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Hattons Model Railways of Widnes (formerly Liverpool).


tractor_37260
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But they were running both a shop and a distribution warehouse before they decided to leave the shop in Smithdown Road

http://www.hattons.co.uk/store

 

Keith

 

1.  Not for long and 

2.  They might have already had the departure from Smithdown Road planned / intended.

3.  Running two sites even for a short time might also have cost the business more than they bargained for.

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1.  Not for long and 

2.  They might have already had the departure from Smithdown Road planned / intended.

3.  Running two sites even for a short time might also have cost the business more than they bargained for.

1. If you call from around 2011 til 2016 not long I would agree.

 

Keith

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I suspect they are also factoring in the overheads of now running a distribution warehouse as opposed to a high street shop.

Would it not be cheaper to run business premises(warehouse) rather than a high street shop.?? Rent and rates on shop premises normally very high in comparison.

So are their overheads cheaper at the new place..??

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ordered on a Friday before 14.30 and my orders arrived next day by royal mail 9.00am. cant fault them. every time.Liverpool to fife in 22hours from order. only kerrnow trump that! ordered 9.00am on a Friday. order arrived 9.15 sat next day.south of England to fife in 24 hours 15min thats quality.

Edited by fife 27
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Would it not be cheaper to run business premises(warehouse) rather than a high street shop.?? Rent and rates on shop premises normally very high in comparison.

So are their overheads cheaper at the new place..??

 

I believe the new place has a much larger footprint than Smithdown Road.  If rates are apportioned per area then they may well be rather more.

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Wasn't there some structural problems at Smithdown Road that forced them to close the premises?

 

The official line was that the structural problems which they were already aware of were found to be rather more serious than first thought.

 

I have no means of knowing how close to the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth that is.  It may be 100% of the story.  It might be that it was "convenient" to learn of something which might be a large job when the business was already effectively committed to the move.  Conspiracies theorists may froth over what is or is not the case but the knowledge remains within the business probably shrouded in commercial confidentiality.

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Steamport Southport, on 06 Feb 2017 - 10:35, said:

Well the shop is still boarded up. If there wasn't a problem then I'm sure it would be in someone elses hands by now. Retail premises in that area are very highly sought after, even if it's just to turn into a wine bar.

 

 

 

Jason

I'm surprised, I thought it would have been a wine bar by now with student accommodation above.

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Well the shop is still boarded up. If there wasn't a problem then I'm sure it would be in someone elses hands by now. Retail premises in that area are very highly sought after, even if it's just to turn into a wine bar.

 

 

 

Jason

 

I think the situation was that there was a problem with the shop in that the building had a problem which meant that Hattons were going to move at some stage.

However it seems the problems were worse that at first thought so the move had to be done sooner.

I would say that the entire building has a problem of some kind & that's why its still vacant.

 

Tony.

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I believe the new place has a much larger footprint than Smithdown Road.  If rates are apportioned per area then they may well be rather more.

I don't know what the footprint of the new premises is compared to Smithdown Road, but remember they also had a distribution centre too. But I assume they have similar stock and the same staff to be accommodated. In business units, the use of racking storage to quite a height can substantially reduce the required footprint. I run a business from a 5000 sq ft business premises, and make full use of racking storage to the full height of the unit.....business units are normally quite high.

I visited the Smithdown road shop, it appeared to be a bit of a rabbit warren, so I imagine proper organised modern storage was impossible...hence the move to the separate storage premises a few years ago. Running two separate smaller premises cant have been easy from a logistics point of view.....so the new premises surely must have given them economy of scale, all under one roof.

 

Rents and rates as far as I know are normally much, much higher on the high street I thought.

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I notice that the comment has assumed that the building was leased. If the building had been used for so long by a single business it would not be unusual for the tenant to purchase the building. So a couple of points and if it was owned the building may be on the market or there is a planning application for re development. So even if it is owned by another business the time to re evaluate the best redevelopment/ use of the building may be occurring!

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I notice that the comment has assumed that the building was leased. If the building had been used for so long by a single business it would not be unusual for the tenant to purchase the building. So a couple of points and if it was owned the building may be on the market or there is a planning application for re development. So even if it is owned by another business the time to re evaluate the best redevelopment/ use of the building may be occurring!

I think most business unit premises are leased....however, if they owned Smithdown Road, they could be planning to rent it out for a good return.

Or, if they have sold Smithdown, maybe they have bought the new premises outright.

We non of us really know do we, so perhaps we are all wrong to speculate on whether model prices have been affected......we non of us know the footprint, rent or rates values of any of the properties involved.

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There must be a serious problem with the building. You wouldn't leave a prime site unoccupied for that long otherwise.

 

I honestly can't think of any empty shops in the area. In fact the hotel down the road is on the market for £1million. It's a very sought after area.

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fancy-owning-beatles-themed-hotel-12505448

 

 

Jason

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There must be a serious problem with the building. You wouldn't leave a prime site unoccupied for that long otherwise.

 

I honestly can't think of any empty shops in the area. In fact the hotel down the road is on the market for £1million. It's a very sought after area.

 

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/fancy-owning-beatles-themed-hotel-12505448

 

 

Jason

One would think that the site itself is worth a few bob on its own. The building looks like a combination of three or four houses. If they are in serious condition then demolition and build a new building could well be the economical sensible option. This would require planning permission and that might explain any delay.

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AFAIK Hattons had already, for a few years, been sending parcels from a site other than Smithdown Road before the announcement of the Hub in Widnes, which would seem to be Hatton's second (& presumably larger) warehouse site.

 

This is the Widnes unit in 2012:

https://goo.gl/maps/f5HYztmJzT92

 

Clearly not Hattons at that time.

 

Keith

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AFAIK Hattons had already, for a few years, been sending parcels from a site other than Smithdown Road before the announcement of the Hub in Widnes, which would seem to be Hatton's second (& presumably larger) warehouse site.

 

This is the Widnes unit in 2012:

https://goo.gl/maps/f5HYztmJzT92

 

Clearly not Hattons at that time.

 

Keith

Hi Keith, the Google map shows the building in June 2012, it was Hattons then. If you go further up Montague Road and into the car park to see an empty building that is taken in August 2008. Hope this clarifies the location for you.

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Bargain. Like new. Only 3 left. Wondering whether to snap these up quick while they still have them.

 

attachicon.gifHattons.JPG

 

I have noticed this too when looking at pre-owned peco track, I don't mind buying 2nd hand track. my currently set up of 4 loops has quite a bit of 2nd hand track including points. But I wouldn't expect to pay the same for it 2nd hand as I do for new, even if it was "as-new".

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Hi Keith, the Google map shows the building in June 2012, it was Hattons then. If you go further up Montague Road and into the car park to see an empty building that is taken in August 2008. Hope this clarifies the location for you.

Looks like I was confused? :scratchhead:

I thought the site Hattons was using when they first separated online & mail order from the Smithdown Road shop was not their present base at Unit 17.

 

However running two sites does mean effectively keeping two sets of stock, so that retail customers have something to see and mail-order has something to despatch.

One site is definitely an advantage from a cost and stockkeeping point of view.

The Widnes site also has the advantage of being easier to get to and park at for customers coming from afar.

 

Keith

Edited by melmerby
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ordered on a Friday before 14.30 and my orders arrived next day by royal mail 9.00am. cant fault them. every time.Liverpool to fife in 22hours from order. only kerrnow trump that! ordered 9.00am on a Friday. order arrived 9.15 sat next day.south of England to fife in 24 hours 15min thats quality.

 

 

... and Liverpool to Chicago, ordered Friday at 1330 their time, received middday Monday. No complaints from me.

 

Then you are both quite fortunate. Over the last few years it often takes far longer than that for them even to consider picking anything I order off the shelves let alone anything else. Now I mostly use other outlets.

 

I am not surprised they have a much larger warehouse. The amount of new secondhand listed daily makes me wonder where they put it all, and how sustainable carrying it in large volumes will be in the longer term, both in logistics and overheads.

 

Izzy

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