Model shop in the Tynevalley

[Irishswissernie]

I would not open a retail outlet these days, there is too much competition from the Internet and you also have to cater for fixed charges, i.e. rent, rates, insurance and also staffing costs. It is also extremely time demanding and unless you employ someone, no time off for holidays or ability to do shows etc.

 

I am speaking from experience having covered for Mike & Claire at Townfoot in Hexham when they were doing Shows or on holiday during the 6 years the shop was at Hexham. In the early days before they started cutting back on shows this could amount to some 80 days per year. Some days the shop took under £30 (I think on the odd day nothing) so the gross profit on this would be under £10. I enjoyed my time there though, one could always have a good natter with the 'regulars'.

 

Ernie

[runs as required]

....I am speaking from experience having covered for Mike & Claire at Townfoot in Hexham when they were doing Shows or on holiday during the 6 years the shop was at Hexham.. I enjoyed my time there though, one could always have a good natter with the 'regulars'.

Ernie

Ernie - you're the very chap I was trying to remember in an earlier post. You did that 'covering' for Mike and Clare admirably.

I'm sorry I accused you of being from Haydon Bridge; you must have also have worked with them too at the other end of the Alston branch.

dh

[Irishswissernie]

Ernie - you're the very chap I was trying to remember in an earlier post. You did that 'covering' for Mike and Clare admirably.

I'm sorry I accused you of being from Haydon Bridge; you must have also have worked with them too at the other end of the Alston branch.

dh

 

I didn't work for them at the  Alston shop which they had for some 12 years before moving the business to Hexham. I don't drive and the replacement Bus service for the old Alston-Haltwhistle trains had dwindled to 2 each way, in the middle of the day and with a change at Lambley. Prior to working for Mike & Claire, I worked on various trade stands at quite a few shows for Contikits, The Railway King, M G Sharp Models (When Bill was alive & kicking!) so you may be re-calling me from then.

 

Getting back to the original question regarding opening a shop, during my banking career I maintained the accounts of some 6 Model Railway business's; 5 had retail premises and these have all closed, only one Mail Order & Shows, Continental specialist is still going after some 30 odd years.

 

Ernie

[Tynedaletrains]

Discount off Dapol this month at www.tynedaletrains.co.uk

[Silver Sidelines]

A fascinating discussion.  Northumberland has superb countryside with not many people - perhaps that's the clue.

 

We spent over twenty years in the Morpeth / Alnwick area before decanting to Dumfries and Galloway - an even less populated region with I think no model shops at all.

 

Many years ago I used to frequent Johnson's toy shop in Alnwick which was well stocked with Airfix, Mainline and Hornby Dublo.  The gentleman who managed the railway items  (and I must apologise for forgetting his name) left to market LINKA building products.  Later I spied him at Barter Books - a veritable treasure trove of old books - that occupies part of Alnwick's old railway station.  Now what about Alnwick - the Castle and now the Gardens are hugely popular with both locals and tourists.  After 'you' have browsed the flowers and shrubs why not a stroll around the corner to a little model shop?    I could well imagine some families where the lady of the house views the flowers whilst the male members look at railway items.

 

As to opening a model shop this has been well covered by others already.  Providing a place to browse might fulfill a 'social service' but by the time 'new items' have been poked and mauled it is doubtful if there will be much money to be made selling them.  I would favour a presence on the Internet and a personal 'expertise' that generated traffic to your website.

 

Just some thoughts.  I shall carry on thinking about you whilst I rattle back and to along the 'Military Road' parallel with the Roman Wall.

 

Good luck

 

Ray

 

PS Just been told bt my wife to spell Barter Books correctly!

[leavesontheline]

A fascinating discussion.  Northumberland has superb countryside with not many people - perhaps that's the clue.

 

We spent over twenty years in the Morpeth / Alnwick area before decanting to Dumfries and Galloway - an even less populated region with I think no model shops at all.

 

Many years ago I used to frequent Johnson's toy shop in Alnwick which was well stocked with Airfix, Mainline and Hornby Dublo.  The gentleman who managed the railway items  (and I must apologise for forgetting his name) left to market LINKA building products.  Later I spied him at Barta Books - a veritable treasure trove of old books - that occupies part of Alnwick's old railway station.  Now what about Alnwick - the Castle and now the Gardens are hugely popular with both locals and tourists.  After 'you' have browsed the flowers and shrubs why not a stroll around the corner to a little model shop?    I could well imagine some families where the lady of the house views the flowers whilst the male members look at railway items.

 

As to opening a model shop this has been well covered by others already.  Providing a place to browse might fulfill a 'social service' but by the time 'new items' have been poked and mauled it is doubtful if there will be much money to be made selling them.  I would favour a presence on the Internet and a personal 'expertise' that generated traffic to your website.

 

Just some thoughts.  I shall carry on thinking about you whilst I rattle back and to along the 'Military Road' parallel with the Roman Wall.

 

Good luck

 

Ray

 

A second vote for Alnwick here. A great railway heritage and with Barter Books in the old station building I wonder if owner Stuart Manley might be receptive to renting out some space (if there is any left!) for a new model shop?! The Aln Valley Railway are active in trying to reinstate the line from Alnmouth (ECML) to the egde of Alnwick (sadly not all the way to the station) and I think I have read somewhere on RMweb of a fairly recently started model railway club in a village hall nearby.

 

There is a real dearth of good model shops in Northumberland (or even the whole of the Tyneside area for that matter) but Alnwick is in a good location sufficiently far from Newcastle/Durham not to upset the limited model rail retailers still there but still easily enough reached by road and rail that I think people would travel from quite a way away for a good shop. Of course any new model shop these days would need to have a strong web presence but based on the fact that an on-line shop could be located pretty much anywhere (e.g. Model Railways Direct retail shop and online business located on a modern housing estate in Portishead), I think Alnwick would be an ideal location for the retail outlet.

 

I remember Johnsons too, and all the train stuff upstairs - a real 'traditional' toy shop if ever there was! I seem to remember that when Stuart Manley first started with Linka in a corner of the station building he used to stock a small number of modelling bits and pieces. I can't remember exactly what and I forget what happened to Linka? ..... just googled it and found 'linkaworld.com' !! Seems someone in Midlothian (Virgina, USA, not the area south of Edinburgh!) has bought all the tools from Stuart Manley and is re-marketing it!

 

As Silver Sidelines mentions with the increase in tourism in the Alnwick area in recent years due to Alnwick Castle (i.e. Harry Potter), the Alnwick Garden and not to mention Barter Books itself, I think there would be a lot of passing trade as well as those willing to make a special trip there from local conurbations. I think Alnwick was voted one of the top places to live in the UK by Countrylife magazine (or similar such publication - I forget) not so long ago which probably means house prices have been rising steadily and possibly being bought by wealthy retirees and other people with expendable income .... on which to spend on hobbies such as model railways - just my thoughts anyway! 

 

Good luck with your venture wherever you end up!

[runs as required]

A second vote for Alnwick here. A great railway heritage and with Barter Books in the old station building I wonder if owner Stuart Manley might be receptive to renting out some space (if there is any left!) for a new model shop?! The Aln Valley Railway are active in trying to reinstate the line from Alnmouth (ECML) to the egde of Alnwick (sadly not all the way to the station) and I think I have read somewhere on RMweb of a fairly recently started model railway club in a village hall nearby....

Good luck with your venture wherever you end up!

A nice idea but I really can't agree it would be a relatively safe bet - remember Mike and Clare le Marie, mentioned a lot above, started off up at the station in Alston before moving down to the "crowds" at Hexham station opposite Waitrose.

 

Interestingly, poor old Mary Manley made absolutely nothing out of the worldwide craze for "Keep Calm and Carry On" forgotten apparently only surviving original wartime poster that she found and framed over the fireplace in the front room at Alnwick station.

 

There is a real dearth of good model shops in Northumberland (or even the whole of the Tyneside area for that matter) but Alnwick is in a good location sufficiently far from Newcastle/Durham not to upset the limited model rail retailers still there but still easily enough reached by road and rail that I think people would travel from quite a way away for a good shop.

I think you are being too hard on Neil at Rolling Stock in N Shields, Pooley's Puffers and Durham trains up at at Stanley.

Also a lot of folk won't drive more than 20 odd minutes (read posts above) - and the A1 north of Morpeth is still, despite Gov promises, a real Killer

dh

[DLPG]

Tynedale Trains will be attending our show at Spennymoor on the 9th & 10th May 2015. Looking forward to welcoming a new business to the exhibition circuit.

[Norm81]

A nice idea but I really can't agree it would be a relatively safe bet - remember Mike and Clare le Marie, mentioned a lot above, started off up at the station in Alston before moving down to the "crowds" at Hexham station opposite Waitrose.

 

Interestingly, poor old Mary Manley made absolutely nothing out of the worldwide craze for "Keep Calm and Carry On" forgotten apparently only surviving original wartime poster that she found and framed over the fireplace in the front room at Alnwick station.

 

 

I think you are being too hard on Neil at Rolling Stock in N Shields, Pooley's Puffers and Durham trains up at at Stanley.

Also a lot of folk won't drive more than 20 odd minutes (read posts above) - and the A1 north of Morpeth is still, despite Gov promises, a real Killer

dh

Neil doesn't actually own Rolling Stock bit has worked there forever. Three shops for the whole of Northumberland, Tyneside and part of County Durham is a dearth in my opinion. Granted parts of Northumberland aren't highly populated.

[cessna152towser]

I live in Hawick and so Hexham would be 53 miles over the hills from here and a little over an hour's drive.  I've joined railtours at Hexham in the past.

I occasionally buy mail order from Hattons.

If I want to see what I am buying, I visit C & M Models in Carlisle, usually about three or four times a year.

Durham Trains of Stanley bring a sales stall to our annual show here in Hawick at the end of August..

[stovepipe]

Three shops for the whole of Northumberland, Tyneside and part of County Durham is a dearth in my opinion. Granted parts of Northumberland aren't highly populated.

 

You are underselling the area somewhat - there are at least two other model shops in Tyneside, and as mentioned earlier up, there is North East Model Centre at Chester Moor near Chester-le-Street, and further south also Model4Hobby in Chilton, which I have not visited, but seems a resonable size concern.

[blueeighties]

You are underselling the area somewhat - there are at least two other model shops in Tyneside, and as mentioned earlier up, there is North East Model Centre at Chester Moor near Chester-le-Street, and further south also Model4Hobby in Chilton, which I have not visited, but seems a resonable size concern.

Last time I looked the North East Model Centre was closed, is it back open again?

[DaveF]

Last time I looked the North East Model Centre was closed, is it back open again?

 

Yes.

Website page with opening hours:    http://northeastmodelcentre.co.uk/about

 

I've no connection with the business but I call in when passing, last time I was there I stocked up on paint.

 

David

[Norm81]

You are underselling the area somewhat - there are at least two other model shops in Tyneside, and as mentioned earlier up, there is North East Model Centre at Chester Moor near Chester-le-Street, and further south also Model4Hobby in Chilton, which I have not visited, but seems a resonable size concern.

Even so, that's 5 shops from the scottish border all the way to the River Tees so my opinion remains unchanged. There is not one shop in the whole of Northumberland, our nearest being Rolling Stock in North Tyneside.

 

Years ago there were two good shops in Newcastle, one on Blenheim Street the other on Thornton Street near the Tyne Theatre, both long gone. Then we had the Modelzone's in the Grainger Market and Metrocentre.

[stovepipe]

Even so, that's 5 shops from the scottish border all the way to the River Tees so my opinion remains unchanged. There is not one shop in the whole of Northumberland, our nearest being Rolling Stock in North Tyneside.

 

Years ago there were two good shops in Newcastle, one on Blenheim Street the other on Thornton Street near the Tyne Theatre, both long gone. Then we had the Modelzone's in the Grainger Market and Metrocentre.

 

My area is south of Newcastle, and I can visit 8 or 9 model shops, in the course of normal monthly travel. This includes the 3 model shops in Teesside and the one in Bishop Auckland, in addition to those mentioned earlier. Not sure what was around before I got interested again 3 years ago, but for a region with 2.6m people, I really don't think that is too bad.

 

It's true most of these shops are in peripheral locations - but they exist nonetheless. http://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/counties/modelShops

 

Anyhow, I look forward to seeing tynedaletrains at a forthcoming NE show.

[Tynedaletrains]

We were at model motion at Shildon last weekend and have a fair few shows booked in now. Plus the website has brought us customers from far and wide! Looking forward to Spennymoor in May now which looks like it will be a good show all round.

Once we have built up a decent customer base online the shop will come next!

[The Black Hat]

We were at model motion at Shildon last weekend and have a fair few shows booked in now. Plus the website has brought us customers from far and wide! Looking forward to Spennymoor in May now which looks like it will be a good show all round.

Once we have built up a decent customer base online the shop will come next!

 

Wish Id known! I would have said 'hello'. Despite a lot of the trade stands being from the likes of those mentioned, the north east still has other shops that serve the local community. Triang-Man hasnt been mentioned, and opperates similar to Pooleys-Puffers, on the trade circuit. Other shops that have not been mentioned include Stockton Modeller, and Peters Spares, the latter of which are very good and I would think take a great deal of trade from south Durham, Teesside and areas of North Yorkshire. Theres also another trader who I know and have seen on the circuit, but am unsure if their business has a name to market with.