(COMMERCIAL) Modelzone in administration

[Bezzo]

Apparently happened 2 weeks ago! Just found out.

47 stores in UK

[joroas]

Bugger, one of the few things I enjoyed about Merry Hill........

[Eric the Shed]

My local store (kingston) has a 30% discount on akll scenics and paints. The local manager reckons that this will be slashed again shortly.

I spent the best part of sixty quid on ballast  - a lifetimes worth 

[Sardoo]

Talked to one of the shop managers and he was optimistic that they'll be OK. Hope so!

[OSHIROmodels]

Was in the Kingston one today and it would seem they might have a buyer, which could be goods news... Or not...

cheers

James

[Momotaro]

Bugger, one of the few things I enjoyed about Merry Hill........

Modelzone was one of my boltholes in Meadowhall...   And the Holborn shop was close to Orc's Nest, the London Graphics Centre and Forbidden Planet, so I could sneak away from family outings to Covent Garden...

Good news if they've found a buyer though.

[former user]

I couldn't find anything but model railroad stuff on the net.
what kits are they producing?

[Captain Blood]

I was in Croydon ModelZone yesterday. The manager there was not optimistic. Said the receivers have their hooks in them... Lot of debt etc etc.

They had a '20% - 50% off all marked prices' liquidation sale on - but strangely this didn't seem to extend to Woodland Scenics stuff, which is what I went in for!

They had also stopped doing Vallejo paints  

The irony of all this is, I used to have a saturday job in Beatties, 30 years ago.
Beatties was the predecessor of Model Zone, and many of the shops are in the same locations - including the flagship Holborn store. When Beatties went to the wall 15 years ago, Model Zone bought them out, took over most of the shops, and launched a rapid programme of expansion. Now they appear to have suffered the same fate... I guess the internet and mail order has done for them, like so many other high street niche sectors. There just can't be the margins in selling plastic kits, model railways and radio-controlled cars, to justify A+ premium retail locations like Holborn and Bluewater...

[Vanvlak]

Aww, that's sad. The very first time I went abroad - to London - I made a beeline for Beatties (which was then taken over by ModelZone. So this is the first model shop outside Malta I ever visited. 

[OSHIROmodels]

I was in Croydon ModelZone yesterday. The manager there was not optimistic. Said the receivers have their hooks in them... Lot of debt etc etc.

They had a '20% - 50% off all marked prices' liquidation sale on - but strangely this didn't seem to extend to Woodland Scenics stuff, which is what I went in for!

Mine was doing Woodland scenics for 20% off 

cheers

James

[fastolfrus]

Our nearest is about 70 miles away.

[ilikepaintinglead]

The one in Reading was doing 20% on Woodland scenics and between 20-30% on paints (Tamiya, Vallejo)

[Diplomatist]

Now reported that stores are to start closing

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/355-jobs-facing-axe-at-toy-chain-modelzone-as-stores-shut-8706093.html

[King Tiger]

Shock suprise horror.

Sell models at higher than RRP
Have terrible online store
Have terrible online customer service
Have terrible sales where we only sell the corgi cars at 50%
Hire shop staff with no interest or knowledge in model making (and in the Bham flagship stores case make sure 2 of them are girls who look 15)

And then people get suprised?
Don't get me wrong I hate seeing model store vanish, we already practically have none, but modelzone has been paving the way to its destruction for years.

[Silent Invader]

Sad news, indeed. Never could get my head around how they could afford those premium sites.  (Do they have any stores not in premium sites?). 

Interestingly, we have what seems to be a thriving art and model store just off of our highstreet.  Downstairs is for the arty types and upstairs for the model makers, with some crossover. It doesn't sell diecast collectibles, 1/6th action figures, pre-painted 54mm or radio control kit.  Maybe there isn't much of a cross sale between model makers (in which I include wargamers) and the latter hobbies, but there seems to be something there for arts and crafts.