A new model shop in Leicestershire?

[Foden]

Before I begin, I apologise if this is in the wrong area, and also if it's been mentioned before, I did a search both here and on the old RMweb site, and hadn't come up with anything other than 'what makes a good model shop'.

 

I live in Hinckley, and have for a few years been a little frustrated at the lack of model shop supplying model railway products in the immediate area of south Leicestershire and North Warwickshire. I dare say the idea has entered my mind before to bite the bullet and look into the feasibility of creating one myself, but never gave it too much thought. I think the question has cropped up again following the Warley show and being amazed at the amount of money changing hands considering the current economic position most of us find ourselves in.

 

I've ran a business before, all be it not a shop. I ran a business as a mobile mechanic and welder, until I found myself travelling further and further for less profitability to maintain a full diary. I wrapped the business up before the capital disappeared, and found myself very stable, quite well paid full time employment, which I enjoy, but I do miss being my own boss and owning my own business.

 

This may seem, and quite possibly is a little vague post, but the niggling thought won't go away, and I do miss running my own business. I think I'm asking for advice or just outside opinions on whether this idea is do-able for someone with reasonable capital input, and quite good knowledge of the hobby.

 

Your advice and input much appreciated, and once again, sorry if this is placed wrongly.

 

Best,

 

Matt.

[Coombe Barton]

As a potential customer in your catchment area, I'll detail what I've spent in model shops over the past year.

• £20 of plasticard
• £10 on mercontrol stuff
• £5 on metals
• £12 on wagon kits
• £20 on solders and fluxes

These have been either in Hobbyrail in Sutton (on my way home from work as I work in Brum) or the Signal Box at Anstey. The rest of my modelling purchases have been online, at exhibitions, in DIY stores and in art shops. I also remember Ted's Trains in Nuneaton about 25 years ago which lasted about 2-3 years. And I don't know if Sansomes of Grendon is still going. There was the guy in the second hand bookshop in New Buildings about 30 years ago, and the guys on Sewell highway, Coventry a similar time ago. Neither of these now exist.

 

I may not be a typical customer - especially one who's going to make your fortune, as my spending pattern is specific and somewhat specialist.

 

However you asked for views ...

 

[Edit] Addition. The business you ran before did not need to hold a lot of stock.. I contend that model railway shops do, because without the stock you can't make the sales. Capital will be required for that. The shops I've mentioned have been able to build up stock over years, and one (The Signal Box) is probably better known for specialist DVDs than model stuff. Hobbyrail has a local active club. Do you have a speciality on which you can trade to get the regular income?

[298]

Is there a reason why Punctillo don't stock railway items anymore...? Having a sneeky chat with the manager over the counter during a quiet spell may tell you all the usual cliche's such as little interest in railway items in the area, although they must be doing well enough from other departments to keep going. I've not been in there for years so can't say what other items they stock, but surely have the basics such as paint, brushes and glue. There'd be little point in stocking basic trainsets because these are available in supermarkets for less than a model shop could sell them, so you'd only be able to sell a few accessories with the money Little Johnny has left over for the few weeks before he looses interest and the set ends up in the loft.

 

I really can't see any new model shop business being a sucess unless they can rely on a large number of people through the door and be part of a big chain to aid buying power, you can only have so many mail order box shifters and you'd need alot of modellers through your door to rely on their £50 in materials and £150 in models every year.

[arty]

If you travel slightly north there is quite a lot of established competition :-

 

Loughborough Model Centre http://www.ttcdiecast.com/discount-model-railways-1-c.asp

 

Modelzone in Leics & Notts http://www.modelzone.co.uk/

 

Dominoes Leics ( not a great selection )

 

Gee Dee Notts http://www.geedee-modelshop.com/

 

Acme Models Sileby - Here's a shop up for sale right now http://www.acmemodels.co.uk/CompanySale/OGauge/AcmeSaleOKits.html http://www.acmemodels.co.uk/

 

I think it can be quite tough out there.

 

Regards

 

Richard

[Foden]

I hadn't posted in any hope of people back slapping and offering opinions of 'go for it' if it wasn't true, I was/am genuinely interested in opinions of whether there is a market for a stockist in this area.

 

I admit that I do have the hunger to go back into business, but will only do that in the right scenario, in which I'm confident it would be successful. I'm after opinions to convince me either way, as I'm also on the fence as to whether there is a market for a model shop stocking model railway products myself.

[ian]

Sansomes of Grendon gave up 'retail' and just do swapmeets now - he still has a sign-written van.

 

A model shop around here that started well appeared to run in to the classic problem of not being able to sell enough of XYZ Kits to be able to afford to re-stock. Consequentially they were left with the kits that nobody wanted gathering dust and no stock of the kits that people did want. Shortly before they finally closed down it was impossible to get basics like Peco rail joiners and point motors.

 

As always, remember that the best way to make a small fortune in the model railway trade is to start with a large one.

[Coombe Barton]

In my previous post I mentioned my spend in the shops - I do it because I want to support the local model shops where I can, otherwise I'd spend online.

 

I've thought further and consulted one of my colleagues who teaches entrepreneurship.

• Can you offer anything unique - or is it a me-too
• Can you tap into a club or other source of ready custom - or are you needing to start from a zero base?
• Are YOU a specialist in any area of modelling from which you can build - or is it general supplies?
• Can you get a website up and running - and maintain it?
• Can you offer repairs - of any scale/gauge - so you get known as a helpful type of shop.

Hope this helps.

[Edwin_m]

If you travel slightly north there is quite a lot of established competition :-

 

Is Syston Trains still around too?

[Leicester Thumper]

thing is i feel the same as it's a pain in the bum now travelling to buy stuff, so i have resorted to either online buying, getting what snippets of gear i can from the local Model aircraft place type thing on Saffron Lane (Tony's Models and Hobbies) and buying from exhibitions, my usual 'freelance' trader who never lets me down (Ravenstone Model Railways) and also my fellow club memebers at Syston MRS.

 

Like John just said unless there's something unique, I'm not that interested, and even when there is something unique, it's normally out of my price range and its from some oddball obscure shop or modeller in his shed (which may I add is fantastic, lots of good things have evolved from sheds...)

 

Also in accordance to John's points, I will also add that you have to think about your target area, and How you will attract people to your shop for business, a shop full of people looking and not buying is not making you profit (much like modelzone in Leicester IMO...) as where a steady flow of less customers who Are spending dosh at your place will bring you profit, hence why Acme models has been going all these years (I believe the chap also makes larger scale buildings???? and hence makes something unique).

 

Also think about what you can't do as a person, because if you don't service/can't service say N gauge and Hornby dublo three rail engines then you have to employ somebody to do the job for you and that costs money too which means the service charges go up, and when I consider many of the local club blokes know their onions, why should i pay full whack for a service (yes i still pay, and that includes part prices too but less than joe bloggs on street)...

 

there's lots of ups and downs about it and it's entirely your choice...

 

also, again Hinkley, travelling for me, I live in Aylestone, hinkley is like what? 20 miles away or something? For the cost of me travelling (or mum and dad driving me as i don't drive, still 18) it's not worth me travelling to go and have a look round when the shop may well not have what i would like or need.

 

sorry if it's pessimistic or anything, it's just i think it's another model shop which is away from where it truely needs to be, Smack bang in the City Centre.

[Leicester Thumper]

Is Syston Trains still around too?

 

nah he packed up and shut up shop the other year to the best of my knowledge....

[Coombe Barton]

Is Syston Trains still around too?

 

nah he packed up and shut up shop the other year to the best of my knowledge....

 

He's still listed by Hornby as a stockist - https://www.Hornby.com/stockists/syston-trains,1758,HST.html?Pregion=com.othermedia.Hornby.model.HornbyRegion-L-6&sortBy=name

[Leicester Thumper]

He's still listed by Hornby as a stockist - https://www.Hornby.c...L-6&sortBy=name

 

im sure the MRS blokes said he closed up.... unless its a (junior) Senior moment (althought at 18 that's worrying )

[cary hill]

Having recently been made redundant from an Executive Director "bean- counting" post as a result of a recent takeover, and, thanks to a good service contract and a couple of associated "windfalls", finding myself with spare capital I briefly considered the same possibility(opening a model shop).

 

I did a few quick sums relating to the amount of capital required and they frightened me off the idea very quickly - using my own model railway collection and it's probable wholesale cost as a basis, I calculated a mininum of £30k for opening stock purchases, possibly nearer to £50k, if doing more than just "box-shifting" Bachmann, Hornby and the like.

 

I have lived and worked in the area under consideration for 25 years and, whilst I would welcome what would be a pleasant change from the ever-increasing number of charity and card shops in both Hinckley and Nuneaton and knowing that there are plenty of vacant shop units available to rent, I am still not convinced that either location would prove to be a "goldmine" for a start-up business, particularly in the current economic climate. Coventry, if you were considering it, would I suspect, be more expensive.

 

I worked for a multi-site "High Street" operation and I think the establishment costs for even a modest rented shop unit may surprise you - rent, rates, light and heat, waste collection, shopfitting, signage and so on.

 

You would also need to set aside a reasonable(considerable?) amount for inital advertising/marketing, publicity and web activity, if starting from "zero" sales to establish a "market presence"

 

I think it would be prudent to budget for at least A.N.Other person, if only for rest and recreation purposes, and, as mentioned in earlier posts, if you intend to offer a repairs/servicing/chip-fitting facility during opening hours at the "back of house", someone will still have to be "front of house" at all times.

 

I would counsel against regarding the "Warley Experience" as being in any way similar to the day-to-day trading experience of a small provincial model shop. Warley strikes me as the railway modeller's version of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca - more visitors in a single day(thousands) than a small shop might see in a year(tens per day on quiet days).

 

I would re-read the valid points raised by the other contributors to this thread before proceeding any further.

 

Please bear in mind I am writing as a "risk averse" accountant and if you can venture what I suspect might well end up heading towards the "thick-end" of £100k in the first year or so, feel free to "have a go" but make absolutely sure that you have a number of distinctive selling points and services to differentiate yourself from the "crowd", otherwise it may well be an uphill struggle.

 

At least you can be sure I won't be competing for business but I might be a future customer and your initial comments about the immediate area being a bit of a modeller's desert are valid.

 

David

[great central]

Hi Matt,

 

Can I offer a few thoughts, as someone who did give it a go some years ago.

First a bit of background, at the time I/We (family business) owned a video shop and off-licence (remember video shops?). With the emergence of DVDs it was obvious that the market would and was changing. The film companies wanted to impose a business method on the rental industry which for anything other than a massive shop was not viable, and the bigger chains were allegedly also given preferential terms not available to the 'indies'. Thus most of the smaller shops started to dissappear, we were fortunate in that we were a the only shop in a small town. Then the film companies then started to sell DVDs through the supermarkets at around a tenner, which would still have been OK except that these were retail only DVDs, rental ones were to be charged at a premium price up to £55 per copy or on their revenue share terms.

We decided that we had to do something, so taking my lifetime interest in railways and my wife's decorative glass painting interest we spread out.

At first the intention was to add the other things to the existing business and let them build up, stock from Bachmann, Hornby, Lima, Peco, Dapol, scenery bits and pieces all started to appear alongside the latest DVD and cans of 'Stella', Fosters and bottles of wine. I was also looking at re-locating the business when our lease ran out in around two years time

A small advert in Modeller prompted curious people from further afield as well of word of mouth from our existing customers. Here was a model shop open til 9o'clock at night 6 days a week!

On pre-ordered stuff I would always price match the 'boxshifters' it was also a useful indicator of what was going to sell, so you can get an idea of how much to order.

So, I think, we had a couple of good 'selling points'. Some weeks we would take more on the railway than the video and as the situation with the video industry deteriorated rapidly, the railway side was propping things up more and more. This then became the problem, there wasn't enough 'consistency' in the railway side.

You get a new release, customers are on the doorstep waiting for you to open, you've taken the money for the item before you've even got the invoice, an excellent situation! Then there is the slack period for new releases, much bemoaned on here and elsewhere. The manufacturers of RTR are still very much geared to the standard retail model which says Christmas is everything.

We needed to make a profit of around £250 per week (ten years ago) to pay the basics, rent, rates, electric, water, etc. and our overheards were fairly low compared to premises in a larger town. There is a small shopping centre nearby but having enquired about a unit on there when we were just video/off licence, we need to treble our turnover for the same net result! As an aside somebody else tried to run off-licence/video on there, they lasted 3 years!

The reason there are so many empty shops is basically the overheads involved and the fact that most Britons are looking for that elusive 'bargain'. I would take stock to swapmeets and shows, often taking more money in a day than a couple of weeks in the shop. These were also useful promotional opportunities, the 'cost' of a swapmeet or show considerably less than the shop overheads, but with a much better return. No sitting around waiting for customers, ie. your 'Warley effect'

Anyway, to cut to the chase now. After a couple of years the video business had all but gone, I'd known many other shops close in the meantime, even in our district, which for a short time would boost our customer base. We had to make a decision, I was all for moving to the new premises I had been eyeing, it meant a change in our way of life from working afternoons and evenings to working early mornings. There would still be the railway and glassware, but allied to a cafe/take-away operation.

The problem was we needed to borrow a fair bit to fit-out the premises, it was a bare shell, re-wired but for lights only, not a plug socket to be seen for example. After much discussion and soul searching we decide against it, to risk our home was not somewhere we wanted to go. We had already run up a sizeable debt trying to keep the existing business afloat, not wanting to admit it's failing really. I'm still paying off some of that debt now seven years later, but I'm in a full time job which I enjoy, although like you say, I still soemtimes miss being my own boss and think what might have been.

I still have some of the remaining stock, which eventually I decided to keep for my own use. For example,if you trawl the internet, I think you'll find some shops still have the Bachmann green standard 5 no.73014. I still have one of those although it's now weathered and part of my fleet, if i still had a shop would it still be sitting on the shelf? I also have a maroon Crab, which is now black, didn't sell a single maroon crab in the shop! I closed the shop seven years ago!

So, what am I saying? Yes, it has attractions BUT there are many things to consider. Can you risk carrying expensive stock maybe for years, can you guarantee to be able to meet your overheads continually? Can you ride out the quiet periods? You say you are comfortably off at present, do you want to risk that?

As has been mentioned previously are you prepared and able to put in a large, maybe 6 figure sum in the first year alone?

Go to a couple of swapmeets, look at the amount of 'older, new' stock on the tables, bear in mind that a swapmeet table may cost around £20, that is the total overhead for a days trading, with a dedicated customer base, then look at what a shop could cost with maybe no customers on some days.

I'm sorry if I appear overly pessimistic, but if you have a decent job that you enjoy, it's a heck of a decision to make and although I did get burned in some ways it was the right decision at the time. If you still think it's for you, then do as much research as you can, if you'd like any more by PM, I'll offer any infromation I can, some of which Andy would probably not want me to put on the forum anyway.

[bike2steam]

As a former owner of a transport book & model railway shop anyone starting out has my deepest regards, especially with things as they look for the new year. Talking of Leicestershire,is The Signal Box at Anstey still going ?

[Coombe Barton]

And in the Winter edition of the Borough Bulletin,delivered the morning - is the major story that there's a £80million redevelopment of the Hinckley Bus Station site - so rents will be going up. The development is a joint venture between Cineworld, Sainsburys, Wilson Bowden and Centenary Ashcroft - big players.

[Coombe Barton]

Talking of Leicestershire,is The Signal Box at Anstey still going ?

 

Yes, was in there ten days ago - good RTR and kit stock in 00 and N. And loads of bits.

[RedgateModels]

We've got a new exhibitor at Mansfield 2011 called "Keith's Models" - he comes from Leicestershire. Not sure if he is a shows only trader or has premises though .....

[great central]

We've got a new exhibitor at Mansfield 2011 called "Keith's Models" - he comes from Leicestershire. Not sure if he is a shows only trader or has premises though .....

 

Swapmeet and shows only as far as I know, huge amounts of stock, but whilst not wishing to criticise, some of the stock has been around for some while, ref. my point above.

[RedgateModels]

Swapmeet and shows only as far as I know, huge amounts of stock, but whilst not wishing to criticise, some of the stock has been around for some while, ref. my point above.

 

Thanks for the info, as you say, our 5 quid a foot frontage charge is a lot less than renting a shop! Hope he has a good show next year as he's been asking to stand since we started in 2009.

 

I too have a green 73019, bought from Hattons bargain section years ago. I think they've only just shifted the last one too - can't face weathering it though, might have to get a black one to make dirty.....

[bike2steam]

Yes, was in there ten days ago - good RTR and kit stock in 00 and N. And loads of bits.

 

Thanks, but I believe Maureen ( the former owner/boss) retired a few years ago, They used to be one of my main suppliers of videos (pre DVD's ).

[Coombe Barton]

Thanks, but I believe Maureen ( the former owner/boss) retired a few years ago, They used to be one of my main suppliers of videos (pre DVD's ).

 

They have a whole wall with DVDs - http://www.signal-box.com/

[rob D2]

some good advice in there Matt,

I have also considered the idea , slightly further south (daventry) however as the point has been made, the amount of stock you would need to carry would be considerable.I would think the shops really want to shift the high margin stuff - but joe wants to come in for a pack of track pins and some glue !

 

I did know a model retailer and he turned over £70k a year, on that he made approx £10k so I don't even think the margins are that great.

[mr45144]

I also remember Ted's Trains in Nuneaton about 25 years ago which lasted about 2-3 years.

Nice to see someone remembers Dad's place - as a cautionary note it was washing its face on a day-to-day basis by the end of the 3 years but it wasn't servicing the initial loan. If you have the capital to ride that out you might be ok but if you borrow then you have to factor that in as well. As for tyre-kickers and light-fingered toerags Dad could write the book - especially annoying were the ones who bought a loco for a fiver from the local swapmeet then expected him to fix it for nothing. Nuff said?

 

Kev

[CUTLER2579]

bike2steam, on 23 November 2010 - 14:13 , said:

 

Thanks, but I believe Maureen ( the former owner/boss) retired a few years ago, They used to be one of my main suppliers of videos (pre DVD's ).

 

It is indeed under different management,but very good they are too.Has always been a nice friendly proper model shop in my opinion.Been going in since 1988'ish.