Hattons Model Railways to close

[MarkSG]

1 hour ago, TimberValleyRailway said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0h3yp1m?fbclid=IwAR3Sje7mkS0JA6bYtREVVNo4hGTXXNrcwnYkmb74FWtccGIMUE7S0Hhp6LM

 

That's a really good interview, it asks a lot of the questions being asked here and Richard Davies gives some very informative answers. I'd suggest that everyone takes a few minutes to listen to it.  

[phil-b259]

2 hours ago, APOLLO said:

 

Yet Hattons are (were) a mainly on line retailer, with a large and seemingly loyal customer base and worldwide customers. Perhaps they saw the writing on the wall

 

 

 

From the BBCs radio interview I suspect thats exactly the case with respect to their business model.

 

Like it or not our hobby is moving towards a business model of consumers buying more expensive stuff less often (as both demands for grater accuracy and features push prices ever higher).

 

This in itself doesn't mean the end of the hobby in itself - after all Luxury car, high end fashion and latterly specialist food / drink providers have done very well for years in spite of low sales volumes and a relatively low level of retail facilities because the prices they charge (and people will pay) make up for it.

 

Hattons business model by contrast relied on selling lots of items at low prices - and with not only prices rising but the sheer lack of product coming out of manufacturers these days really works against that business model.

Edited January 9 by phil-b259

[Gilbert]

53 minutes ago, TheSignalEngineer said:

We're very much in the same boat unless you need a takeaway, charity shop or Turkish Barber. A greengrocery which started in a neighbouring town when Norman Hatton was still in the army is closing shortly. They have been trying to get someone to take the business on for 18 months but haven't had a viable offer and it's the same with one of our two butchers who wants to retire. The other butcher has closed one branch and his abbatoir as it was no longer viable to run it on a small scale. Co-op, Iceland and Halfords all gone and our last shoe shop which had been there for about 50 years recently closed. The local market place has just about died but the Council won't admit it. We've lost Barclays, Natwest, HSBC and the two building societies leaving just Lloyds for over the counter banking. 

Exactly the same in the South West

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

1 hour ago, John M Upton said:

On a side note, Hattons bought a US Railroad retailer last year, are they done for as well?  No one seems to know the answer.

Google 'M B Klein Maryland'. Site updated in 2024, active product listings, so appears to be a going concern. 

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

1 hour ago, johnofwessex said:

Well there are a lot of plain black 0 gauge Terriers for sale if anyone's interested!

Yoink!

[Widnes Model Centre]

39 minutes ago, New Haven Neil said:

 

I lived in Whitman Street and then Buckingham...Ave?  77-79, so yes!

Buckingham House 1965-1979. You must have lived in Buckingham Avenue when the group, Real Thing lived in the upstairs of number 15. They lived in a friend’s house and my girlfriend at the time lived opposite. 
Hattons have brought us all together after all these years!

[RJS1977]

12 minutes ago, Gilbert said:

Exactly the same in the South West

 

Even in Reading, the Oracle (built 1998)  has lost its two biggest retailers (House of Fraser and Debenhams) and the multiplex cinema is struggling. It's on the cards that much of the site may be converted to flats.

[phil-b259]

10 minutes ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

Google 'M B Klein Maryland'. Site updated in 2024, active product listings, so appears to be a going concern. 

 

Aye - and maybe the plan is to sell it on as one.

 

As the BBC interview made clear the owner of Hattons has thought long and hard about the situation and its quite possible that selling Hattons itself as a going concern was considered but rejected.

[New Haven Neil]

2 minutes ago, Widnes Model Centre said:

Buckingham House 1965-1979. You must have lived in Buckingham Avenue when the group, Real Thing lived in the upstairs of number 15. They lived in a friend’s house and my girlfriend at the time lived opposite. 
Hattons have brought us all together after all these years!

 

Don't recall the number - student life!  Half way up on the right.  Drank in the Waldeck.

[rogerzilla]

1 minute ago, phil-b259 said:

 

Aye - and maybe the plan is to sell it on as one.

 

As the BBC interview made clear the owner of Hattons has thought long and hard about the situation and its quite possible that selling Hattons itself as a going concern was considered but rejected.

Possibly to prevent someone making a mess of it and ruining a business with the family name attached to it.

[Colin_McLeod]

Hattons' website very slow now.  Think I need to set the alarm for 3am when it's quiet!

[1andrew1]

23 minutes ago, rogerzilla said:

Possibly to prevent someone making a mess of it and ruining a business with the family name attached to it.

Agreed. 

[irishmail]

Keeps crashing  everytime I try  to  log into my account. 

[Legend]

Yeah I had forgotten that I had pre orders for 2 Accurascale mk2bs . They emailed me to say they are cancelled . I think they are actually in the country too !   As I had actually forgotten I’m not too bothered  

[John M Upton]

Was trying one last order, picking up some Athearn Blue Box stuff but the website is just unusable now.

[phil-b259]

Just now, Legend said:

I think they are actually in the country too ! 

 

That won't have mattered - what will have done is whether Accurascale were willing to let the order cancelled at a late stage on terms why Hattons considered suitable.

[57xx]

Holy cow, that was unexpected. Very sad to hear and my thoughts are with those affected by the closure (Staff losing their jobs that is, not people wondering about their toy trains).

[Southernman46]

Just astonished by this news - such an institution gone and so quickly - hopefully the staff have been able to find other employment.

 

I pre-ordered a Warwell the day before yesterday - good to know these will likely still be manufactured and that will top out my Hattons spend at something like 9.3k for about 400 items over 45 years .................. (yes, I am sad enough to have an Excel spreadsheet and even I was a bit shocked at how much). Those multipacks of wagons 🤦‍♂️

 

Thanks for the string & brown paper memories ........................... 👍

[TimberValleyRailway]

I think Accura have said that if you are affected you can take your order details to them and they will send you your order direct.

Quote

That won't have mattered - what will have done is whether Accurascale were willing to let the order cancelled at a late stage on terms why Hattons considered suitable.

 

Edited January 9 by TimberValleyRailway
Missing quote

[scots region]

'Perchance tis not dead, but sleepth'

[adb968008]

2 hours ago, John M Upton said:

The fact remains that in this Internet age, high street retail is dead, we have become a nation of coffee shops and very little else.  Ironically, Hattons moved to be an online retailer in preference to a high street bricks and mortar shop in the traditional sense and still wound up in its current impending fate which shows even online retail is not the be all and end all of everything.

 

You see a lot of people in the local press complaining about high street shops closing and crying out in annoyance when yet another coffee shop/restaurant/takeaway announces they are opening but I have found those making the most noise are those who hardly ever use high street retail anyway!!!

 

I really cannot see any way back for high street retailing as a whole, no amount of Government funding or social media support will revive the corpse now.

 

On a side note, Hattons bought a US Railroad retailer last year, are they done for as well?  No one seems to know the answer.

 
ironic but isnt the old Hattons smith downroad premises a Tea Shop ?

[RJS1977]

2 hours ago, phil-b259 said:

 

This in itself doesn't mean the end of the hobby in itself - after all Luxury car, high end fashion and latterly specialist food / drink providers have done very well for years in spite of low sales volumes and a relatively low level of retail facilities because the prices they charge (and people will pay) make up for it.

 

 

But the majority of cars, clothes, and food sold nationally aren't at the luxury end, even though they may be of a higher spec than years gone by.

 

 

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, John M Upton said:

Was trying one last order, picking up some Athearn Blue Box stuff but the website is just unusable now.

I hoovered up a few of those between 1700 & 1930.

In that period judging by the order numbers, Hattons processed 225 orders.

 

Try again now. I just got straight in and could order US HO stuff

[NZRedBaron]

Well, I've made what hopefully will be my second-to-last purchase from the shop; an old Hornby Tornado trainpack set, of Tornado in BR Early Crest condition and three post-1957 Mk I's- primarily for the model, which I'm planning to give a good bashing.

Hopefully next week, I might be able to squeeze a few other purchases in.

[John M Upton]

22 minutes ago, melmerby said:

I hoovered up a few of those between 1700 & 1930.

In that period judging by the order numbers, Hattons processed 225 orders.

 

Try again now. I just got straight in and could order US HO stuff

 

Yep, seemed to come back to life about half ten when I duly picked up a couple of bits that I had been thinking about for a while as it happens and was quite surprised to see still there.