Hattons Model Railways to close

[ruggedpeak]

I agree that their IT system was very good, excellent levels of information as well functionality. It was ideal for a well ordered and functioning market and supply chain, but model railways is no longer that for all sorts of reasons, which are not unique to the hobby. Even supermarkets can't guarantee everything all the time. So Hattons had a gold standard system designed to feed in info on new products and line up pre-orders, trunk orders etc in a market where info and product from suppliers (in aggregate) seems pretty random. The causes range from local to global conflicts. I fear Hattons were almost too good for the random chaos of modern specialist retailing! The randomness and responding to the endless changes, delays, cancellations etc precludes bringing efficiency or detailed planning into process.

 

My perception is also that retail is perceived as a bit of a dumping ground by some manufacturers. Whilst direct manufacturer pre-order is very popular many new items including locos from newer companies have been discounted through retail over the last few months. That is in addition to the usual suspects offloading surplus warehouse stock, which has got to a point where it seems quick sticky.

 

More importantly for me, the poor service and unreliability of some of the upstart companies has meant I am disappointed after buying direct from them and will go via retailers I know provide good customer service given some of these manufacturers are struggling with some basics like reliable running. It is also noticeable that some apparently highly popular items that sold out on pre-order are available in large numbers on Ebay and have been for some time. Whether the 'scalpers' getting burnt with stuck stock impacts on direct first sales we shall see. However the customer service that Hattons et al provide is invalauable.

 

Planning ahead to make large scale and expensive strategy changes must be really tough at the moment. The hobby isn't dying but it sure ain't easy to be selling in.

 

The value of Hattons system is huge as many on here appreciate. The one annoying thing was a few years ago when you clicked on the pictures of the items in their extensive library they had the secondhand value of OOS items in the image title which was very handy when putting stuff on Ebay to know what the market price was. Someone at Hattons twigged eventually and removed them!

 

 

[Kickstart]

12 hours ago, NotofthiscenturyTim said:

On the back end I'm not sure how much marketing functionality it has. E.g. Does it track visitors to Hattons onto other websites and target them with ads based on what they've been interested in at Hattons to boost sales? 

 

99% of the time that is just google analytics. Which is where web sites plug in small Google bits of code, and get some useful info, and in exchange Google gets a load of valuable data and the ability to make a lot of money with targeted adverts all over the place.

 

Something I find a bit unpleasant.

 

It gets really nasty when this tracking can link up with a previous web site to get your email address, and spam email you. Yes this can happen 😲 - fortunately so far it seems to be rare.

 

As to bespoke software vs off the shelf - that bespoke software is the way to differentiate yourself. Without it you just fade into the background noise - with as much uniqueness as a random Ebay shop.

 

All the best

 

Katy

[JohnR]

I wonder if they would consider leveraging their IT system by offering it for other retailers to use, perhaps under licence. You could have a front end thats customisable, but utilising the database and customer management aspects. 

[Butler Henderson]

Just had an email advising of a 6 day despatch backlog due to the volume of orders. Theres a posting on SREMG on groups.io where there financial statements 2006-2022 have been analysed with the conclusion the writing was on the wall and the decision to close was correct.

[Phil Parker]

https://www.trains.com/mrr/news-reviews/news/hattons-model-railways-to-close-doors/?utm_source=acs&utm_medium=email&utm_email=phil%40pagenumberone.co.uk&utm_campaign=News0_MRR_240118_MRTH00_0000000000&eid=phil%40pagenumberone.co.uk

[br-nse-fan]

Just emptied my trunk... had been holding off on doing so since the announcement.. but nothing of any note has been showing up in the 2nd hand stock, and what's left is over priced (for what it is) or old broken tat..

 

I think the final count was 112 items.  Mostly DCC decoders and other small accessories, but still totaled over 9000g due to several EFE buses.

Shipping?  A whopping £48 to Canada.  In comparison, I had a pair of the EFE Bullied Boosters, one coach and one wagon from Kernow that cost £45 to ship.

 

While I realize that Hattons is likely subsidizing the shipping to international customers, but it's not going to change the fact that they are going to be missed

[MattR]

1 hour ago, br-nse-fan said:

Just emptied my trunk... had been holding off on doing so since the announcement.. but nothing of any note has been showing up in the 2nd hand stock, and what's left is over priced (for what it is) or old broken tat..

 

Definitely. I think I'm going to empty the trunk today.

[GWR-fan]

Like others I have held off having my trunk shipped hoping against all odds that something decent would be listed on the pre-owned site.  However, the bottom of the barrel is being scraped with some days barely one or two items being listed.  My current  trunk is yet to reach the 1kg mark,  whereas my normal weekly shipment was in the 7 - 8 kg range as it is more (or was) more economical to include heavier items once the trunk exceeded 1kg.   What remains is of little interest to me and are  items which have languished on the site for sometime,  being overpriced, of little interest or non-runners.

 

I will certainly miss those early morning (my local time) perusals of the newly added pre-owned items.   One advantage for me, I suppose,  is that my bankcard has heaved a sigh of relief,  as last month and into this month my spend on the card has been next to nothing.  There really was nothing of interest for me in the current 35% sale or in the bulk buy items.  Like other momentous moments in my life,  the closing of the store will be a day that I will remember and lament.

[Colin_McLeod]

6 hours ago, GWR-fan said:

Like other momentous moments in my life,  the closing of the store will be a day that I will remember and lament.

 

Indeed, that is how many including myself will remember Hattons' closure.

 

If you ignore the still listed pre order items, Hattons shop is really full of empty shelves with all the good stuff gone, but I enjoyed the sale and am awaiting my parcel.  It's amazing how fast everything went.

 

Best wishes to Hattons owners and staff.

[Butler Henderson]

Another email  - 5 day despatch delays so its improved by a day since Wednesday.

[Bob83a]

I assume that they are talking working days, but even making that assumption some orders are taking more than 5 days.

I have an order placed before the start of business last Friday, so only a couple of hours left of the 6th working day.

[Butler Henderson]

Despatch day is not necessarily the order day

[Bob83a]

I am not complaining about the delay, it will just get sent when they can. But putting numbers on the number of days which have no context does annoy.

 

it has always annoyed me that suppliers are sending emails about items shipping when actually what they mean is that the package has been put in the corner to be collected by the courier, this could well be the next working day. So it has not actually physically shipped.

 

 

Even worse is the notification that an item has shipped but when you read the small print it says that the order has been passed to the warehouse, and then it might not be picked and passed to the courier for a couple of days.

Edited January 19 by Bob83a
Correct english

[John M Upton]

The daily listings of newly added preowned items is down to one or two items a day now.

 

Not much left when you trawl through the remnants either. Will there be some sort of final clearance at the end?

[Cor-onGRT4]

4 hours ago, Bob83a said:

I assume that they are talking working days, but even making that assumption some orders are taking more than 5 days.

I have an order placed before the start of business last Friday, so only a couple of hours left of the 6th working day.

I placed an order on midnight just 10 hours after their announcement of closing, that was despatch a day later.

23 hours later I placed another order and between the first ordernumber and the new order number was an difference of 6722 orders, only placed in 23 hours time, so there maybe thousends more after that date.

The first order I received this Tuesday , the second order I am still waiting for despatch.

It must be an very big orderbook they are solving with, maybe thents of thousends, so can take a little while longer I think. 

Edited January 19 by Cor-onGRT4

[Gridiron]

2 hours ago, John M Upton said:

The daily listings of newly added preowned items is down to one or two items a day now.

 

Not much left when you trawl through the remnants either. Will there be some sort of final clearance at the end?

 

I'm holding back my trunk in anticipation of this some sort of final clearance sale, especially given some of the volumes still left. Bearing in mind trunks have to be cleared by 05 Feb 2024 I'm hoping this happens early next week as there are a few remaining items I might be tempted to purchase if the price is right. Living fairly local I'll opt for the kerbside collection but I notice on the website that this seems only to be available when the shop is open, which is now restricted to Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. This might suggest some of the staff may have already left the business and the reason why the despatch is a little slower than in the past? 

[spamcan61]

39 minutes ago, Cor-onGRT4 said:

I placed an order on midnight just 10 hours after their announcement of closing, that was despatch a day later.

23 hours later I placed another order and between the first ordernumber and the new order number was an difference of 6722 orders, only placed in 23 hours time, so there maybe thousends more after that date.

The first order I received this Tuesday , the second order I am still waiting for despatch.

It must be an very big orderbook they are solving with, maybe thents of thousends, so can take a little while longer I think. 

... and all these folks working hard in dispatch will soon be out of a job :-/

[Cor-onGRT4]

1 hour ago, spamcan61 said:

... and all these folks working hard in dispatch will soon be out of a job :-/

 I know what it is, 8 years ago I've experienced it myself when an Dutch department store chain after 125 years goes bankruptcy,

and I after 40years working there together with more than 10000 employees lost their yobs.

So I know what it is. 

[kevinlms]

2 hours ago, Cor-onGRT4 said:

 I know what it is, 8 years ago I've experienced it myself when an Dutch department store chain after 125 years goes bankruptcy,

and I after 40years working there together with more than 10000 employees lost their yobs.

So I know what it is. 

At least everyone at Hattons will receive all their entitlements, according to their statements.

 

That situation doesn't always occur, the first the employees/contractors know, is when they start arriving at work and find the doors locked! Then they join the list of unsecured creditors, at the bottom!

[AY Mod]

4 minutes ago, kevinlms said:

Then they join the list of unsecured creditors, at the bottom!

 

Not in the UK. Owed wages and statutory entitlements come first, even before HMRC and if there's insufficient to meet that the government can make up any deficit to employees.

[spamcan61]

8 hours ago, kevinlms said:

 

 

That situation doesn't always occur, the first the employees/contractors know, is when they start arriving at work and find the doors locked! 

Or the variation some of my former colleagues went through where the (former) employer hits the fire alarm then locks the doors when everyone's out the building. Let back in under security escort one at a time with a bin bag to collect their stuff. 

Edited January 20 by spamcan61

[NBL]

16 hours ago, Bob83a said:

 

it has always annoyed me that suppliers are sending emails about items shipping when actually what they mean is that the package has been put in the corner to be collected by the courier, this could well be the next working day. So it has not actually physically shipped.

 

 

Even worse is the notification that an item has shipped but when you read the small print it says that the order has been passed to the warehouse, and then it might not be picked and passed to the courier for a couple of days.

Does it matter?   You order something, it's confirmed, it's marked as despatched then you get it delivered.

 

These aren't life supporting or life changing items.

[SirBud]

Which tells you the employer was not trustworthy and did not trust its staff and subcontractors.  Scum / product of human greed in my opinion.  Sadly there are too many companies who operate this way, who see employees and subcontractors as resources to exploit to improve the "bottom line", rather than partners in the business enterprise.

 

Hattons demonstrably are not like that and from what I can see are doing their very best to look after customers, staff and suppliers as they wind the business down.  That is commendable as well as socially and commercially responsible.

 

I have a very large collection of locomotives, hauled stock and DMU's I purchased from Hattons over the past 10-15 years or so - both O gauge and OO gauge.  Superb service every time, without exception.  I've purchased from other retailers as well, but to me Hattons had the edge over everyone else in terms of their customer service, website functionality, accounts set up and management, ordering, and ease of doing business.

 

For me living in Australia, the trunk service was brilliant.  Overseas postage is so expensive these days.  Being able to pay for an item up front and then have it saved until it could be combined with another purchase down the track to save on postage costs was an innovative and for me a much valued service. 

 

I will greatly miss Hattons and their team of dedicated people. 

 

Trevor

[kevinlms]

10 hours ago, AY Mod said:

 

Not in the UK. Owed wages and statutory entitlements come first, even before HMRC and if there's insufficient to meet that the government can make up any deficit to employees.

Yes, the government CAN make up the payments under certain conditions, BUT it tends to be a long drawn out process. Certainly the Australian Tax Office, is high up the chain. Suppliers, I don't believe do well at all.

 

Then of course there are some despicable businesses, who close down and re-open Monday morning, under the same directors and the same building!

[JSpencer]

22 hours ago, Butler Henderson said:

Another email  - 5 day despatch delays so its improved by a day since Wednesday.

 

My two orders came quickly and I'm based in France. A new gaugemaster D, 2 TXS decoders and a Skaledale station building.

 

I'll be missing Hattons as well.