Horizon ends online sales of non-exclusive products
Published:
January 15, 2014
This article was updated Jan. 15.
Horizon Hobby will no longer sell non-exclusive model-railroading product lines on its website, Amazon or eBay, according to a post by the company on a Model Railroader Web forum.
The change took affect Jan. 15, and customers searching for HorizonHobbyTrains.com are being redirected to Athearn.com. Athearn products can now be purchased directly from the Athearn website.
“Horizon Hobby will continue to provide distribution of Athearn plus all our nonexclusive model railroad brands to retailers as we have for decades, and our interest and support of the model railroading community continues as well,” the post read.
Commenter Mike Lehman posted on the Model Railroader forum that this appeared to be an effort by Horizon to remove itself from direct competition with local hobby stores on items that aren’t its exclusives.
When asked if this were the case, Horizon Vice President of Sales Janet Ottmers responded, “Consumers are already well-served by a number of online stores offering these nonexclusive brands. We believe focusing our efforts to be an outstanding distributor of trains is the best use of our resources, and we look forward to continued growth in this area.”
HorizonHobbyTrains.com subscribers will continue to receive promotions for Athearn products. And preorders previously made on HorizonHobbyTrains.com will be maintained and will ship once available, according to the post.
To check the status of backorders, contact Horizon at 888-959-2307. |