Widnes Model Centre

Does anyone else read posts from the bottom upwards? My wife, Gill was reading this, just as I do. Thought posters were complaining that we were closing while they were still in the shop. So glad it referred to Comet etc. Great to see Andy Y in the shop yesterday. Even though he left in plenty of time, last minute customers meant we didn't close until 5.55pm. To be honest last minute customers are every bit as important as the first one through the door.

Just to give a rough idea, just doing my takings. We sold £232.08p of paints today. Last Saturday we sold £199.42p. Very few were Humbrol.

I have said this before, but needs repeating, we ran out of 33 Matt Black Acrylic in November 2016. That is nearly two years ago and still the wait goes on. No one from Hornby has ever explained the problem. Unfortunately many others in their Humbrol range have gone the same way. Paint stand looks like we cannot be bothered ordering, so untrue! We sell lots of other brands, Humbrol is still the choice of many but their patience ran out when you cannot get even basic colours.

Hi Iak, I was in the store last Thursday. They are happy to stay where they are, they are unsure as to how long they will be able to remain there. It is entirely out of their hands. They could relocate and then discover a resolution with the mill owners. Finding a shop as big as they have now? Horrible, horrible situation. Liz and he team continue to carry on smiling. Edited to answer your question properly! Yes they are continuing with their sale as it reduces stock in case they have to move quickly. I spent a few bob myself.

We will be stocking 37025. Thanks Scottish Exile.

Before the thread is closed, can we all wish Lucy best wishes for her wedding tomorrow?

Don't shoot the messenger. This was for your information. Not for me to supply answers.

I am sure I have read that this week the owner is getting married.

As above, Owen Oyston has said that the electricity bill will be paid. This might be a crumb of comfort for Liz and her team, it still leaves her not knowing what lies around the corner and you cannot run a business like that. The search for new premises I am sure will be continuing. Gill and I will be visiting today, not sure what to do with the box of candles we bought! Talking to Liz yesterday, she said that model shops had offered assistance with storage, now that is friendly/supportive. Maybe someone with large warehouse facilities might be able to help? Her stock levels are huge. This is a great shop run by a lovely team, do all you can to support it. Great news is that Gill has found the receipt for the candles!!

Absolutely dreadful news, just spoken to the owner on the phone. They have until next Thursday before the electricity is cut off from the building due to non-payment by the Mill owners.. All the businesses in the Mill will have to leave,

Thanks Jim for nothing! Knowing Mike as I do. I now can't get that image out of MY head. Half expecting THAT photo to be emailed to me today. If it does, expect a PM from me.

Thank you Many thanks Dave, I certainly accept your apology and wish you well. Regards Barry

That would be because I haven't sent anything.

Partial apology from me. I gave the guy your email address. I also emailed you moments later to give you a heads up. I had taken the email address straight from my "contacts". Dave Jones: nthusiast@hotmail.com Checking today and that is the only email I had for you. You mighty find both the emails there, if you still use that hotmail account

Hi Colin, I have sent you a PM regarding this.

I have passed the details before. As for his name, he didn't offer and by his demeanour I wasn't going to ask for it, I was trying to stay out of it. He did say his son-in-law ordered it for him. Good luck on that one. Hopefully we shall hear no more. I will be in touch if we do. From my previous post, can you make enquiries then with DT of S and Crewe Heritage Centre and see if they sent the flyers to our shop? As you may have guessed not too impressed with this. Had you have asked we would have willingly displayed the flyers anyway. We did display them, as we do with anything local from Model Railway exhibitions to local theatres. By local, I mean anybody who takes the time to send such information to us.

As we will be opening for business very shortly and anticipating another visit, can you please answer this Dave? This project has nothing to do with us and should not be effecting our business. In the past, I have tried to be supportive to your business and was willing to offer a little more, can you help us out here?

Hi Dave, If you didn't put the flyers in our shop and you have visited quite a few times in the recent past, can you make enquiries as to how we received them? We certainly didn't have them printed ourselves. As I said he has been causing us grief and you want me to ask him to contact you again? Just in case he does come back in as he was keen to get his refund, what would you like me to say to him regarding that?

Hi Dave, Is the new website holding back the Paypal refunds? For getting on for around a month I have been getting grief from one of your customers. His reasoning was that as he had picked up a flyer for the APT from our shop, as far as he is concerned, we must be involved in the project. I thought I had convinced him we were not and advised him to contact DT of S. He tells me that they advised him to contact you. He says he has heard nothing back. He has taken to calling in for updates from us, not good for our business when you have a disgruntled person in the shop and you have no answers for him. No one in our shop can recall how the flyers ended up with us. Can you shed any light? I removed them from our info desk. I am sure you can appreciate why. I did make a suggstion for a local to you ish web company but not sure if you saw it.

Due in this week, the wait is over.

Hi Dave, not great at IT, so can't help you on that side. We do have someone who has his own company based in Warrington. so fairly local, we deal with the owner, James Murphy. https://graffiti-digital.co.uk/projects_category/ecommerce-design/ However reading the above.... Can Lloyds Clicksafe not help you recover your website as they have obviously seen and approved it? Maybe even the MD at the domain hosting company that you spoke to earlier this week? Just a thought. Having paid for someone to set it up, I would have thought someone else like the above could recover it?

As a retailer, we are a model shop, not a model railway specialist: Three years ago next week, we moved into new premises, larger and with room to expand our stock range. To the left was a vast amount of Hornby model railway products at the front of the shop. To the right was an even larger display of Airfix plastic kits. In the middle was all the Humbrol products, paints, glues, brushes, varnishes etc. Looking at this today. The Hornby products occupy space at the very rear of the shop and that space is decreasing. Bachmann, Farish, Dapol and Oxford Rail now occupy the space where once Hornby took pride of place. There is a distinct lack of products available across all the Hornby brands. Airfix was a sea of red boxes. We have had to remove some of the Airfix shelf strips as there was insufficient stock to fill those shelves. Other kit manufacturers now occupy that shelving. You want Humbrol paints? So do we. They still sell but only as I see it for a very limited time. The Humbrol stand looks as though we have given up on it. Approximately 35 empty rows that used to be filled every day. Other manufacturers now occupy the paint displays and they are re-stocked every single week. Scalextric still sells but not as much as it used to. Hornby train sets? Christmas and slowly throughout the rest of the year. Not a single specific set containing a diesel locomotive. We no longer stock the Flying Scotsman loco. Hornby RRP is £110.99p, a nearby retailer sells them for half that price. I think we all know the reason for that. Airfix, not a single Lancaster Bomber is available at this time. New releases this year have not been supplied in the numbers we have ordered. Sold out and so far unable to replace them. Airfix really sells well but the range has been decimated and availability as previously stated is poor. Airfix have thankfully recently announced the return of the classic, vintage kits. They cannot come quickly enough for us. Despite running out of some Humbrol acrylics in November 2016 (not a typo) we have had no communication from Hornby whatsoever as to when if ever we are going to receive Humbrol stock. If anyone from Hornby is reading this please let us know? Corgi? No thanks, Oxford Diecast has that mantle. I was talking to Dave Jones in the shop this week and he was amazed when I pointed out how our shop layout had changed as it evolved around Hornby and their associated products. What does the future hold for model shops? Various posts on this forum suggest that we no longer need model shops and neither does Hornby. We have just extended our lease, we have hope for the future. We would very much like to have Hornby as part of that future.

But only when sold out on Hornby direct sales. I have tried to order from Hornby to be told that they have sold out, but still available on their own website. Not what we were led to believe would happen. If we were unable to sell a Hornby product but direct sales were sold out, do you think Hornby would buy the stock back? I know what their response would be.

Sadly John, it might be in stock at that retailer, but once it's gone it's gone. No longer being produced by Airfix. I believe this is Hornby "thinking on their feet". All the kits announced today have in the past sold well. The return certainly of the "ships" in all categories is just what we needed. The Airfix range was missing this category. Big Thumbs Up on this announcement. I had my Airfix order in before I had even drunk my coffee. Now that is a first.