Hattons Model Railways to close

[JSpencer]

This is a huge WTF!

 

I am stunned seeing as they recently brought a US company too.

 

My sincere condolences to the staff and all the best for the future.

[woodenhead]

2 minutes ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

What worries me is the loss of advertising revenue which helps keep the model press in business. How many pages did Hattons take in RM, BRM MR etc?

In the last RM it was two pages, not the massive listings of the past.

 

Rails, Cheltenham Models, Hereford, Kernow and Ellis Clark all take out multiple pages.

 

Whilst there will undoubtedly be shockwaves, at this time I think we should consider the very real impacts on the staff at Hattons itself.

[caradoc]

Like so many others, shocked and saddened by the news, having been a Hattons customer since the 1970s. Best wishes to all the staff. 

 

[Ollie K]

Thoughts with all Hattons' staff - only this weekend I rang up to change a delivery address on a pre-order and it was so refreshing to quickly get through to a real human being - and a really friendly, efficient one at that! 

 

Also, credit to them for taking such a painful decision if the sums weren't adding up, rather than carrying on and risking running up debts.

 

Really puts into perspective the 'disappointment' that'll echo about tomorrow if Hornby's 2024 announcements aren't what people were hoping for.

 

[JohnR]

Absolutely stunned. This is the biggest shock to the hobby that I have known. 

 

They will leave a massive hole, as for many they were the "local model shop" that you could ring up or increasingly order online from for all those bits, especially with the innovative Trunk service.

 

The loss of the Genesis carriages (not withstanding the production of the 2nd batch) and the Barclay 040s is massive - these were widely praised across the hobby. I would hope that someone would buy the tooling off them to allow future production. 

[Crantock]

Very shocked.  Sympathy to the staff.  

 

Looking at the accounts, Turnover in the year to June 2019 was £15m and in the year to June 2022 was £11m with a £400k operating loss.  There was no bank debt but clearly not a happy picture.

 

 

[Liam]

This is terrible news. In some cases it is natural to speculate on the hows and whys, but our first thoughts must be with the very talented people who are losing their jobs. 

[Stanley Melrose]

My Dad took me to Smithdown Road to swap my Trix Twin for a Graham Farish Prairie and some Formway track.  That must have been around 1952 or 1953.  We were served by Mr Hatton and I can see him stil in my mind's eye.

 

I've not been a regular customer but have bought from them from time to time with complete satisfaction over the years.

 

Very sad and I, too, hope all involved come out of it well.

 

Stan

[TEAMYAKIMA]

8 minutes ago, Crantock said:

Looking at the accounts, Turnover in the year to June 2019 was £15m and in the year to June 2022 was £11m with a £400k operating loss.  There was no bank debt but clearly not a happy picture.

 

I have absolutely no axe to grind in any direction, I was not a regular Hattons customer because I don't model British, but just as a totally disinterested outsider, it does seem strange to me that (apparently) they bought a US retailer only a few months ago - that honestly doesn't make sense to me unless I'm missing something.

Edited January 8 by TEAMYAKIMA

[moawkwrd]

28 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

I assume you never visited the packed shop. 

 

Losing hundreds, if not thousands, of people walking through the door weekly would have a major effect on any retailer.

 

 

Jason

Despite being in my early 30s, I actually did visit the old shop before it closed, as a train obsessed child who grew up in Merseyside.

 

However you’re missing the point I’m making, since I doubt in-person sales have made up a great proportion of their turnover for at least a decade, in that it’s very worrying for other online retailers if a well known shop couldn’t make it work.

 

With them buying a US retailer only 2 months ago, I suspect there must be more to todays news than just “general market conditions and changing demographics”.

Edited January 8 by moawkwrd

[AY Mod]

2 minutes ago, TEAMYAKIMA said:

that honestly doesn't make sense to me unless I'm missing something.

 

A bit of empathy.

 

Please let's not go down uninformed speculative routes in this topic.

[Bucoops]

Sad news :( Best wishes to all the staff and proprietors. The same of course to their suppliers.

[Clarks]

So sad to see another retailer dissappear. 

Obviously the big name in model railways along with Hornby, Peco & Bachmann etc to name just a few.

Times are indeed hard but the Internet really doesn't help as the profit required for any business to survive just dwindles as customers shop around for the cheapest deal.

A very big hole in the industry will be left.

[Krieghoff]

Absolutely DEVASTATING news for the hobby in general. My sincere and genuine upset for this long standing company cannot be understated. Any loss and in particular a key player like Hattons Should serve as a warning signal to any one,  of the volatility and uncertain future that we all face. 
 

to all the staff, i sincerely hope that you can find alternative employment and that the modelling public will feel the reverberations of this sad decision for a long time to come. 

Edited January 8 by Krieghoff

[georgeds]

Not totally surprised. I think their fractured relationships with RTR manufacturers over the last few years has cost them dearly. I used to be a loyal customer and would place all pre-orders etc with them. Since the 66 and break up with Bachmann and then Hornby I haven't really bought anything from them other than the occasional bargain or pre owned item of interest.

 

Very sad news as I have used them since my childhood. Many hours spent looking through their listings in magazines.

[bradfordbuffer]

40 minutes ago, AY Mod said:

 

Why not read the first post?

Didnt look past first 3 lines!😳

 

Absolutely shocking news first saw hattons (2nd)red shop on smithdown road whilst in the pram! as we lived 5 streets down from hattons...(very first and original shop a few doors down smithdown road FYI)

Proper yellow pages tv add shop with loads of red and yellow boxes in racks behind desk loads of exotic stuff in cabinets and Norman tinkering with repairs at his desk with brown dust jacket on....as a lad I use to have a paper round in newspaper shop across the road and I took over cardboard boxes for them to use as mail order delivery's...just put them in the back lad! and then you caught glimpses of products everywhere....and many a night taking dog for a stoll gazing through the internal security bars in shop window of all the second hand stuff for sale with little paper price tickets held on with string! Dreaming of what I couldn't afford!

Sad news for the current staff hope they find employment elsewhere in current climate. 

Not wishing to sound dramatic but a little piece of my child hood just disappeared! Use to be horrid when I went to see my dad and the shop had been turned in to a drug paraphernalia shop....which has since closed down and looked even more run down

[Lochnagar]

Thoughts to the staff, I hope they all find new jobs doing something they enjoy. I remember the magazines of 20 odd years ago being filled with pages of Hattons adverts, and always looking through them wondering what to buy next. How times change.

[BrushType4]

36 minutes ago, Accurascale Fran said:

Hi everyone,

 

This news is just terrible and we are still in shock since the email from Rich landed in our inbox earlier this afternoon. In our short time of trading with Hattons, and in my personal experience of being a customer for over 20 years, the staff from Hattons have been a delight to deal with from beginning to end and professional to a tee.

 

I have been in contact with a few I have been lucky to work closely with over the past couple of years; very capable, bright, hard-working and talented people to wish them the very best in their futures. They will for sure go onto new and bright things, but a lot of really good and talented people have lost their jobs today, and our heart goes out to them.

 

A real loss to our hobby and industry. It's scarcely believable. We wish the staff and management all the very best and thank them for their help in our early years in this industry.

 

Fran. 

Absolutely. 
 

When i received Richard’s email its was a shock. I echo your sentiments Fran and hope all impacted find alternative work very soon. It looks like they’ll have a few weeks running down the business in an orderly fashion. 

[Welly]

It was an email from Accurascale that told me the news. I have been a mail order customer since the mid 1980s and actually have a few second hand items on their way to me today!

 

At least it is an orderly closure.

[Dunsignalling]

Hatton's will be much missed by many more than me. 

 

The Trunk facility has been a godsend to those of us who order smaller items, allowing us to keep delivery charges under control. I do hope others steal the idea....

 

I've also bought pre-owned models on numerous occasions, at worst, they have matched expectations but most have exceeded them.

 

In all my dealings you have been a credit to yourselves and an example to the industry, and the hobby in general as to how business should be conducted.

 

My heartfelt good wishes for the future go out to all concerned in the business.

 

John Street

 

Edited January 8 by Dunsignalling

[irishmail]

Very sad news indeed. Disapointing for us modellers not living in the UK as they were very effiecent with thier service despite the hassle of 'Brexit'!!

Also would like to say that Hatton's customer service was/is first class as when I have had any issues with orders they were sorted out very quickly.

Like many of us who live 'overseas' they were indeed our 'Local' model shop.

Edited January 8 by irishmail

[cessna152towser]

Sad news indeed.  I thought my wife was winding me up when she said that she had seen on Facebook that Hattons were closing down.   I go back just a few months short of 50 years, summer of 1974 in fact when the West Coast electrification north of Crewe began and there was a promotional offer, Glasgow to Liverpool in 3 hours each way for £3 return.   A few times that summer I was up early to catch the train, then one of Liverpool's green Leyland Atlanteans from Lime Street station to 180 Smithdown Road, where the late Norman Hatton would be behind the counter.  I would buy a boxload of stuff, from obsolete Hornby-Dublo to contemporary new and second hand rolling stock.  i vividly recall carting big cardboard boxes of stuff back onto the train in the evening.  Around 90% of my purchases were quickly sold on to clubmates or at swapmeets but many of the items I still have to this day.    Since 1974, I have been buying rolling stock for my personal collection from them occasionally, though now by mail order (never got round to visiting their new Widnes outlet).   Really shocked and sorry to see the end of an era.

[sandra]

So sorry to hear this news and I hope that all the staff find new jobs. The very first locomotive kit I ever bought was from Hattons, a Wills body kit for a 2251 class. I have been a regular customer ever since. They will be much missed.

[Big James]

I couldn’t believe it when the email

come through. It’s genuinely a blow to the hobby. My condolences go out to the staff right now. 
 

Big James

[New Haven Neil]

Well I know what that feels like!

 

Hattons were competitors, but I wish all who worked there the very best, an awful personal situation for them as well as for the hobby.  There's a discussion to be had about cut-throat discounting, but this is not the place nor the time.

 

I lived just off Smithdown Road where the old shops were, when I was in further edumocation in Liverpool for 3 years, and have strong memories of them.

 

Vale.