Jim and TK88, you are both thinking in the right direction. Over a long period of time there were decisions made to purchase items to sell from the store that, frankly, did not sell or sell in nearly the quantities that were ordered. There are/were items in inventory that had been on the shelf for over a decade. Not only does this represent sunk cost for the club, but to add insult to injury, also on-going cost of storage and handling. Add to that, the cost to the club of ordering, receiving, stocking, tracking, taking orders, packing orders, delivering packages to a shipper and dealing with questions and/or returns, the store was not profitable in the form it had taken on over many years.

Prior to 2008, models were very popular and sold in good quantity, they also had a good margin and at that time the business made sense and was a real asset to the club. However, after 2008, sales of models declined dramatically. In 2009-2011 the club had a significant cash surplus, nearly $450,000, by 2014-15 that was all gone. The continued investment in more models, especially not popular models are one of the big reason for the change. We still have terracer models that came into stock in about 2012, as of last July there were approximately 1,800 still in stock, we have since wholesaled a large portion of that quantity, but we still have them. I hope that you can see that the idea that we can continue to run the store as it always has been run is not sensible and would lead to further losses. 

I may not have all the above dates 100% exact, but they are in the ballpark.

Having a store means that the club is in the online retail business. To be successful takes planning, effective management, careful analysis of what is offered and ordered into stock. To be effective, it would take someone that is capable with experience in that industry to be on staff here. 

Here is the Club's stated mission: "ACMOC's mission is to assist and educate its members, and the general public, to appreciate the historic role of Caterpillar machinery in shaping the world. ACMOC promotes the collection, preservation, restoration, display, and study of products and memorabilia of Caterpillar and its related predecessors."  I don't see anywhere in that statement "to operate an online retail business". 

So, the question is what does a "store" look like in the future? It seems to me that decals and certain restoration parts are fully in line with the club's mission. It very well will be that we create affiliations with the producers to provide items to members without the need to stock these items. I am interested in feedback on this but, in the end, what worked 15 years ago does not always work today, we have to change to meet the times and strive to provide the best we can for members of the club.

The store definitely not "gone forever", but it will take some time to get it reconfigured and in a place where it is a real asset to the club overall and of course, you and all other members.

By the way, if you have retail experience, hit me up, I'd love to talk with you.

Kurt