Another Model Shop about to close

[Guest]

Its been the same up here In the North East of England. There used to be a number of model shops that were very well stocked and the staff were knowledgable.

Now I think there are only about 2 or 3 that are any good. I know a collegue of mine went on saturday to buy a Futaba handset from a local shop. They only had one left, the display which was set up already and had been tried out. There price £250 non negotiable. He bought if online for £199 brand new !

And as for some of the other shops, you walk in them and they have NO stock! They say its dead money on the shelves, but when i go into the shop and they dont have the basics like CA, or fillers what chance have they got ? And thats not unique up here !

I think some of the balme has to lie with the customers these days as well. I dont think as many people are prepared to actually "Build" things now. There idea of building is taking out of a box and plugging the batteris in ! Nuts, bolts, micrometers pah!!!:angel:Wheres me playstation or whatever they use !:emo10:

Paul

[Guest]

We are very lucky here in York to have two pretty good model shops. I try to use both if I can but they can't compete with the online shops for stock variety and price. So if I need something from the online store I quite often have to add all sorts of stuff to make up the minimum order and thats a loss to the model shop, sadly. The thing the model shops have in there favour is the personal contact, knowledge and experience. They need to trade on this somehow. get a community of modelers interested and involved, The games workshop people do a great job in this respect I think.

I would be very sorry to loose the shops here, I can't afford to buy everything from them so what do we do?

[Guest]

Diversification marks the way forward...

It may sound glib, but one Railway Model seller I know that has diversified is Richardsons in Feltham, Middlesex.Although primarily a Builders' Merchant and Timber Suppliers, they actually hived off a section of their business premises to sell models. Not just Railways either, but lots of variety too. What could be easier than buying your baseboards, support frames, wiring, and your track etc., without having to drive miles, or wait for something to be delivered 'whenever'.

Maybe not all vendors have the same sort of premises size-wise, but it has enabled them and some other businesses not to have to rely on only one type of income.

On the subject of specialists however...if I need parts to build certain Locomotives I have only a couple of sources, and they certainly don't seem to be suffering, but as we all seem to agree...specialist knowledge is worth paying for. The follow-up to that is how long will they keep going , if youngsters don't pick up the challenge?

[Guest]

Our only model shop was a long running family place which sadly closed a few years ago, on the bright side a new one has opened up. He's not in the town center but sends a "boy" to sit at a stall in the shopping center, says he's doing a roaring trade there.

On-line is okay but you cannot beat yapping to the owner and picking stuff up.

[Guest]

My experience with model shops is that a lot of them tend to be very specialist - old one in Epping was into R/C large scale model aircraft and the Harlow one was just all things model boat related. Problem with being that specialist is it's a bit offputting to people who are into other forms of modelling. I guess you need to be a jack of all trades, plus have an online store to run a successful model shop now.

It's a shame as Epping is full of wall to wall coffee shops and Range Rover Sports now - not an interesting shop in sight! The old walkaround shop in Leyton has gone and Sedgewick and Beven - used to be good for buying materials, one of those old shops with wooden boxes that you could rifle through and buy a part for pennies that you couldn't pick up anywhere else!

[Guest]

Only one thing to do then Alan...you'll have to move mate!

Sounds like they're a bit stuck-up round there anyway...

On a slightly less frivolous note however, I have on occasion picked up some real bargains from the odd specialist shop which didn't happen to deal with railways but had acquired some surplus or secondhand items and needed the space...also, they often stock ranges and sizes of different materials I hadn't thought of for building scenery. An instant example to mention is the local Warhammer stockist in Woking. They've got a large diorama with opposing armies about to do battle, and all the scene needs is a couple of railway lines right through the middle with the Cheltenham Flyer thundering it's way majestically across the plain!...

I won't repeat what the man said when I proposed this....

[Guest]

what annoys me about shopping now days, leases are so expensive the small trader has no chance of keeping a store in a shopping centre or high street. Jackson square (shopping centre) where i live recently got extended and renevated. now its just all the same old shops. if you got blind folded and shoved in the middle of it, you could be in any shopping centre in the uk and not know the difference, there are just all the same shops!

Richard

[wonwinglo]

Taking a look today at the Chinese radio model sales on E-Bay, it is little wonder why the model shops cannot survive ? high overheads and renewed leases have kicked the shops in the backside more these past few years than ever before,things will never regain themselves on a local one to one personal shop basis ever again I doubt ? a shop plus staff,plus overheads,plus long opening hours depletes profit against a secure warehouse manned by its owner/webmaster who can sell far cheaper directly,it is all very sad but with rising costs who can really blame them ?

Shops will only be seen in museums in about another ten years time,and that is a conservative figure.

[Guest]

On a positive note,

I have recently been informed of a new model shop that has just opened in Chester, not too far from me, So I will certainly have to take a trip and check that one out.

There has always been a model shop in Chester, the old one being just out of the main centre. Last time I went in there I could tell they were winding the business up as there was very little stock in the shop on display, compared to what used to be there, it used to be a delight to walk in there. Sadly they did close.

I hope the new shop is as good, they are more in the main centre so should be easy to find.

Regards.....Mark

[Guest]

the riddler on shops

Can't agree more to all the comments, I used to eke out a living building and repairing models of all sorts lasted for four years but how can you compete against imports? now the shops have gone and most modellers just want to buy in a box use it and move on as for the young ones forget it

[Guest]

try jenning in enfield near green street or hobby stores down the road