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ModelZone seeking Administration


Ravenser

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Rochester SB are having an all stock must go 20% off   sale,  Pricing is a little confusing,  as fast as staff ticket up items, the phone rings  and new instructions from high above are issued.

 

The question of ownership of stock arises, newer Bachmann releases,  may not be discountable, after all they are the property of Bachmann,  older stock,  the property of SB,  are.

 

Some prices may have risen from last week,  (not the fault of the staff)  as  they implement those instructions from a-high being based on  Modelzone RRPs,  it just goes to show the bargains we have had from SB over the years.

An interesting comment on activities in SB Rochester - particularly the all stock must go comment ..... further to this  I phoned them yesterday ( prior to reading this post and optimistically thinking situation might now be clearer ) about a couple of advance orders placed some months ago and they advised me that currently (!) existing advance orders would be met ( presumably if they were still trading when goods came in - we did not quite bottom that out or that the price would be honoured ) but that no new advance orders were being taken  - think this leaves all those with advance orders  with a decision to make - cancel order and transfer to someone else - or remain loyal and try to pick item up from one of the online suppliers who does not take advance orders if the SB delivery  does not happen at the agreed price. Unfortunately this looks like a no-brainer even though SB used to be one of my preferred suppliers.

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According to a Model Railway Express posting on Facebook this morning - "Modelzone staff have been advised that the administrators are recommending the closure of all branches, although no firm decisions have been made yet."

 

Very sad news.

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Further to my post at 493.......Got confirmation today from SB Rochester on advance orders - says it all unfortunately - one also has to feel for the good staff pulled down by this

Greetings Mr xxxxxxxx;

 Unfortunately we have had some bad news – there were no offers to buy the shop from anyone and as such we will be closing down.  A consequence of all of this is that we will be getting no more new items at all so we will not be able to honour your pre-order.  I wish you luck in finding them from elsewhere and I do apologise on behalf of the employees of the Signal Box that we are unable to fulfil this.

Thank you for your custom over the time.

 XXXX, Signal Box.

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I visited Modenl Zone in Brum this morning and according to the staff I spoke to this is now the end game. All stock must go so far discounts of between 20 & 50%. Except Hornby and Scalectrix. Most discount on tools and consumables.

 

SS

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According to a Model Railway Express posting on Facebook this morning - "Modelzone staff have been advised that the administrators are recommending the closure of all branches, although no firm decisions have been made yet."[/size]

 

Very sad news.

And that was the information given to me by the guy who served me in the Leeds branch of Modelzone this morning too.

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According to a Model Railway Express posting on Facebook this morning - "Modelzone staff have been advised that the administrators are recommending the closure of all branches, although no firm decisions have been made yet."

 

Very sad news.

 

"No firm decisions have been made yet."  I don't believe that to be true for one second.  Instead I hear it as just a stall.

 

I don't know how bankruptcy proceedings work in the UK but here in the USA, for a retail chain the size of MZ to go from announcing bankruptcy to announcing complete dissolution only a brief 2 weeks later (with apparently any restructing and reorganization while in bankruptcy impossible), not only must the business be seriously flawed but there must also be a big problem with that business' market.  Forty-seven shops and it has only taken 2 weeks for the administrators to determine that none of them will ever be able to generate sufficient enough revenue to pay the bills, let alone turn a profit?  That's remarkably quick and I think speaks volumes about what most people these days can afford to spend on the hobbies MZ catered to.

 

While the quality and selection of the products on offer is important, the price a retailer offers those products to consumers is (and always will be) king.  It appears MZ never fully appreciated that.  Ironically, The Signal Box did, and MZ could have learned a thing or two from its subsidiary shop.

 

RIP.

 

Matt

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Leeds store was putting up store closing down signs this afternoon.

 

The same thing was happening today at Modelzone, Highcross Shopping Mall, Leicester. No evidence  of a rush of customers whilst I was there and at times customers were outnumbered by stoic staff.

 

Not surprised that the business model hasn't worked, as the rental and service charges quoted for a currently vacant similar sized unit (1,049 sq.ft.) are £100,000 rent, £33,663 rates and £10,048 for service charges equating to approx £2,750 per week.

 

Sadly I don't think my paltry purchases today would have solved their problems even if I had made them earlier.

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Not surprised that the business model hasn't worked, as the rental and service charges quoted for a currently vacant similar sized unit (1,049 sq.ft.) are £100,000 rent, £33,663 rates and £10,048 for service charges equating to approx £2,750 per week.

 

 

 

 

 

So working on that you will be approx £60.00 per square foot every month to make a small profit from the shop with 5 members of staff. 

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I heard from MZ staff that a number of reps have been in and taken stock back. I'm not sure how this works, but this was what they said to me when I commented upon the lack of Peco family stuff in a branch today.

 

I've picked up a few paints and glues - now 50% but bargains are only bargains if they've got something you want! Unfortunately there is very little apart from Hornby left.

 

MZ was great to see in the High Street, usually prices were higher than local independents, but occasionally you'd find the right thing in a sale and you'd get a bargain. Certainly seems to me that the successful model shops I've been to recently - Kernow, DCC Supplies, Gaugemaster etc do a huge amount online and their retail premises are well away from what you'd call premium locations!

 

Plymouth MZ said they were surprised to be closing so quickly as their shop, in it's own right was a going-concern as it's in a cheap part of town and was apparently in profit.

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This whole sorry saga seems to be a result of a dodgy business model in the present era, with rents and costs way over likely income, allied to a defiant pricing policy in the era of the internet warehouse. That the Administrators have not been approached by any willing purchaser merely tells us that those who know recognise that this is a fatally flawed firm. Dreadful for the staff and not good for RMwebbers, but a sign of the times.

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On the news said it said the administrator had decided to close the shops, does anyone know if the shop in the trafford center is still trading and when its likely to close if still open?

Also whats does this mean for the post office stowage brake and CCT as comissioned from Bachmann?

Thanks, Mick

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On the news said it said the administrator had decided to close the shops, does anyone know if the shop in the trafford center is still trading and when its likely to close if still open?

Also whats does this mean for the post office stowage brake and CCT as comissioned from Bachmann?

Thanks, Mick

 

 

See post 480 in this thread.

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I think the worst part of this failure is the way it's taken down one of the better known (previously) independent model railway shops that was itself a successful business. I'm glad that it seems Invicta (with some connection to TSB via ex-TSB staff) rise from Signal Box's ashes, so to speak.

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Invicta Model Rail are up and running  http://www.invictamodelrail.com/

 

I don't know the whole backstory about this place but is this the shop I've seen referred to here that was recently opened by the original proprietors of The Signal Box in Rochester?

 

Not a lot of N gauge in stock yet (no Dapol, no Peco wagons) - at least not available via the website - but there is something about the way they've organized the website which is reminiscent of the oringal TSB one before it was "improved" to comport with the MZ corporate website, and I like it.  Prices are also competively discounted, with some slighty higher and some slightly lower than those of a certain shop in Liverpool.  Again, this is reminiscent of TSB.

 

I note they ship (properly ex-VAT) to the USA so I will definitely try them out in the near future once my bank balance is a bit stronger.  Thanks for sharing the link.

 

Matt

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I don't know how bankruptcy proceedings work in the UK but here in the USA,

 

They work very differently.  In the US bankrupt companies are treated with kid gloves in the hope that one day they will return to profit.  In the UK they are closed down as quickly as possible (sometimes even when they might be a going concern) to pay off the debts.

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I don't know the whole backstory about this place but is this the shop I've seen referred to here that was recently opened by the original proprietors of The Signal Box in Rochester?

 

Not a lot of N gauge in stock yet (no Dapol, no Peco wagons) - at least not available via the website - but there is something about the way they've organized the website which is reminiscent of the oringal TSB one before it was "improved" to comport with the MZ corporate website, and I like it.  Prices are also competively discounted, with some slighty higher and some slightly lower than those of a certain shop in Liverpool.  Again, this is reminiscent of TSB.

 

I note they ship (properly ex-VAT) to the USA so I will definitely try them out in the near future once my bank balance is a bit stronger.  Thanks for sharing the link.

 

Matt

Looking at their website and the shows they propose attending this looks very much like a repackaged Signal Box of Rochester.  Just a shame it's that much further from where I live and I will have to be very creative to think of an excuse to take the better half to Sidcup.  Rochester was easy as there are several heritage events held during the year ie Dickens week and the Victorian Christmas fair.  Not sure what Sidcup is famous for apart from being at the end of the A20 and at the bottom of Shooters Hill - if I am wrong on these two points that proves my point.

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Surely one of the most significant factors is that interest in railways generally has gone down. Most of the blokes you see out spotting are middle-aged - very few kids about. I wonder whether this will in future also lead to the demise of some preserved railways - there are a lot of these now, and there can only be so much demand for a Sunday afternoon out having a ride on a steam train, and Thomas days.

 I also  think  that  many  folks  now  think  twice  before  taking  the  car  out   for  what might be  tremed  non essential  journeys, due  to  the  cost  of  fuel,

 

I often  travel  between  home  and  Ruthin workwise   a journey  of  about  15  miles  ( and according to the  signs  an  area  of outstanding  natural beauty)  no preserved  railways in the  immediate  vicinity  nearest  are  Llangollen  Std  Gauge  and  BALA Lake Rly  N.G. the point I am  making  here  is  that  over  the  last couple or so  years  traffic  has  become  very  much  lighter,  there are  several lay bys, where  walkers would park  to do some  walking, these  days  there are very  few  cars  using  them  !!l

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Not sure what Sidcup is famous for

 

 

 

Hopefully in the near future a respected model shop!  It's probably no different to having a shop at the less busy, partially run-down end of the main street in a modest Cornish town which was never the modeller's destination of choice until Kernow MRC came along with a business model which has put them firmly in the top few outlets for our hobby today.  Camborne is still way off many people's beaten tracks but if you build it they will come.  Either in person or online these days.

 

So with Sidcup which may not be as handy for Medway-based modellers (though is only a shortish hop by train or car for most) however as one shop closes another opens on someone else's doorstep and I wish them every success.

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Speaking to a friend of mine tonight who works / worked in Modelzone.. sadly it was too late, In a few weeks, shops will close (all 46), over 350 staff loose their jobs, very sad times, it's not good, I tended to pop in to Modelzone and buy the occasional paints glues ect... occasionally sale items on car models sadly never model rail items mainly due to the prices but knowing that they didn't own the stock it wasn't a surprise why it was hight...
 With rules on paint in the post... it will be rather difficult to get hold of any, sad for the staff at the shops it's never a nice time, rent is the main cause for shops shutting, here people have been pushed out due to council pushing rents up... even one shop in Milton Keynes.. made a point of letting everyone know why they closed down.

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