Hide Transcript Show Transcript

>> TRAINS ARE ON THE TRACKS. MODEL TRAINS. >> IT ALLOWS PEOPLE TO BUILD A WORLD OF THEIR IMAGINATION. >> THEY HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR THE RI SINCE 1913. THEY HAVE BEEN ON THE INTERNET FOR 25 YEARS NOW. WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THIS NEW CHANGE. WE ARE GOING ALL-DIGITAL. THERE IS NO BIG RISK OF US CLOSING. THE OWNER WANTS TO STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE. >> WEDNESDAY THEY WILL CLOSE THEI RETAIL STORE AND MOVE INTO THE ONLINE SALES BUSINESS. WE KNOW THIS IS A CHALLENGE FOR SOME OF THE REGULARS WHO LIKE TO COME AND VISIT, BUT IT IS ESSENTIAL TO STAYING VIABLE IN THE MARKETPLACE TODAY. ON AVERAGE THEY GET THIS COMPARED TO THE ONLINE BUSINESS WHERE THEY GET AROUND 300 ORDERS. THEY ARE READY FOR HIM, THEY HAVE ADDED A DIGITAL INVENTORY CONTROL SYSTEM THAT MAKES IT FAST AND MORE ACCURATE. THEY STILL HAVE PICK UP HOURS FOR LOCAL CUSTOMERS.

Advertisement After more than 100 years, toy train store closing, going exclusively online Share Shares Copy Link Copy

It's tough for businesses to survive in an online retail world, especially local mom and pop shops. But when you've been around for more than 100 years, you've survived some ups and downs.MB Klein keeps the trains on the tracks, at least the tiny ones, model trains."It is an amazing art form. It allows people to explore history, landscape and then build a world of their imagination," director of operations at MB Klein, Dallas Mallerich, said.Whatever it is that fuels people's model train passion, MB Klein has been around for the ride since 1913. But to chug along, they have to take a different course."Amazon and eBay have changed the world that we live in today. MB Klein has been on the internet with modeltrainstuff.com for 25 years now. We're excited about this new change, we're going all digital, no walk-in retail," Mallerich said."There's no big risk of us closing, but Ted Klein, the owner, wants to stay ahead of the curve," Mallerich said.On Wednesday, they will close their retail store and move full steam ahead into online sales."We know this is a challenge for some of the regulars who like to come in, but it is essential to stay in the marketplace today," Mallerich said.On average, MB Klein gets about 20 customers a day in the retail store while they get about 300 web orders a day. Around the holidays, the online purchases nearly double. They're ready for it. They've added a digital inventory control system, which makes it fast and more accurate.They'll still operate out of their Cockeysville warehouse and have pickup hours for local customers.MB Klein said they are staying in the model train business and they're looking forward to the new destination.