W.H. Smith = Modelzone

[Guest]

dont think it will happen in birkenhead scott, its cramped enough in there as it is

[Gern]

Both were close to me, but the writing is definitely on the wall for bricks and mortar shops, and not just model shops.Cheers

Steve

Trouble is Steve, 'bricks and mortar' shops on the High St cost so much more than the warehouses used by online suppliers so they have to charge more.

Another problem is that 'they can't get the staff nowadays'. I know it sounds silly, but most retail staff today are only there to sell the box/packet/container. They don't have the product knowledge or practical expertise that many model shop owners used to have. The old fashioned model shops were usually run by modellers, so a visit not only enabled you to buy the kit/paint/glue, but also to chat with someone who could offer useful advice and knew something about what he/she was selling.

The mind boggles at the thought of asking some freckle faced teenager in Smiths, who's never seen a model, what's the best type of paint/glue/weathering product to use? And, to be fair, we shouldn't expect them to know that sort of detailed information about the entire product range in the shop!

The internet allows us to buy cheaply and this forum, and all the others like it, now provide the expertise that we used to get from the shop owners. I suppose you could argue that we should bear some of the blame for the demise of the LMS.

Gern

[Guest]

Hi andy yeah i know what you mean and i know it is not likely to either but it would be nice to have another shop open in birkenhead.

scott

[Guest]

Sadly dave i agree with you however there is just somthing about going into a model shop and be able to touch the boxes and see the products close up that sparks the enthusiasm .... at least for me, kinda like going into an old library and you get the sensory images of the old books that you can't get from a kindle.

scott

[stona]

Yes, Dave has hit the nail on the head. If you look at the figures over last Xmas for the amount of shopping done online you will see that the trend is reflected in other retail areas too. A quick stroll down an average High Street or even some in town shopping centres will confirm the worst.

Oddly I don't really miss 'fondling' models before buying, most model shops understandably didn't allow you to open the box anyway. I do like books and still buy real books regularly. The inevitable problem is storing them. I have cupboards full which would fit on a digital reader with space to spare ):

Having said that a quick look at what some of the books I have sell for these days makes them a decent investment! Some which I bought for 20 or 30 quid go for over 100 now. Someone will get a nice little windfall when I'm gone

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thing is though, to established modellers, even a fairly well stocked W H Smiths model section will only be of rare interest. What it could do though, is spark some interest in youngsters, and a precentage of those will become keen modellers who, like us, will use the Internet to support their hobby.

Clearly, a bricks & mortar shop is too much an overhead for a model business to flourish, but for W H Smiths, a model section in their store is not a costly exercise. Also, even if "little Jo" doesn't see the model section, it's likely that parents, brothers, sisters, aunts & uncles will see them and buy "little Jo" a birthday or Christmas present, and "little Jo" might get hooked

In summary, WH Smiths may help produce the next generation of modellers, who will one day post on a forum with nostalgic sentiment about their first model kit bought from their local W H Smiths which possibly may not existing any more.

[stona]

I certainly hope so Mark.

I think that the first kits my brother and I built, after a brief scuffle to ensure that I got the Spitfire, were bought from a local newsagent. Times change, that was over forty years ago!

Cheers

Steve

[Gern]

That's a good point Mark. If there are no model kits on the High St, how are you going to find out about them and be tempted to have a go?

Gern

[The Migrant]

The first kits I ever bought weren't from a model shop, they were Airfix bagged kits bought from Woolworths. And like Steve, I bought many from my local news agent who used to keep a good selection of Matchbox kits.

[PaulTRose]

thing is when was the last time you saw a youngster in a book shop?........if they do want a 'book' its will be downloaded

i was the same, the village i grew up in had a post office at one end and a newsagent at the other............the postie stocked airfix, the newsagent had revell and later matchbox. i even remember airfix paint coming in a tall square glass bottle