H&R Trains - Celibrates thirty four Years

One day someone brought an Electric Train to the school to keep the children entertained. Alice loved the train and even asked her parents for a train that Christmas. The train came that Christmas all right, but it wasn't for Alice, it was for her brother Gene. She got a record player instead.

Years later her Brother Gene was visiting Alice here in Florida and came by the train store for a visit. He was quite impressed and told Alice that it was about time that she had her train. Alice still has that first train on display on a shelf over the entrance to the ladies rest room in the store.

H&R had a very humble beginning in a corner of the McCrorys Five And Dime in Gateway Mall in North East St. Petersburg. Alice sold all her stock so quickly that the store manager loaned her $1000.00 on his credit card so she could buy more stock.

The business grew so fast that moving became quite common the first few years. Alice moved H&R into her own store at Gateway Mall and very quickly out grew that space as well. The first train show was out in the mall and it was a gigantic success. New customers seemed to really like this new store and it necessitated another move to larger quarters Pinellas Park Florida.

H&R Trains stayed at that location across from Pinellas Square mall for over ten years and grew into what became "Florida's Largest Train Store". H&R Trains moved once more into our current home on an acre of land at the corner of U.S. Highway 19 North and Haines Road here in Pinellas Park, Florida.

The store is recognized world wide as "A Model Railroader's Paradise" with over 32,000 items. H&R carries products from more than 120 quality train manufacturers in all Scales. Our customers come from all over the world and from every state in the U.S. We import many of our products from around the globe and even manufacture many of our own products here in Florida.

During June of 2007 we celibrated another milestone. With the closing of "Allied Trains" in Culver City, California, we became the second largest train store in the USA.

As it turns out our good friend Fred Hill from "The Original Whistle Stop" in Pasadena, California has bought the name "Allied Trains" and has already opened up the new store right across the street from the old Allied Trains location. It is however a much smaller store. My guess is that Fred will offer the former Allied Trains customers the same friendly service he is known for at the "Original Whistle stop" We wish him well and are glad that he was able to be there to continue to serve their customers.

The #1 store is "Caboose Hobbies" in Denver Colorado. It is also the largest Train Store in the world . It is nearly three times as large as H&R Trains and is owned by our good friends Duane Miller and his wife Joanna. It has been a family owned business since 1939.

Both Duane Miller and Fred Hill say we are all friendly competitors and they are right. We all permote the hobby in our own unique way, we share some of the same customers, and. each of us has been around a long time helping our customers find just the right train to enjoy our wonderful hobby.

We are frequently asked what H&R stands for. Over the years it has come to stand for "Happy Railroading" H&R offers more services than most stores could even comprehend. We offer how to classes on a variety of model railroading subjects during our semi-annual Train Shows: We have a repair shop, research library, video library, world class web site, two Train Shows each year where manufacturers meet our customers and our customers share their talents as model railroaders with the community. Little Engineers Club meets once a month to educate youngsters age three to seven about real trains. We participate in the Great America Teach-In. We offer Birthday Parties, class tours, custom model railroad design and construction service, we participate in numerous national and international Model Railroading conventions, and we have a Garden Railroad outside the store where we test new products and also give our customers the opportunity to run their trains. We have an extensive collection of real railroad artifacts that people can get up close to and enjoy.

Nominated for St Petersburg area Chamber of Commerce "small business person of the year award" 1993, Weekly Planet's "Best of Tampa Bay for Best Hobby Shop" 1995, New York Toy Fair - Playthings Magazine "Merchandising Achievement Award of Merit for Store Promotion" 1997, New York Toy Fair - Playthings Magazine "Merchandising Achievement Award of Merit for Merchandising" 1998, "Videographer Awards Award of Distinction" for video production of "Quick And Easy Scenery Video" 1998, Nominated for "Hobby Store of the Year Award" 2000, City of Pinellas Park and the Mid-County Chamber of Commerce "Business of Distinction Award for Design" (Joint venture Beautification project) 2001, Tampa Bay Business Journal "Distinguished Woman In Business Award 2001, and many more.

H&R Trains and some of our products and services have been written about in many books over the years. The latest example is "Volume three" of "One Tank Trips" by Bill Murphy from Tampa Bays Fox 13 News. Bill Murphy does a segment on Fox 13 News where he travels to unique Florida locations within one tank of gas distance from St Petersburg. This very popular segment has found it's way into print and you will find us under Trip 37 in his latest book. Oh yes - we sell the book in the store for just $9.95. It includes 52 unique Florida adventures complete with maps, facts and photos.

Another book is "Street Wise Marketing Plan" by Don Sebelak. This book is a comprehensive guide about how to develop a sales and marketing plan for your business, products or services. The author uses H&R Trains as the basis for his book in developing a business plan that could be used for almost any retail business.

Our first 35 years were possible because of you our customers and we are forever grateful for your continued support. We know that we must earn your business every day and we will continue to find new and innovative ways to serve you better. We just recently launched two new services to make it even easier for those of you that have difficulty getting to the store during regular Store Hours. These are the H&R Trains VIP Shopper and the H&R Trains Personal Shopper. We are also bringing more of our Merchandise to the world wide web. Soon we plan to have all of our merchandise available on our Web Site along with a Shopping Cart to help make your shopping easier.