Hattons Model Railways to close

[Suffolk Rob]

3 minutes ago, andyman7 said:

Here's a tribute posted by TMC, which of course started life as the Trafford Model Centre even though they're now based on the other side of the country.

https://mailchi.mp/tmc-direct.com/hattons?fbclid=IwAR3dRnzvTLJQP-UzfAyGxgJkmra7xcxHZJ2AkORUN0pVQCtLiAUzoiS_o3E

Read this TMC e mail this morning when my inbox updated.  Quite taken aback by the respect and affection shown by TMC alongside other retailers elsewhere in this thread.

 

My own purchases became fewer in recent years, mainly due to the loss of Farish, but before that they were very much my go to. For me, the big test for a retailer is when there's a problem, a missing part, a duff loco, whatever. It was only rare but Hattons' response was always prompt and first class.

 

Thinking about my experiences, the many postings on here with similar experiences to mine, coupled with the way they are dealing with a situation that must be impacting all at the business emotionally as well as professionally there is one word that keeps coming to mind.

 

INTEGRITY 

 

Wishing the best for the future of all at Hattons

 

Rob

[Rshakes3]

1 hour ago, andyman7 said:

Here's a tribute posted by TMC, which of course started life as the Trafford Model Centre even though they're now based on the other side of the country.

https://mailchi.mp/tmc-direct.com/hattons?fbclid=IwAR3dRnzvTLJQP-UzfAyGxgJkmra7xcxHZJ2AkORUN0pVQCtLiAUzoiS_o3E

What a lovely message from the TMC team, I`ve been using Hatton's for over 15 years, spend A$1000's with them over that time and always found them very easy to deal with - I even was able to visit the store in 2017. So I`m very sad to hear this news. So thank you to the Hatton's team for your service to me, it been a pleasure especially given the distance between Australia & the UK. 

[Roy L S]

5 hours ago, melmerby said:

Buying habits change.

It applies to lots of retail shops

Most High streets now seem to be all Vape shops, Coffee shops, Charity shops, Trainer shops and Bargain shops.

 

As well as the decline of Model shops I can add another: Hobby electronics outlets.

There used to be loads of them around the country, none at all now AFAIK.

 

 

You missed nail-bars and men's barbers off the list, they seem to have grown exponentially in town centres in recent years 🤔

[Sotto]

19 hours ago, Steamport Southport said:

 

Yep. More of a licensed eatery which has things like bands and DJ sets than a tea shop. Aiming more for a student and middle class clientele.

 

But they did need substantial building work to get it usable again. It was literally falling down!

 

https://www.thisisleaf.co.uk/smithdown-rd

 

 

 

Jason

Leaf has a large table the top of which is the original Hattons sign from their shopfront, or a repainted version of it. I guess that will soon be all that is left, bar the memories. 

[bradfordbuffer]

1 hour ago, Roy L S said:

You missed nail-bars and men's barbers off the list, they seem to have grown exponentially in town centres in recent years 🤔

Between Blantyre Road and Barrington Road  on smithdown Rd there is a 'shop' where you can have your tired muscles 💪 gently soothed!....I only know as saw it on way to chippy across the road....honest!....there is no price list though...and the shop keepers have a long commute to and from Thailand 🙈💋

Edited January 10 by bradfordbuffer

['CHARD]

How many Hatton's 'carts' were filled in the past 25 years by members of this forum alone?

 

How many hours in dead of night spent searching and scrolling after coming home from the pub?

 

How many mornings awaiting the postie's knock, and - on his seeing the sender's details - hearing him say 'been buying more trains then?' with a knowing grin as he handed me another string-wrapped parcel.

 

Hatton's was more than a bricks and mortar model and toy shop, although anyone who visited the original Penny Lane/ Smithdown Road premises will have its unique atmosphere seared on their senses. It was a phenomenon, my 1998 visit (piggybacked off work at nearby Edge Hill TMD) was memorable for me having the time and temerity to rummage in the deepest recesses of the historic shop, unearthing fabulous forgotten jewels. Moreover, as my parents had both grown up a matter of streets away (years before the local shop was founded, local that would ultimately go global) it felt like going back to my roots somehow. 

 

The past, it is said, is another country. Well, that visit was a quarter of a century ago, and today's retail and hobby landscapes are unrecognisable to those more down-to-earth days.

 

Hatton's will never be forgotten; it was one of the Greats and this topic is evidence, if any were needed, that along with its people down the decades, it made a huge and lasting impression on all the overgrown little lads who returned time after time with pocket-money burning holes.

 

Cheers old chum, you'll be missed as you leave behind something of a legend, and a ruddy great hole.

[TheSignalEngineer]

5 hours ago, melmerby said:

Bob's Models in Small Heath Birmingham used to sell all sorts of other models and parts as well as model railway kits,................................

I remeber them well, especially after the move to Hobs Moat.

Another I used to visit was Wyatt & Tizard at 222 Warwick Road in Greet. A regular call when I had to visit Tyseley S&T Depot about half a mile away.  They were great for all sorts of bits and pieces and made some of their own rolling stock kits as well.

[melmerby]

2 hours ago, Roy L S said:

You missed nail-bars and men's barbers off the list

Yep

The Barbers all also seem to eminate from Turkey these days

[Dominion]

I have loved my time searching the Hattons pages over the years and anticipating the arrival of parcels in Canada. The team there has always been a pleasure to deal with.

 

I analyzed my spend for 2023. Hattons received 1/3 of my budget. I had thought it was higher and it has been much higher in previous years as they had brilliant service for overseas customers.

Fully another third went on Hornby preorders and Bachmann purchases I could no longer get from Hattons.  In the past I would have relied on them for all of those purchases too so their revenue from me would have been double what it actually was under "normal" conditions.

 

However the real shocker for me was the average purchase value. It was dramatically lower at Hattons, between a third and quarter, without the higher value fast moving new loco items.

I would imagine for a retailer the cost of picking items and making up parcels and customer service is quite tied to the number of transactions, not the item value. Much lower per item and per parcel value would dramatically drive up the cost of operations as a percent of revenue if a similar pattern played out amongst many of us.

 

The first time Hornby cut Hattons allocations and I scrambled to get my preorders elsewhere I tried hard to get them from other stores and not Hornby directly. The second time it happened I was less careful to do that, and I allowed Hornby to cherry pick some of my spending.  I regret that.

 

I have expressed my heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Hattons employees directly where I could.  They made UK modelling from this great distance practical and low stress.  Hattons service in my experience was so good they will be a very tough act to follow. They will be very much missed.

 

Edited January 11 by Dominion
missing and repeated words

[johnofwessex]

5 minutes ago, Dominion said:

I have loved my time searching the Hattons pages over the years and anticipating the arrival of parcels in Canada. The team there has always been a pleasure to deal with.

 

I analyzed my spend for 2023. Hattons received 1/3 of my budget. I had thought it was higher and it has been much higher in previous years as they had brilliant service for overseas customers.

Fully another third went on Hornby preorders and Bachmann purchases I could no longer get from Hattons.  In the past I would have relied them for all of those purchases too so their revenue from me would have been double what it actually was under "normal" conditions.

 

However the real shocker for me was the average purchase value. It was dramatically lower at Hattons, between a third and quarter, without the higher value fast moving higher value new loco items.

I would imagine for a retailer the cost of picking items and making up parcels and customer service is quite tied to the number of transactions, not the item value. Much lower per item and per parcel value would dramatically drive up the cost of operations as a percent of revenue if a similar pattern played out amongst many of us.

 

The first time Hornby cut Hattons allocations and I scrambled to get my preorders elsewhere I tried hard to get them from other stores and not Hornby directly. The second time it happened I was less careful to do that, and I allowed Hornby to cherry pick some of my spending.  I regret that.

 

I have expressed my heartfelt thanks and best wishes to Hattons employees directly where I could.  They made UK modelling from this great distance practical and low stress.  Hattons service in my experience was so good they will be a very tough act to follow. They will be very much missed.

 

 

Interesting and revealing

 

[bradfordbuffer]

20 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Yep

The Barbers all also seem to eminate from Turkey these days

yep agree but without them we would all have hairy noses!....and who would miss the flaming dish cloth loaded with meth's wafted around you ears.....💥

[newbryford]

2 minutes ago, bradfordbuffer said:

yep agree but without them we would all have hairy noses!....and who would miss the flaming dish cloth loaded with meth's wafted around you ears.....💥

 

That's the last time I'm rooming with you at a show.................

[bradfordbuffer]

24 minutes ago, newbryford said:

 

That's the last time I'm rooming with you at a show.................

Spooning.....oh you said rooming....need to go to specksavers

[adb968008]

So today I looked at the garratt spares on Hattons website, and as always… I wondered if I did some mix and matching could I build something from them…

 

so as always I did some research by looking the the product database of the past Heljan Garratt releases and studied the photographs on the hattons site to see which catalog numbers had which variations…

 

so many close up photos, and specific details to research past models from… anything from finding missing bits, to knowing which config was built on which model release, when, which catalog number etc etc..

Being able to id from catalog numbers when tooling mods were made etc…

 

identifying a sanda kan vs refined made R3115 Exeter from Hornby .. (look for the aws boxes to tell the difference, one was made without, the other with)… this is the kind of details you can dig out examining the pictures.

 

honestly i don't know how i’ll go without this resource…

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 11 by adb968008

[maico]

A number of people in this thread asked about EU exports so I looked at Hatton's published company accounts.

In percentage terms exports were fairly steady.

 

2015 (pre- Brexit) turnover £11.3m, profit after tax 243k, 54 employees.

 

2016 turnover £11.6 profit, £400k loss

 

2017 turnover £13.6m, profit after tax 700k

 

2018 turnover £14.4m, profit £975k, 62 employees inc. directors

 

2019 turnover £14.7m, profit £839k. 69 employees

 

2020 turnover £12.5m, profit £455k

 

2021 turnover £12.3m, profit £623k

 

2022 turnover £10.9m (UK £8.8m, EU 1.4m, ROW 719k.) profit after tax £23k

 

2023 due April 2024

 

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/05131251/filing-history?page=1

 

Reserves generally around $4.5m

Stock generally £3-4m

 

 

Edited January 11 by maico

[tomparryharry]

I'm very sorry to see Hattons  close their shop. The changes of the retail world have bought about many closures, not just our hobbies. The decision to cease trading looks (to me) to be a pragmatic decision, and leaves the good reputation of the business intact. 

 

High street retail is in a freefall at the moment, with footfall down considerably over the past year. A good (or bad) Christmas can be the fine balance between open or close.  However, I wouldn't be surprised if Hattons continued its online presence. After all, running a retail shop can be a severe drain on finance, and you're not making money if the public can't visit.... 

 

Here in Newport, the glitzy 'retail opportunities' can & do close, sometimes at an hours' notice. No notice; nothing. Some staff don't even get the DCM (Don't Come Monday)...

 

Good luck to Hattons, and any eventual successors. 

[blueeighties]

19 hours ago, ERIC ALLTORQUE said:

its around town they are winding up

What does that mean?

[bmthtrains - David]

4 hours ago, maico said:

2019 turnover £14.7m, profit £839k. 69 employees

 

2022 turnover £10.9m (UK £8.8m, EU 1.4m, ROW 719k.) profit after tax £23k

Those accounts clearly show why Hattons came to this very sad but sensible (and frankly pretty honourable) decision to wind down with a 35% decline in sales over three years and a profit margin of 0.2%. Everyone there must have worked very hard to keep it in the black and despite the unhappy outcome the story of this business really is quite inspirational. Adapting to market changes across nine different decades, embracing the internet early on and dominating that market, commissioning exclusive models, the trunk system…There must be a book to be written about it all eventually.

 

I do hope the name continues in some form.

 

David

[Ouroborus]

9 hours ago, melmerby said:

Yep

The Barbers all also seem to eminate from Turkey these days

 

Thread drift, but "seem" is the key word here.

[JohnR]

Although there hasnt been an official announcement, you can now pre-order the proposed Andrew Barclay locos, they are showing an estimated arrival date of April 2024-June 2024. 

[ruggedpeak]

1 hour ago, bmthtrains - David said:

Those accounts clearly show why Hattons came to this very sad but sensible (and frankly pretty honourable) decision to wind down with a 35% decline in sales over three years and a profit margin of 0.2%. Everyone there must have worked very hard to keep it in the black and despite the unhappy outcome the story of this business really is quite inspirational. Adapting to market changes across nine different decades, embracing the internet early on and dominating that market, commissioning exclusive models, the trunk system…There must be a book to be written about it all eventually.

Yes, if there was no alternative strategy or route to profitability they would just burn through the reserves and value in the company until it actually went bust. There is clearly some great stuff within the business but it was not working financially as a whole. There will undoubtedly be discussions behind closed doors and we will see parts re-emerge in due course.

[MikeParkin65]

30 minutes ago, JohnR said:

Although there hasnt been an official announcement, you can now pre-order the proposed Andrew Barclay locos, they are showing an estimated arrival date of April 2024-June 2024. 

Pretty sure the FAQ said these are cancelled

[Nile]

22 minutes ago, MikeParkin65 said:

Pretty sure the FAQ said these are cancelled

From the current FAQ (on Hatton's website) :

"Andrew Barclay reruns are currently under review. Once a decision has been made we will be sure to communicate this to customers."

Edited January 11 by Nile
clarification

[MikeParkin65]

2 minutes ago, Nile said:

From the current FAQ:

"Andrew Barclay reruns are currently under review. Once a decision has been made we will be sure to communicate this to customers."

From the first post in this topic :-

 

'Andrew Barclay reruns will NOT be produced.' 

[Butler Henderson]

I had an generic email from them saying they would not be able to supply my pre-order.

 

The only item I have on pre-order is a Genesis coach light strip which is still showing in my pre-orders, and which two weeks prior they confirmed that they were about to place the factory order.

 

Has anyone found their cancelled pre-order is no longer showing?

 

Have trunked a stack of items so suppose its a case of waiting to see what happens first, the light strip added to it or the items in the trunk automatically dispatched by them after Feb 5.