Any model shops open boxing day?

[meatloaf]

16 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

 

 

 

In previous years ive worked in a 24 hour petrol station and have generally worked xmas day and boxing day ( both at minimum wage and no bonus for working those days )

 

This year I started a new job at the post office so haven't had chance to get out to a model shop as ive worked solid ( apart from sundays ) for over a fortnight. I knew the postal sevice got busier over xmas but I was amazed at how busy we were. So this year I really appreciate xmas day and boxing day off and was hoping to get a few bits to continue with my layout today.

[rob D2]

Wow, take the time off I say.

so what if someone miscounted by one fishplate and needs some more....they can wait !

[ianmacc]

Is there not a toy fair or something local? I know that Buxton has always had one on New Year’s Day. 

Otherwise the only places with models that may be open are hobbycraft and Hawkins bazaar. The days of high street stores stocking model railways ended with model zone in 2011. When they were in their heyday (Woolworths etc) there was no Sunday opening let alone Boxing Day! 

 

Maybe there is shop at the north staffs railway or somewhere?

 

[Hroth]

Scrooge is alive and well, but operating in Retail nowadays....

 

Nowadays people in general are far too demanding where it comes to "instant gratification" and have no consideration for those who have to supply their "wants".  I'm sorry that meatloaf is stuck between a rock and a hard place, perhaps with the Victorian management style that seems so prevalent nowadays the only way IS to shop online, or at least explore the possibilities of spending the hard-earned!

[Andymsa]

Oh for the days of my childhood again, where shops were closed on a Sunday and town centres were ghost towns. And xmas it was virtual shutdown for nearly a week.  And any chance for getting a battery for that toy was impossible.

[blueeighties]

21 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes it is very odd really - if I ran a model shop I would certainly open on Boxing day. Lots of Dads and kids with free time and Christmas money to spend... and everywhere is closed. 

 

I don't have much time for retailers complaining how tough trading conditions are when some just don't want to make the effort when there is money to be made. 

 

Some preserved railways with model shops will be open. Best call in advance to check though. 

Silly shop owners, I mean really, wanting to take 48 hours off to have a break with family and loved ones. 

Jesus, what is wrong with people these days?

[blueeighties]

20 hours ago, fezza said:

For what it's worth our family were in sports retail for years - it was my first job - and we opened every Boxing Day, as do most major retailers. 

Clue there....'major retailers.' Generally also means large numbers of staff, and a greedy company ethos to open for as many days and hours as possible. Not really the general operating practise of the smaller business, certainly not mine.

If you feel that model railway retailers are lax with holiday opening hours, why not open a store yourself? Who knows, you could even open on Christmas day. I'm sure that would go down well with your family.

[rob D2]

15 minutes ago, blueeighties said:

Clue there....'major retailers.' Generally also means large numbers of staff, and a greedy company ethos to open for as many days and hours as possible. Not really the general operating practise of the smaller business, certainly not mine.

If you feel that model railway retailers are lax with holiday opening hours, why not open a store yourself? Who knows, you could even open on Christmas day. I'm sure that would go down well with your family.

Lee, can you get your arse off the sofa and stop eating toblerone, and go and respray my loco please

[Gareth Collier]

22 hours ago, fezza said:

 

I don't have much time for retailers complaining how tough trading conditions are when some just don't want to make the effort when there is money to be made. 

 

Well the missus has just returned from a 10 hour shift at a large retailer where it still remains open for another 3 hours. Although ideally located on a retail park they've basically just sat around all day watching the rain poor down. At least they were there for the handful of people that couldn't wait a day to return their jumper that granny bought them and, yes, they have lost money so well worth opening meaning the staff just got a day off. I trust you are satisfied......

[Tim V]

It's called 'planning ahead', make sure you've stocked up on fishplates and 0.3mm drills before the bank holidays.

[40F]

22 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes it is very odd really - if I ran a model shop I would certainly open on Boxing day. Lots of Dads and kids with free time and Christmas money to spend... and everywhere is closed. 

 

I don't have much time for retailers complaining how tough trading conditions are when some just don't want to make the effort when there is money to be made. 

 

Some preserved railways with model shops will be open. Best call in advance to check though. 

 

 

Would you work all Bank Holidays and High Days ????   I think not 

[blueeighties]

1 hour ago, rob D2 said:

Lee, can you get your arse off the sofa and stop eating toblerone, and go and respray my loco please

[Georgeconna]

23 hours ago, fezza said:

Yes it is very odd really - if I ran a model shop I would certainly open on Boxing day. Lots of Dads and kids with free time and Christmas money to spend... and everywhere is closed. 

 

I don't have much time for retailers complaining how tough trading conditions are when some just don't want to make the effort when there is money to be made. 

 

Some preserved railways with model shops will be open. Best call in advance to check though. 

 

Or lots of people bringing back stuff  to exchange or not working withHornby Transformers shutting down every 15 mins or even wires not being connected to the track, Good fun indeed 1 day post xmas day.

[ews60002]

I work for a parcel company and for the past month, I've done nothing but solid 12 hour days monday to friday, start at 7am, first delivery at 8am and last delivery usually at 6pm and back to the depot by 7pm then 30 minute drive home. I'm knackered when I get home and usually only have time to shower and eat before it's bed at 9pm before the next day brings more chaos and demanding customers.

I really hope and wish that all shops would close Christmas Eve. Boxing day and the day after as there is no need to be open. It's just people panic buying and retailers after profit. They don't care about their staff coming in at stupid oclock on Boxing day because it's not the big heads of the company that's the one doing the shop opening, it's their slaves and shops workers doing it. Bosses just sit at home drinking the profits in their mansions while the workers get by on minimum wages long hours and arrogant customers shouting and being abusive to them for not serving them fast enough. 

 

Workers in retail deserve to have a life outside of their workplace and not just work work work.

 

Rant over (Head clear)

Edited December 26, 2019 by ews60002

[royaloak]

I am the sort of person who, if I had to work Boxing Day and the Boss wasnt, I would continually find 'problems' necessitating calling the Boss every 5 minutes, but thats probably just me! 

[Amand]

Oh to be back in the early 1970s - no Sunday trading, no shops open on bank holidays, most towns had half day closing, and the 3 day week around Christmas 1973. How did we manage? 

[big jim]

38 minutes ago, Amand said:

Oh to be back in the early 1970s - no Sunday trading, no shops open on bank holidays, most towns had half day closing, and the 3 day week around Christmas 1973. How did we manage? 

 

Try telling that to the youth of today, they won’t believe you 

[Trains4U]

1 hour ago, Amand said:

Oh to be back in the early 1970s - no Sunday trading, no shops open on bank holidays, most towns had half day closing, and the 3 day week around Christmas 1973. How did we manage? 

I’d say that was even as late as the early 90s. Didn’t Sunday trading laws change around 1991?

Edited December 26, 2019 by Trains4U

[Andy Hayter]

1991?  2019 in rural France.  Shops do not open on Sunday - with a few exceptions of big supermarkets just before major holidays like Xmas when they open half day on a Sunday.  Most small shops do not open on Monday and many have half day later in the week - often Wednesday.  Smaller shops shut for 90 minutes to 150 minutes for lunch, but do stay open to 19:00hrs having opened before 09:00hrs.

 

And despite what some would see as catastrophic limitations on their freedom to spend, the world goes on quite happily.

 

 

[John M Upton]

I always enjoy a walk on Christmas Day and indulging in my favourite sport - spotting those driving around deseparately trying to find a shop that is open!!!  

[Amand]

Sunday shopping in England was around 1994, but growing up in the 1970s that's where my memory takes me. Sunday was the day cars were washed, grass cut, fences and woodwork painted. If my dad got the car out of the garage I'd wash it for my pocket money, then after lunch I could put the trestles up in the garage and get the trainset board out. The lads living in the road would bring a loco round and we'd race them - I had 3 ovals of track. The winners were either my 0-4-0 Polly, or the Lima Deltic, depended upon which oval they were on and which controller was used!

 

Today was dog walking first thing, then catching up with family we didn't see yesterday. Couldn't cope with the Boxing Day sales or the returns queues at Customer Service.

[royaloak]

54 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

I always enjoy a walk on Christmas Day and indulging in my favourite sport - spotting those driving around deseparately trying to find a shop that is open!!!  

I went out for a quite drive today dropping my Son off at his girlfriends and we spent the trip seeing how many people were stood at bus stops waiting for the non existent buses, the answer was 15 in a 1 hour drive, we have never had buses running on Boxing Day!

[woodenhead]

10 hours ago, royaloak said:

I went out for a quite drive today dropping my Son off at his girlfriends and we spent the trip seeing how many people were stood at bus stops waiting for the non existent buses, the answer was 15 in a 1 hour drive, we have never had buses running on Boxing Day!

There was an interesting article on R4 last night with Christian Wolmar - they were discussing how in Switzerland, France and Italy trains run on Christmas Day and Boxing day.  Christian was pointing out that only 5-10% of journeys are made by train, the big shutdowns at Christmas and Easter help the engineers get jobs done that would take a lot longer as overnight possessions and would disrupt the demand for later and earlier services (plus freight).  None of the franchises have a Christmas/Boxing Day service clause in them not even the latest Avanti one which is 15 years so don't expect any change in government policy on this in the near future.

 

I noted in the news yesterday that footfall was down about 10% in the Boxing Day sales and the queues outside the Trafford Centre last night were not bad, not that I was going to set foot inside the place.  Black Friday and Cyber Monday seem to be drawing people away from department stores and people are also (finally) becoming more aware of buying clothes for the sake of it and the impact of our throwaway culture.  In fact they reported that pretty much the whole of December many shops were running up to 40% off promotions which are not sustainable so I think we can expect more thinning of retail next year.  I note a lot of the adverts on TV for sales indicate they end over the weekend, the cynic in me thinks ahead of even deeper discounting for New Year or maybe the shops recognise that enough is enough.

 

The sad thing is a lot of the UK economy is driven by this sector but greed for the latest gadgets and clothing has to be tempered.

 

Perhaps Boxing Day could be made more like Easter Day and Christmas Day and shops be barred from opening but I guess all that will do is further drive people online, at least on Boxing Day people pour into the shops.

[royaloak]

13 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

There was an interesting article on R4 last night with Christian Wolmar - they were discussing how in Switzerland, France and Italy trains run on Christmas Day and Boxing day.  

Are they Christian (Religion not Wolmar ) Countries though?

 

I dont think anyone except essential staff should be working on Christmas or Boxing days, essential staff would have been aware they might have to work when they took the job on!

Edited December 27, 2019 by royaloak

[woodenhead]

1 minute ago, royaloak said:

Are they Christian (Religion not Wolmar ) Countries though?

I would hope Italy is 

 

Otherwise that means the Pope represents the 'other' guy.