JRAS Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Since ModelZone are in administration I believe the administrators may set what terms they wish including ceasing to accept ................. club cards. I understand that the administrator is calling the tune, but it does strike me as odd that Hornby products are not being discounted along with the rest. I would have thought that the administrator would have wanted to discount all products in order to maximise cash flow. This makes me wonder whether it is Hornby who still control their own product and have vetoed any plans for it to be discounted. In which case I would have thought that the Hornby Collector Club discount would still be extant. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted July 8, 2013 Share Posted July 8, 2013 Do they sell airbrushes? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
micklner Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Not a penny off Hornby @ Lakeside . All the Bachmann wagons had disapearred since my last visit as well. A few Bachmann Locos reduced. Got some cheaper paint!! Oh well!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 9, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 9, 2013 I understand that the administrator is calling the tune, but it does strike me as odd that Hornby products are not being discounted along with the rest. I would have thought that the administrator would have wanted to discount all products in order to maximise cash flow. This makes me wonder whether it is Hornby who still control their own product and have vetoed any plans for it to be discounted. In which case I would have thought that the Hornby Collector Club discount would still be extant. We've been here before but just to repeat - the Hornby stock in Modelzone (including Scalextric) belongs to Hornby as Modelzone is a concession site (rather, obviously, a number of sites) for Hornby. This has long been the case and pricing of Hornby products has clearly in the past followed Hornby's pricing policy and 'sale' offers including changing, upwards, every year as teh catalogue prices have changed. Thus - even if they wanted to - the administrators cannot reduce the prices on Hornby products (and I doubt if Hornby will either). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Y Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Important news for any readers who have ordered 'Great Gathering' A4s via Modelzone - http://www.Hornby.com/news/the-great-gathering-an-update-for-modelzone-customers/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
EddieB Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 As I was passing Kingston yesterday, with a few minutes to spare, I dropped into the MZ shop there. I came away with some Bachmann wagons at 20% off. Plenty of non-discounted Hornby stock on the shelves and in the display cabinets. Very few red-ticket reduced items and nothing to tempt me. Elsewhere, most other ranges were being discounted 20-30%, but seems that only brings them in line with on-line retailers and isn't shifting like a liquidation clearance ought. The staff were expecting a conference call at 3pm yesterday, when some more about their fate might be disclosed. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Do they sell airbrushes? Have you asked them? As I was passing Kingston yesterday, with a few minutes to spare, I dropped into the MZ shop there. I came away with some Bachmann wagons at 20% off. Plenty of non-discounted Hornby stock on the shelves and in the display cabinets. Very few red-ticket reduced items and nothing to tempt me. Elsewhere, most other ranges were being discounted 20-30%, but seems that only brings them in line with on-line retailers and isn't shifting like a liquidation clearance ought. The staff were expecting a conference call at 3pm yesterday, when some more about their fate might be disclosed. It sounds as though Deloitte don't understand/haven't researched the model railway retail market very well. If they read this topic, they would quickly get a clear idea of how discount conscious the RTR purchaser is and what they would need to do to cause the necessary stampede to liquidate the stock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc smith Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 I was in the Cardiff branch of MZ the other dayNo discount on any Hornby products, and not too much discount on anything else...It said in the window, "all stock must go"but there weren't too many folk buying in the shop.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Nth Degree Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Forgive my ignorance on their stock, but do they sell traditional model plastic kits (cars, aeroplanes, etc)? Their website is offline so I can't check. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 9, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 9, 2013 Forgive my ignorance on their stock, but do they sell traditional model plastic kits (cars, aeroplanes, etc)? Their website is offline so I can't check. Yes - a sort of super toyshop/model shop (of a kind) is how best to describe, which explain some of the original owner's views on how the concern has lost its way. Having despatched a spy today I can confirm, again, that the Reading branch is not offering any discounts on Hornby, in addition its Bachmann stock is little altered but apparently some sort of stock-taking was underway. I think to - if my information in Reading was correct that we need to understand that this 'liquidation sale' would seem to be a holding/cashflow exercise while the administrators look for a buyer and isn't a total clearout effort (as yet). So I think not so much a case of Deloitte not understanding the market but more a case of this being a step in the process of the administration - time will tell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 And it is working. Sounds like lots of us have had a special trip and many have bought something they wouldn't have bought in mz otherwise. At least one reply on here has suggested some stock lines moving. Actually Deloitte might have got it just right for he time being - prices low enough to encourage footfall and a bit of cash through the tills rather than a great stock giveaway. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Do they sell airbrushes? The Croydon branch had some downstairs when I was in there last Friday Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talltim Posted July 9, 2013 Share Posted July 9, 2013 Thanks, I'll try the Meadowhall one, although its pretty small Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 I will be very sorry if the Reading branch closes down, especially for the staff who are universally lovely & highly enthusiastic. I'd also be greatly disappointed if ModelZone in general goes under - my lad is coming up to the age of being able to build plastic kits as I did in my youth and it is simply the best supplier I know in the area. Saying that I am relocating a bit, so wouldn't necessarily get into that particular branch. Need a shop with a good range of all model paraphernalia in the High Wycombe area! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Graham_Muz Posted July 10, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2013 C&WR High Wycombe does not have a good model railway shop I am afraid but it does offer an excellent Model Railway Society in the shape of the High Wycombe and District MRS with over 60 members, 4200 sq feet of clubroom housing 12 layouts and a test track of various scales and genres. See our website at www.hwdmrs.org.uk or feel free to PM for more information, I would be more than happy to welcome you to the Society one evening. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&WR Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 That's very kind, Graham. I'm only just settling in in the area, but will see how time pans out. Certainly a visit would be wonderful, although whether my skills or time available would be sufficient to become a full-blown member will have to be assessed, I would want to do things properly if I did! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkAustin Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Just been in the New Oxford Street shop. Same thing. Liquidation Sale signs on the windows, adevertising at least 10-30% off, with very tiny lettering below excluding concessions. Inside, most items on 20% discount, but paints and glues (and, probably materials and tools) 50% off. Sign over the Hornby stuff saying Hornby and Scalextrix excluded. This is after a period of attempting to trade normally, but with no on-line or re-ordering, which, as had been said, would not be allowed for a firm in administration. Redundancies at Head Office. Combine this with the news that the two main movers of the Rochester Signal Box have jumped ship and started their own shop, and I will speculate---emphasise speculate. The administrators tried to keep the business running, to sell all or part of it as a going concern, but have now given up that idea---the point of a liquidation sale is to clear the shelves as quickly as possible to minimise on losses on stock and prepare for a sale of the property---or more likely the leases. Hornby have successfully persuaded the administrators that they own their stuff, and will let them sell it until the end, and then reclaim the residue. The two from The Signal Box must have started looking at alternatives almost from day one in order to be in business so soon, but I cannot imagine that they did not at least explore buying out The Signal Box, so the administrators either have another buyer or intend to liquidate there as well---has anyone been to the shop in the last day or so? It looks very much like the end of both Modelzone and The Signal Box, absent a possibility of an offer for some of the more profitable outlets. I see more coffee shops in the near future. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pandora Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 The immediate role of the Administrator is to harvest stock into cash in the till, to pay immediate costs, especially the wages of the staff, that is the point of the high profile sale, convert goods into ££££readies££££, readies to feed mouths. recall Woolworths, their best figures when "all stock must go" signs up in the windows Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Legend Posted July 10, 2013 RMweb Premium Share Posted July 10, 2013 Might it have been the case that the two people from Signal Box setting up their new shop were dissatisfied with the way things were being run and decided to branch out on their own before there was any sign of administration. From what I read somewhere the company was bought over by venture capitalists sometime ago and the original emphasis of hobby shop changed. I would suggest that was much more likely to be trigger to set up new business rather than administration. The administrators are trying to sell stock to reralise cash to pay bills. There is nothing more to it than that. Hopefully some of the stores or the nucleus of a chain can still be saved. Because the administrators really dont know and are making general decisions , you end up with some crackpot decisions as highlighted with my BOAC 747 going from £39 to £19 to £31 selling price. The instruction should have been to take 20% of exiting prices rather than list. So some anomalies but lets hope the administrators bring them through Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndrewC Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Combine this with the news that the two main movers of the Rochester Signal Box have jumped ship and started their own shop, and I will speculate---emphasise speculate. The two from The Signal Box must have started looking at alternatives almost from day one in order to be in business so soon, but I cannot imagine that they did not at least explore buying out The Signal Box, so the administrators either have another buyer or intend to liquidate there as well---has anyone been to the shop in the last day or so? A fast check with Companies house shows they incorporated back in April. Either it was their plan to go it alone for a while, or they had a lot of forewarning. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dunsignalling Posted July 10, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2013 A fast check with Companies house shows they incorporated back in April. Either it was their plan to go it alone for a while, or they had a lot of forewarning. Anybody working near the sharp end of an outfit heading for trouble who has been there for any length of time can usually see how things are going; often even before it begins to show in the accounts. They will know what the good times were like and will quickly realise it doesn't feel that way any more. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruffnut Thorston Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 A bit off topic I suppose, but Hobbycraft at Chester has run down the Model Railway stocks to just about none over time. So, no use going there now..... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted July 10, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2013 I noted in Reading today that there are now reductions off the reductions although this doesn't extend to the model railway area as yet which is still basically 20% (unless you're after paint and adhesives etc which are now at 50% off). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyberspice Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Color, yes... but some of the liveries look as if a bunch of toddlers attacked the trains with crayons! I think that the present day railways are more interesting than they have been for a very very long time. You have all the various operating companies. Freight traffic is up. Passenger numbers are up. Flexibility of the system means that small companies can actually operate. I've worked in offices by the Aire Valley Line for a decade. In that time I've seen assorted freight traffic with a variety of locos in a variety of liveries. Assorted passenger traffic including HSTs, 225s, various DMUs, 333s and even twin 37s with MK3 coaching stock. And then there are the charters. I've seen class 55s, 33s, black 5s, duchess class, tornado, etc. etc. It was never like this when I was a child. The last two decades are an awesome time to model. Sectorisation made BR interesting and then you had privatisation. Its an exciting period to be modelling and it means you're not making just another boring 1950s BR layout. And with all the charters you can still run the occasionally steam special! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted July 10, 2013 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 10, 2013 Color, yes... but some of the liveries look as if a bunch of toddlers attacked the trains with crayons! 66 720 !! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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