online, and the website inventory represents what's in the warehouse on site. Some people have occasionally run into problems with the employees having trouble finding the item that's listed on the site - but I've never heard of someone ordering something online from them that's listed as in stock and then have it turn out to be sold out, so I think it's a problem with the employee finding it at that particular time (some of their employees are better than others).

Just to offer a personal experience there, I mail ordered some of ExactRail's BNSF rapid-discharge hoppers from Klein's a few years ago, and one of the 5-car sets showed up with broken details on it. I was heading up to Baltimore the next weekend, so I took the set with me and stopped by the store to exchange it. One of the employees went and got another set (about a 5 minute wait), and it turned out that one was damaged too. He went back to the warehouse to look for another set (about 10 more minutes), and he brought back 3 additional sets, all of which had some damage. He ended up swapping individual cars around between the sets so that I could have one set with 5 undamaged cars. It took a little while, but that's definitely something I couldn't have done via mail, so I really appreciated his help.

Dave

I agree most of their floor staff are very helpful.
There always seems to be a newbie or two "helping" though.
So ask around if you don't get what you are looking for.