Just a heads up, so the conversion process will be easier on all of us ... OK, I know this is going to cause more confusion than it's probably worth, and is going to require a lot more work than I really feel like doing, but it's gotta be done....... This past week-end, I took some tentative steps, and started laying out the groundwork for our new web-site. Why? Well, as those of you whom I've spoken to at toy & train shows know, there's a lot going on here, too much to go in

FINALLY getting things back to what passes for normal around here! To address everyone's #1 concern right now, ORDERS:   Nothing to worry about, your order didn't get lost, nothing mysterious or nefarious  going on...I had planned to reopen the shop after my Christmas break, on Jan 8th, but the family got walloped with the Flu or the plague or something, and I was laid up for about a week & a half, so I got back later than expected.  During the break, the orders from the webs

The busy season is upon us! And so, now with Halloween behind us, we shift into high gear, and I turn to the blog, to keep customers informed as to what's happening here in Barclay-Ville. As of now, everything's under control, and orders are going out pretty fast, so if you have an order in mind, now's a good time to get it in. It always amazes me how fast things can get un-hinged and backed up, but right now, I'm enjoying what passes for a "casual" 12 hour day here. Once Tha

Results of Big Chief Barclay's "Planning Pow-Wow" Back in the shop & office, FINALLY!!  Got sick on my vacation, so I put off coming back for a few days, then had to take a quick business trip.  Well, now that I'm back, here's some ideas I've been bouncing around, and hopefully you'll get to see some of them this year! - Replacement parts: I keep getting bombarded with emails from people looking for skis, helmets, etc.....So, there will be a replacement parts section added to

Loading up for the last post office trip.... And so ends another Christmas Rush, and it was indeed BRUTAL this year.....outside of my wife, there have been numerous other issues, that I really won't go into here, but trust me, by early this week, things were pretty ugly here....so much so, I spent most on Monday in bed with chest pains & dizziness....all stress & anxiety related, according to my doc, but, let's not dwell on that.......I'm happy and proud to report, that as of

Just checking to see if I wasting my time.... So....I just got off the phone for the third time today, with a customer inquiring about his order....When I informed him of the backlog, and what's been going on over here, he expressed surprise, followed by a terse "You could have at least notified your customers".......Which, in turn, led us down the path, to which this blog entry is titled.......I'm just curios - How many of my customers take time to read my blog, and the mess

FINALLY pulling ahead on the back orders! 12:40 AM, and winding down for the day here......My wife is still not back in the shop for more than an hour or two, every other day, so I'm more or less flying solo this Christmas season....I'm pleased (and somewhat proud of myself, BTW) to report that I've been burning the midnight oil for the past week, and that week of 17+ hour days has shown results....as of now, any orders receiver before Dec 1st have been shipped!! Some of you

A short rant....... Sorry if this comes of snotty or argumentative, but I'm working on like 2 hours sleep today....So, the phone rings this afternoon, and I pick it up with a cheerful "Good afternoon, Barclay".....I'm greeted by a voice dripping with cynicism, saying "Oh, so you're FINALLY there, I've been trying to get a hold of you for going on two weeks now"......I inform the gentleman that I never got any messages on the machine, to which, the reply - "I don't believe in

An answer to one of the most popular (if not diplomatically posed) questions these past few weeks..... OK, my apologies if I'm coming off a little snotty here, but I'm exhausted........Just wanted to take a minute to touch base with my customers, and give you a little "behind the scenes" glimpse as to what's been going on here....."What The Hell Is Going On Over There"?  was the subject line from a scathing email I received from a customer, who was waiting for his order for o

Short answer to a very popular question, as of late..... "Where'd All The Houses Go?".......I find myself answering that question roughly every other day, so hopefully, some of you out there in "Web-Land" will find this, and save both of us some time & trouble....   Our entire inventory of the houses in our "Vintage Village" collection, was bought out by "Brady's Train Outlet", of Greensburg, Penn....... The houses haven't been transferred to them yet, so give them some time

Welcome to my first blog post.........I hope....... Well, hopefully, I cracked this blog thing, and you out there in "Web-Land" will be reading this, and liking it.....The blog feature, which I call "The Barclay Bugle", is a new adventure for me, so please, bear with me, feel free to join in, and hopefully, we can have some fun here, in addition to me keeping you up to speed with what's going on here.....Like I keep telling people at all the trade shows I attend, that whole "