ModelZone seeking Administration

[Lady_Ava_Hay]

Another Internet victim. Sign of the times, that's all. Traditional shopping in the high street is doomed, I think.

 

Not totally doomed yet. it is a sad fact though that online retailing is creaming off 20% and growing share of the market. Stores that operate in low volume areas or in niche sales ( model railways ? ) might prove vulnerable to this attrition.

 

The answer will lie in lower commercial rents but landlords are notoriously slow to respond to this type of market re-structuring and seemingly almost want premises left vacant as the value of the property is actually greater when empty and both maintenance and overhead greatly reduced.

[RJS1977]

Sorry, but out-of-town shops aren't "shopper friendly" if you don't have a car and the buses don't go that way. Nor if you work in town and the town centre shop's (just) within lunchbreak walking distance... :-(

 

Whilst I haven't bought any "Big Ticket" items from ModelZone in Reading (and not many elsewhere come to that), it's been useful for the smaller items as well as paints etc. The downside of ModelZone's presence in Reading is that HobbyCraft (and The Entertainer) have virtually ditched their model railway range so if MZ goes there will be no model shop in Reading again apart from the 2nd hand shop in the Harris Arcade :-(

[black and decker boy]

Of course, local councils putting up rent/rates well in excess of inflation, coupled with the excessive car parking charges now being levied in towns & cities, and it's no wonder that traditional high street shops are closing down. That's before the internet revolution is factored in. I fear that we've reached passed the tipping point for the high street age.

 

Mark

 

Most Modelzone stores in the Big Malls which are private so no council interference there but some of the T&Cs do seem unbelieveable in a recession. The business rates are set centrally (which is ridiculus) and again don't appear flexible in a recession.

 

Modelzone clearly have a high overhead business, prime stores in Malls, usually alot of staff and Compare to a Liverpool emporium which has 1 shop (with no stock sat on shelves to speak of), 1 warehouse \ packing centre and enough students order picking to keep the product moving and its clera to see the different buisnies models. It will be sad if MZ do fold and may hurt the wider hobby if the grass roots \ new intake are lost due to lack of a model shop in the local Mall but no great loss personally as I only buy their Ltd Eds or bargains unless desparate and need paint \ scenics in a hurry.

[MarkC]

Most Modelzone stores in the Big Malls which are private so no council interference there but some of the T&Cs do seem unbelieveable in a recession. The business rates are set centrally (which is ridiculus) and again don't appear flexible in a recession.

 

Modelzone clearly have a high overhead business, prime stores in Malls, usually alot of staff and Compare to a Liverpool emporium which has 1 shop (with no stock sat on shelves to speak of), 1 warehouse \ packing centre and enough students order picking to keep the product moving and its clera to see the different buisnies models. It will be sad if MZ do fold and may hurt the wider hobby if the grass roots \ new intake are lost due to lack of a model shop in the local Mall but no great loss personally as I only buy their Ltd Eds or bargains unless desparate and need paint \ scenics in a hurry.

Totally agree with the points about big Malls; however they are only doing what councils are doing to the general high street shopping experience.

 

Talk about biting the hand that feeds...

 

Mark

[MarkC]

Sorry, but out-of-town shops aren't "shopper friendly" if you don't have a car and the buses don't go that way. Nor if you work in town and the town centre shop's (just) within lunchbreak walking distance... :-(

 

 

Agreed; very valid points. However, as a percentage, I suspect that car drivers outnumber pedestrians/public transport users by a large margin for most of the country.

 

Mark

[steveb860]

I wonder what will happen to the Model Zone " limited editions " in the pipeline from Bachmann?

Will we see the recently announced CCT's and the Post Office POT now be released as a standard Bachmann product?

I expect they are already in development, so if Modelzone do go, Bachmann will just carry on and release them in the general range.

[John M Upton]

It was when they started heavily discounting some stuff that a flash back to the final days of Beatties when they were practically giving away Lima locos and EFE diecast buses for a few quid occurred.  I had a nasty feeling this was coming.

[Guest Raikes]

Model Zone charge high prices for trains, on line retailers offer discounts.

Pubs charge high prices for beer, supermarkets offer discounts.

Model Zone in trouble, on line retailers thriving.

Pubs in trouble, supermarkets thriving.

 

The common factor is obvious - RRP v discounts.

[brushman47544]

Whilst I've only rarely used ModelZone shops, when I used the Kingston shop a few years ago now I was never very impressed with the way stock was promoted for sale, which seemed to discourage impulse purchases. On the other hand I use the Signal Box in Rochester regualrly for mail order and have always had a good service so I hope they are not affected.

 

Perhaps this Administration explains why additional stocks of some recent Hornby items such as 2-BILs have appeared unexpectedly with other retailers such as Kernow MRC.

[Anglian]

It's a great shame but not a great surprise. I don't think I ever saw significant amounts of money being spent in my local Cambridge store. I used to buy basic materials and paints. I can still get both locally.

[Phil Parker]

The problem (for me) isn't so much the big ticket items - Internet shopping has pretty much taken those away anyway - but consumables. Without Modelzone, where do you get Humbrol paint? Glue? Plasticard? How does a kid get exposed to the fun of building a plastic kit?

[Clive Mortimore]

Shops close because people are not spending their money in them. It happens in an economic downturn. Looks like Modelzone might be joining them, all we can hope is the administrators can save the business.  If not it is a big pity for those who used their stores, it is an even bigger for the staff who worked in them.

[Edge]

I think that the Birmingham Modelzone is a good case in point: its got a damn good variety of stuff... that is all priced at around £10-£15 higher than I can get it elsewhere. And the random limited editions just aren't good enough to carry the model railway ranges. The Harry Potter engine has been around for over two years now, and the LMR 08 hasn't exactly flown off of shelves easier.

 

It's a good place to go and look at models before you go away and buy them cheaper elsewhere: I'm afraid that that is the reality of the situation.

 

Its ironic that the most likely circumstance for me spending a large chunk of money in there is if they go into administration and their prices drop.

[gc4946]

I've also noticed less model railway stock when I last visited the Leeds branch. Unlike many MZ branches it's located in a shopping centre (the Merrion Centre) which has been in slow decline, and is on the edge of the city centre, although things might pick up when the nearby Leeds Arena opens next month. 

 

If Modelzone closes, there'll be no chain stores selling anywhere like the range of model railways (OO and N) with a High Street or a shopping mall presence.

Toys 'R Us, Argos and Toymaster all sell Hornby but not their full range.

Apart from them, some other stores have a Hornby concession.

[Grafarman]

Huge disappointment for me as I often get MZ tokens as presents from my children, and a female member of staff at my local store in Westfield Stratford is very knowledgeable about railway modelling and helpful in finding 'bargain' items; she recently gave me the choice of a number of Farish items virtually half price two days before a Christmas sale was due to commence!  I also buy my consumables there; paint, glue etc. as the quantities I use don't make it viable to buy in bulk and pay postage off the internet.

 

Very sad; now there's only clothes retailers and mobile phone stores left in the mall...oh, and the Lego shop of course

[Mike W]

In addition I believe the Signal Box , Rochester were ultimately owned by Model Zone

 

I think Tags in Doncaster are also ultimately owned by Modelzone. I hope that both shops can continue as both are excellent retailers with a very large range of model railway items.

[Fat Controller]

Some thoughts come to mind here:-

Firstly, how much will this reduce the total market for models in the UK? If it does cause a substantial reduction, then this would affect the volume of production at the major manufacturers, and might mean that they have to increase their prices.

Secondly, how much do the major manufacturers stand to lose if Modelzone goes into administration? What would the effect of this loss be on them?

Thirdly, how and where are parents and others going to find train sets etc to introduce potential new entrants to the hobby, and those other hobbies catered for by Modelzone? Gone are the days of department stores stocking a range of models year-round, and the likes of Woolworths and Boots selling plastic kits.

Most correspondents have said that Modelzone's problems will have little immediate direct effect on them. Whilst this may be the case, I would suggest that the impact may be much broader, and more profound,  than we currently imagine.

[ZiderHead]

Of course, local councils putting up rent/rates well in excess of inflation, coupled with the excessive car parking charges now being levied in towns & cities, and it's no wonder that traditional high street shops are closing down. That's before the internet revolution is factored in. I fear that we've reached passed the tipping point for the high street age.

 

Mark

 

No kidding, ridiculous business rates are a killer. Theres a floor available in our office block for £11k/yr. The rateable value is £19k5, so the business rates are over £9k ...

 

Our local council has also just raised rents in our covered market by an average of 50%. Way to promote small businesses in city centre retail ...

[stewartingram]

Surely if Modelzone are not selling the models (causing them problems) then there will be little difference in demand for models if they do go under? Leaving the other outlets to take up the demand already there.

 

Stewart

[The Stationmaster]

Some interesting, but hardly surprising, themes are emerging here - Modelzone is convenient for many, it's a good place to go and look at something, but many of us tend to buy only paints and consumables etc, and many go elsewhere because MZ prices are 'too high'.  So the overall message could almost be seen as 'I want a local model shop but I'm not prepared to pay for it and I'll go on the 'net to avoid paying their prices'.

 

Then we moan about the loss of local model shops.  That might sound a harsh conclusion and I have never been a big spender in Modelzone although I had bought a loco there (Hornby, heavily discounted) and some rolling stock over the recent years as well as a fair amount of Woodland Scenics stuff and 'consummables'.  My local  shop - which was very useful for consummables - went a long time back, his main burdens were poor business and high rents/costs.  My other 'local' shop is an hour's drive away but he has a good range of stock and is well worth supporting but is let down by a poor supply chain from Hornby although he still gets pre-orders from me.  And my other local shop is a day's train trip away.

 

Unless we support these smaller businesses they will founder, we will moan louder than ever that we can't get this or that, and the hobby will be the poorer for it.  All we can do is support our 'local' traders, some of them have expanded their horizons by 'net presence and mail order or a good secondhand stock.  But a big part of the answer lies somewhere beyond all of us and that is the atrocious level of 'High Street' rents which seem to have been based on a straight line upwards from the '60s property boom and in the ludicrous levels of business rates in this country. 

[Rowsley17D]

There was a brief mention on Radio 5live's money programme this morning of MZ prblems, but they described it as a clothes shop chain. No wonder they are in trouble. I pop into the Newcastle shop from time to time and get bits and bobs. They sometimes have good reductions on Evergreen plastics.

[The Stationmaster]

Surely if Modelzone are not selling the models (causing them problems) then there will be little difference in demand for models if they do go under? Leaving the other outlets to take up the demand already there.

 

Stewart

It could certainly work that way with Hornby I think Stewart because Modelzone has received concession stock which has not been available to ordinary retailers who in many cases couldn't get anywhere near their pre-orders let alone have anything on their shelves.

[MarkC]

No kidding, ridiculous business rates are a killer. Theres a floor available in our office block for £11k/yr. The rateable value is £19k5, so the business rates are over £9k ...

 

Our local council has also just raised rents in our covered market by an average of 50%. Way to promote small businesses in city centre retail ...

You do have to wonder at the mentality of those in power - and that goes for all hues, of course...

 

Without getting 'political', the rot appears to have set in once larger 'allowances' etc were introduced, & I do not believe that it's a coincidence...

 

Mark

[brushman47544]

We're all commenting on the model railway side of the business, but ModelZone sells much more than that. We are speculating on perceived difficulties with sales of model railway items, but I wonder if the underlying problems are elsewhere?

[simoncorkswill]

Won't be sorry to see them dis-appear , they do not help the traditional model shops whom are usually staffed by people who can give you answers to questions and help , whereas I found model zone useless on that front .