Hattons is Closing Down

[SCH117X]

I had an email a couple of weeks ago saying they were about to commission the latest Genesis coaches and I would not be able to change my order for a lighting board. Today I get a email saying my pre order has been cancelled. I expect those tooling of those coaches along with the Andrew Barclay and P locos will find a new home, like the Class 66 has gone to Accurascale.

 

[Brian Read]

I used to travel down to Smithdown Road shop a few times, & have a nosey at what they have in stock, normally end up buying a model bus or 2, i remember paying a visit one day to find out they closed the shop, & moved to a warehouse in Widnes.

I too travelled up to Smithdown Road in the sixties for some bargains.
Interestingly, in New Mexico there is a shop called Hattons Hobbies - with Hattons logo - but Hattons (UK) say nothing to do with them.
I have been trying to contact the New Mexico shop for several days both by their "contact us" facility which just sticks after "Submit", and by e-mail to which I await a reply............................................

 

[4COR]

If you've pre-ordered, it should transfer to Rails of Sheffield.

I was under the impression that you actively have to go and pre-order with Rails - the email I got today says:

Hello 4COR

We’re contacting you today as you have outstanding pre-orders with us that we will no longer be able to fulfill due to our forthcoming closure.

Your pre-orders are currently still in place on our system but we intend to start removing these in the coming days.

Our friends at Rails of Sheffield are on-hand to accept pre-orders for any items that we will no longer be able to supply to you.

You can also find local or alternative stockists on most manufacturer websites:
<snipped>

(Already gone over and re-done my pre-order for the Rapido Stroudley E1...)

 

[SCH117X]

Just a tip on ordering Derails are one of the few who test run a loco before despatch. Never had a faulty loco supplied by them in contrast with Rails. Derails do however charge a non-refundable deposit on pre-orders. They like Kernow do a points system where by you get 1 point per pound spent and each point is worthy a penny off a future order. Also they offer a post free service on orders over £20.

 

[Ted633]

I was under the impression that you actively have to go and pre-order with Rails - the email I got today says:



(Already gone over and re-done my pre-order for the Rapido Stroudley E1...)

Ah yes, you're correct. My mistake, mis read the email

 

[Gloster]

I wonder if this is going to be the first of a small wave of closures as a number of locations throw in the towel. I would suspect that the ones most likely to be hit are the really big ones that have, quite simply, overreached themselves by becoming ‘super stores’, and are too reliant on large numbers of expensive purchases, and smaller ones that have a limited stock and cater mainly to the train-set market. The survivors will be the ones that serve both the train-set lot, but also have a reasonable range of specialist bits and bobs that will be bought by the more discerning modeller, if I may use the expression. Not that any are safe: the long-established Morris Models in Lancing closed recently.

 

[Islineclear3_1]

If you've pre-ordered, it should transfer to Rails of Sheffield.

Really? That's good

 

[REVUpminster]

Sad news. I can remember when seaside towns all had a model railway shop. Torquay lost theirs 30 years ago (retirement) though Paignton still going.

London used to have a lot. Don't know who's left?

 

[Ted633]

Really? That's good

I was mistaken. They should honour it, but you need to contact Rails to sort it out

 

[Sun Chariot]

the long-established Morris Models in Lancing closed recently.

That's a great shame. I bought a loco from them a few months ago; their service was excellent.

Morris' website explains the closure is due to (well deserved) retirement.

 

[Andyh82]

I’ve not got any model trains but I do have model buses and have shopped from Hattons in the past but not for quite a number of years.

Obviously we don’t know how big the bus side was for them, but the whole model bus industry seemed to decline overnight in the mid 2010s

Many manufacturers went bust, others vastly reduced the number of releases and now you’re looking at less than 10 models per year. The prices had steadily increased from £10-£15 in the 90s to more like £25-£30 but then they seemed to skyrocket to about £60 in one go

So there are hardly any releases meaning none may interest the collector and then they are so expensive you’d have to think hard and be really selective as well

It must be hard to try and run a model shop business on this basis

 

[GatwickDepress]

Personally unsurprised. I, and most people I know, avoided using the Hattons site because it was clunky and most of their stock (especially pre-owned) was overpriced. Failure to innovate and loss of Bachmann must have gradually eroded customer numbers. Glad they didn't go insolvent though, as this implies all is not lost for model retailers.

One really weird price was a pre-owned Kato carriage at £73. You could pick up an identical brand new item for less than £20 elsewhere.

I can't deny that I got a few decent bargains from Hattons over the years though.

 

[Brian Read]

When I disposed of a lot of 00 stuff I rang a few outlets and Hattons were brilliant, offered me more than twice the offer price from Rails!

 

[SCH117X]

I do wonder how much money they made overcharging for some items. A classic from around 20 years ago was the then new Farish by Bachmann mineral wagons. The list price was £4.75 (shows how long ago it was) and most sellers were knocking 50p off that but Hattons had them at £5 each

 

[Russel]

This is sad news, despite living in the Midlands, I've made a few trips up to Liverpool over the years just to visit the Hatton's shop on the corner of Penny Lane.

Sad news. I can remember when seaside towns all had a model railway shop. Torquay lost theirs 30 years ago (retirement) though Paignton still going.

London used to have a lot. Don't know who's left?

Filey had one a couple of years ago, not sure if it's still open.

 

[61653 HTAFC]

I guess the Accurascale Class 31's won't be arriving in time...

I've assumed not, and cancelled my pre-order with Hatton's as per their instructions. Luckily TMC still had that example (the /4 in blue) available so I've reordered from there. I did consider switching to the RR one, but those are sold out on pre-order.

Speaking of which, TMC have a January Sale on at the moment- we did have a thread for sales announcements but it seems to have dropped way down the forum and been locked.

 

[Giugiaro]

... we did have a thread for sales announcements but it seems to have dropped way down the forum and been locked.

Creating a new thread and having it pinned to the top could solve the issue.

BTW, for international customers, which shops are tax-free besides Hattons?

 

[REVUpminster]

Passed the Paignton Model Shop and it has a retirement sale. Nothing on the website.

 

[Bevan Price]

In the past few years, model railway equipment prices seem to have increased way above the rate of inflation. With many "00" guage locos now costing well over £200, they have become mostly unaffordable to me.
Even coach prices seem to have more than doubled in the last 5-10 years. Maybe that has started to affect sales of models.

 

[REVUpminster]

In the past few years, model railway equipment prices seem to have increased way above the rate of inflation. With many "00" guage locos now costing well over £200, they have become mostly unaffordable to me.
Even coach prices seem to have more than doubled in the last 5-10 years. Maybe that has started to affect sales of models.

I think it has when I looked at prices yesterday. I need a money from Restoring Your Railway to rebuild my model railway some of which came from Hattons.

 

[75A]

After retiring and then moving to a bungalow with a huge garage (6 cars) I thought about going back to a 00 layout but found the prices obscene, so my Scalextric (karts not cars) circuit has expanded and is not far short of becoming as long as the real thing. A top quality Italian brand model costs around £50.

 

[Giugiaro]

Meanwhile, "Model Train Stuff" in the USA, recently bought by Hattons, also has this on their website:

 

[Sun Chariot]

Meanwhile, "Model Train Stuff" in the USA, recently bought by Hattons, also has this on their website:

View attachment 151003

That's a great shame. I have used them over the years for my collection of HO Rio Grande - Southern Paxific merger roster. Prices and service have been faultless.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 24 Jan 2024 ==

.... my Scalextric (karts not cars) circuit has expanded and is not far short of becoming as long as the real thing.

I am envious . In the mid-80s, my uncle handed down his Scalextric collection, to my brother and I. A good 100ft of track, a fascinating mix of cars - 1950s-60s racing cars and grand tourers. It spent more time in the loft than in use; and my parents gave it all away about 30 years ago,during a big clear out. I regret that now...

 

[Titfield]

In the past few years, model railway equipment prices seem to have increased way above the rate of inflation. With many "00" guage locos now costing well over £200, they have become mostly unaffordable to me.
Even coach prices seem to have more than doubled in the last 5-10 years. Maybe that has started to affect sales of models.

I wonder if it is just that the total gross spend by railway modellers has simply declined to the point that it can no longer support a large distribution network of "model shops" given that manufacturers sell direct.

 

[Ianigsy]

If you look at the trends in railway modelling at the moment, the direction seems to be towards micro-layouts, OO9, TT120 and ready to run O - smaller layouts with fewer, better quality locos rather than branch lines filling the spare room. Somebody must be buying all these £200+ locos though!

 

[YorkshireBear]

Meanwhile, "Model Train Stuff" in the USA, recently bought by Hattons, also has this on their website:

View attachment 151003

Strange that they bought them less than 6 months ago only to wind it up.

Surely they knew of their difficulties before embarking on this purchase or was this possibly one of the nails?

Seperately I did not know about the bachman issue, like others said that must have hurt them. I only used hattons sporadically but suppose as long as rails stays afloat I will use them!

 

[devon_belle]

If you look at the trends in railway modelling at the moment, the direction seems to be towards micro-layouts, OO9, TT120 and ready to run O - smaller layouts with fewer, better quality locos rather than branch lines filling the spare room. Somebody must be buying all these £200+ locos though!

Don't forget N gauge, which by many accounts I've heard is actually growing in terms of sales. Some attribute this to smaller houses.

 

[Giugiaro]

Strange that they bought them less than 6 months ago only to wind it up.

Yesterday they announced the full closure. So everything is up in the air, including how the Hattons debacle impacted the future of Model Train Stuff.

Don't forget N gauge, which by many accounts I've heard is actually growing in terms of sales. Some attribute this to smaller houses.

I have a lot to talk about that since I converted to N two years ago.

 

[Sad Sprinter]

London used to have a lot. Don't know who's left?

All I know is Janes Trains in Tooting, in the most awkward part of Tooting, is still open and one in Sidcup. Sadly the citadel that was Modelzone in Holborn closed 10 years ago.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Jan 2024 ==

If you look at the trends in railway modelling at the moment, the direction seems to be towards micro-layouts, OO9, TT120 and ready to run O - smaller layouts with fewer, better quality locos rather than branch lines filling the spare room. Somebody must be buying all these £200+ locos though!

Yes this is true. Most of the articles in Railway Modeller are like that, dioramas mostly. Lots of shunting layouts, tramway layouts or shed layouts now seem to take up the magazine.

 

[devon_belle]

London used to have a lot. Don't know who's left?

Northfields Model Shop is still open but the owner is in fairly poor health and the shop is a little out of hand. It is overrun with stock (a lot of it bought 15 years ago when the shop opened and never sold) which makes browsing - or even maneuvering - quite challenging.

The shop is covered floor to ceiling in models and games, sometimes two or three layers thick. The owner estimates that this is only a small fraction of the total amount, as he has a basement to the shop and a large garage at home. Sadly it is effectively uncatalogued and he relies on his memory, which he will admit fails him on many items.

He has been getting auction houses to take a few van fulls (which hasn't made a dent) but he has not yet started this on any of the model trains. There isn't a huge amount for me (as an N gauge fan), but I still picked up some rare gems from him which I noticed on a shelf. He is also a stockist of Bachmann etc, which means he has ordered and sold me a number of items which I wished to 'pre order'. Despite the state of the shop, he's a lovely gent who treats his customers with respect and humility in my experience.

I know that the shop will be closed from tomorrow for at least 6 weeks while the he recovers from a major surgery.