discussion I remember when. . .

[Waspie]

My first model was bought in a shop selling plastic stuff of any kind. It was 3 minutes walk from my grandparents flat in Turin. My first kit was an Airfix bag kit, the Fiat G50, a present from my granddad.
My first real model shop was Amati and it's still there under a (not so) different name. Unfortunately, it's 600 km away from my current home.
For the most curious: LINK to Google maps.

You can stick me down as curious! If only we had something even half that size near me!!! John's shop and Amazon are my current haunts.

 

[Bri62]

We still have a local shop

 

[Guest]

I remember when I lived in Newcastle upon Tyne with the model shops in Clayton Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, where the local modellers would spend hours talking about their latest builds, more like a family gathering than work, then there was The Model Shop in Blenheim Street, then along came Beatties and tried to undercut the locals.
Prior to that when at school there was always Woolworths or I could nip down the road to the bike shop where the owner used to have a selection of the Airfix bagged kits.
Now locally where I live there is nothing unless you are into radio control or airsoft, so it is now the interweb where I do my shopping or at some of the shows/comps.

 

[Guest]

You can stick me down as curious! If only we had something even half that size near me!!! John's shop and Amazon are my current haunts.

We could always move, think we would be missed... The wives could come along and peel our noses off the windows....:tongue-out3:

 

[ColinW]

We still have a local shop :smiling3:

That's almost exactly the same looking front to The Art Shop in Darlington Town centre.
They do models but unfortunately a very thinned down version of what they used to do.

 

[yak face]

Heres one for @Mickc1440 , @Dave Ward ,@Andy T , any of you remember Barnards newsagent/ tobacconist at the manor top? Its where I used to spend my pocket money every week ,usually on the bagged Airfix kits , about 25p . On birthdays or if I saved up a bit I might get a series 2 or 3 kit ! Also , across the road was Fred Hartleys , a general hardware / homeware store, they occasionally had Frog and Matchbox kits .

 

[Dave Ward]

Heres one for @Mickc1440 , @Dave Ward ,@Andy T , any of you remember Barnards newsagent/ tobacconist at the manor top? Its where I used to spend my pocket money every week ,usually on the bagged Airfix kits , about 25p . On birthdays or if I saved up a bit I might get a series 2 or 3 kit ! Also , across the road was Fred Hartleys , a general hardware / homeware store, they occasionally had Frog and Matchbox kits .

Bents Green, Banner Cross were my area - I went to High Storrs when it was a Grammar School..............
Dave

 

[Andy T]

I bet my wife remembers, she's from that end of town.

You can take a girl out of The Manor.... :tears-of-joy:

 

[stillp]

Growing up in Cardiff, we had a few model shops, but the best by far was Bud Morgan's in the Castle Arcade. Bud (Bernard) was a successful aeromodeller, in spite of having lost a hand when he was a teenager - he tripped in front of a tram which ran over his arm. The stock in the shop was largely model aircraft and model railways with a few Airfix kits.
When we moved to Rugby we had the excellent Joto Hobbies in the town, as well as Antics in Coventry and Trinder's in Banbury, but all of those have now closed so my nearest retailer is the imaginatively-named The Model Shop in Northampton. There's also Wellingborough Trains and Models, in of course Wellingborough, which I visit occasionally to stock up on Mr Hobby paints.
Pete

 

[Airborne01]

Yep, Bought a few from there as well.

Bought them? We used to pinch 'em!

 

[wotan]

I'm another Woolies fan, 2/6 for a kit and glue.



John

 

[Peter Gillson]

I remember reading that such a large proportion of airfix sales were via Woolies that the demise of woolworths was a factor in the problems Airfix had.

 

[Ian M]

I remember reading that such a large proportion of airfix sales were via Woolies that the demise of woolworths was a factor in the problems Airfix had.

It was a great sales strategy, until it wasn't. Getting their kits into a 'supermarket' was a great move but as we all know it didn't end well.
AND my mum used to work there as well so I got a heads up when the new stuff came in. lol