Hattons to close (now closed).

[threelink]

Hattons appear to have been completely open in their statement and one cannot feel anything but regret that another famous name has seen the writing on the wall and pulled out. Yes, inflation, manufacturers' direct sales, world politics or whatever is driving up the cost of everything including toy trains - sorry, model railways. I have been banging on about this for years. I just hope that the manufacturers will wake up to the fact that not everyone wants all-singing all-dancing fragile and hugely expensive museum standard models. Until they do, people like me will continue to indulge ourselves in much cheaper stock by doing what the name of this hobby suggests - modelling. As my old ma used to tell me "If you can't afford to buy what you want or no-one makes it, make it yourself". The approach works and no-one need go without. Apart from the odd kit, I cannot remember when I last bought anything new. I just buy rubbish and refurbish/detail it. If I can do it, anyone can. I would love to buy from retailers and manufacturers but the manufacturers do not make what I want: they aim their elite products at a small class of customer - those with disposable income who can afford high prices and like opening boxes.

[Brew Man]

Very sad news indeed. The vast majority of my collection was bought from Hattons, and although there is the likes of Rails and one or two others offering similar prices, I've always been happy with the Service I got from Hattons. I'll miss them. I thought it a bit odd that their daily pre-owned section has been very much diminished this last couple of weeks. Thought it was just post-Christmas quiet time.

BTW, I got an email from TMC earlier that contained a very touching tribute.

[Bulleidboy]

Yes I agree the TMC tribute was very nicely worded.

[Tony57]

Hi

It is sad news about Hattons closing I sort of wondered if they expanded to much, like buying pre loved collections, having looked at the number of newish locomotives with missing / broken parts, rough running motors and wobbly running gear that were not moving of the shelves, must have put a strain on the cash flow.

Who knows they may reopen as a much smaller venture.

[gilbo2]

Such a shame, that's 3 traders that I use/d gone in 12m. Its not sustainable!

[Bexhill Donkey]

The last thing I pre-ordered from Hatton's was the class 800 Azuma 5-car set. The pre-order price was cheaper than anywhere else and it sold out almost immediately, and I consider myself lucky! I found Hatton's useful for other things like tins of Humbrol and point motors. I shall miss Hatton's!

I think the mistake Hatton's made was the move to Widnes, since had they stayed in Liverpool, they could have fallen back on their passing trade. With the focus on mail order, they were vulnerable to international shipping costs.

The observation made by the contributor above about the ageing population of modellers must surely be valid! With the focus on high-definition models for well-to-do collectors, it is too difficult for youngsters to build a collection.

Model trains have never been cheap. There was always a huge markup in the model shop. But that's true of retailing generally, and that's why so many high street shops have been forced to close.

It is difficult for modellers contributing to this forum to offer any business plan that the manufacturers and retailers could follow. However, I think the idea of reproducing Triang sets is a good one. Although Triang got into financial trouble, the basic idea was sound. Triang was a plastic toy manufacturer, whereas Hornby Dublo was a die-cast and tinplate specialist with high production costs.

Probably what Hornby should do is produce a range of cheap plastic stations, buildings, and bridges, that can easily be put together to make a layout. Together with a range of train sets, of course. What do you think?

 

[AndyMac1707817969]

I don't think the solution to anything is cheap plastic stations. With fixed costs being the same for low and high value items, cheap anything just means you have to sell a lot more to make the same amount of money.

Hattons most likely choose to move to Widness as like other large retailers like Rails of Sheffield they have a separate warehouse for online stuff it’s not stored at their shop. Running 2 premises when 90% or more of your business goes though one especially when running costs of a warehouse are a lot less expensive than a high street shop.

This will have come down to a simple lack of sales and not warning to run up huge debts trying to trade through something that has no end in sight. Sales took a drastic downturn in the summer of 2023 and apart from Christmas there is little sign of them recovering. Businesses often fold in the New Year having hoped that Christmas may have seen a change in their fortunes.

As with trains, buses and shops, people don't use them when they are there and then lament them when they disappear.

 

I would see Accurascale take on the Genesis Coaches and produce another run of them as they can sell the Irish ones under their Irish railway Models brand.

[What About The Bee]

Hello Bexhill Donkey

I do believe that the "Railroad Range" offered by Hornby is overtly stated to be the entry point to starting modelers.

So much so that during the 2024 Range Announcement, Mike explicitly stated that. Now most in the audience were likely not beginners. But the audience may have children and/or grandchildren and the idea of a gift is planted.

Bee

[SteveM6]

I thought they already did that?

For what it’s worth, I would presume that the powers that be at Hattons have seen the writing on the wall for their current business model and have been astute enough to call it a day rather than just soldier on in an ever tightening spiral of inevitable decline.

[moawkwrd]

Probably what Hornby should do is produce a range of cheap plastic stations, buildings, and bridges, that can easily be put together to make a layout. Together with a range of train sets, of course. What do you think?

 

 

Err, Hornby have always had those items and still do right now. If you adjust the prices for inflation to 10, 20, 30 years ago they really haven’t changed much.

 

 

The current freightmaster set for £170 for example, equates to £32 back in 1978. The BR Express Freight set from that year was launched with a price of… £34.75! But you did get a crossing and some other bits in the box.

 

 

Whilst some more expensive items have come through in recent years for sure, a lot of the price rises that people talk of in the hobby are entirely in their own heads. All hobbies are relatively expensive and especially subject to pressures during tightening economic conditions.

 

 

Some of the items launched today are positively bargains in comparison, a sound fitted Bluetooth Class 47 for a smidgen over £100? Yes please!

[Aldebaran]

Dear friends and model train enthusiasts,

today I learned some news from YouTube which for me and many of you is sad news.I have been a customer of Hattons since 1998 when I ordered the trains via fax. I have followed the vicissitudes and family deaths as well as the growth of a company that has become one of the most esteemed companies in the world for seriousness, competence, precision and kindness of the people who work there. they work.My thanks and affectionate thoughts are addressed to Mrs Christine Hattons and all her employees for the courtesy with which I have always been served.If this company, more than many others, has been able to overcome the difficulties caused by Brexit (I remember that my orders with DHL have always arrived within 24 hours from Liverpool to Genoa) unfortunately it has been unable to do anything about the economic crisis that the European continent is experiencing.The cost of living has grown exponentially after the Covid crisis and in particular due to the war in Ukraine.I try to evade problems by taking refuge in my passion shared by many of you but unfortunately we live in times of epochal changes in the balance of the world and this affects the well-being of families and consequently on our ability to spend on luxury goods.I hope that someone from Hattons can read this message of sincere gratitude and esteem and good luck to all those who will have to look for new employment.

Alberto (Aldebaran)

Genoa

[VESPA]

60 years ago I first visited Hattons in Smithdown Road with Old Mr Norman Hatton. as time crept on he knew I was collecting Hornby Dublo and would put some items to one side to see if I was interested. I got a brand new 3 rail Diesel Shunter boxed with tested tags for £3 but refused a boxed as new 6 wheel brake van for £110.

[atom3624]

Was that a full sized brake van? !! 60 years ago that could buy a used Jag Mk.II 3.4 (I would scour the Echo classifieds then ask my Dad why he didn't get a Jag instead of the Austin 1100 .... !!

I remember that blasted pipe Norm was always smoking as well.

Al.

[Rana Temporia]

I have been thinking about this (as you do) and although I do have some fond memories of Hattons from being younger and looking at what bargains they had in the January Railway Modeller or MRC to spend Christmas money on, or on the odd occasion going on a visit to Liverpool to actually go in the shop my current thoughts are wider for the hobby.

Like a lot of the ‘box shifters’ Hattons SPENT a lot of money in advertising with the modelling press. Putting out your own fairly chunky advertising magazine within other publications can’t have been cheap and that money helped support the overall communications and viability of railway modelling. I assume it paid off for Hattons but now that source of income has gone is there anything else to fill the gap? Advertising pays for a lot of the cost of publications and without Hattons can all the current titles survive? Railway Modeller has survived through bad times before but other magazines haven’t been so lucky (or popular/well managed).

Hattons also supported the hobby with their models manufactured by others, providing income across the hobby. Their statements have been extremely supportive of other shops, both large and small and are a credit to them.

I have just seen SOT’s post on Warley, is this a further indication of what’s to come. I hope not.

[The son of Triangman]

I fear more will follow, some will be big names. I hope it isn't the case RT.

[sxbiker]

This is unfortunate to say the least. Recently I had purchased very few items from Hatton's as their prices for used items were far to expensive, particularly when they had faults. Additionally because they let me down on pre-orders that I placed, where they oversold their allocation, but not letting me know until the models were released and they didn't have the stock to meet all of the pre-orders. By which time items were sold out everywhere. Until then I had used them exclusively, over a 3 year period I spent more than £9K with them.

So I decided to only use them when they had the items actually in stock except their "own manufactured" items. All my pre-orders were then placed with Hornby direct. With my club discount the price was about the same as the big box shifters in general.

So will I miss them, well yes, but not a lot.

[81F]

Sadly I have a few rakes of coaches on order due to arrive this month so will need to ring them to see how I stand as I wouldn't want to pre-order from another supplier and end up with two lots! However, I suspect everyone else will have sold out on pre-order.

I also need to find out which of the Genisis coaches I will still receive, thankfully about half are in the batch they said they were still going to supply.

However, I can appreciate how Brexit has messed things up as it has prevented my 3D printing page ever becoming a viable business

[The son of Triangman]

Sorry to hear about your 3D printing page, 81F. It sounded very promising.

[Pretoy]

Hi,

I would like to add some comments on the closure of Hattons as I have dealt with Hattons for some 45 to 50 years and in that time spent quite a bit of money with them.

I was sorry to learn about the closure of Hattons as it was like losing a friend and at the end of the day, I had no complaints as their customer service was spot on. I never had any cause to complain to Hattons as my orders arrived in one piece from the UK to Australia all the year`s I purchased from them. The one thing I don't understand as to why Christine Hatton sold the majority of Hattons off and by doing so lost total control of Hattons and there lies a problem. I started and ran a small business many years ago and under no circumstances would I ever entertain the idea of giving someone else total control of the business I had built up and especially if it had been handed down to me by my father and under no circumstances would I even get out of bed or go to work for 21% stake holding as I believe Christine Hatton was left with. In all fairness to Christine Hatton, it would have been a big load to carry coping with the loss of her brother and then to take on the day to day running of Hattons, not being across all the facts as too why that has happened. I'm at a loss as to why.

When I found out about Hattons closure, I had a look at you tube Sam's Trains and Jenny Kirk interview with Richard Davies and to me, the interview with Rishard Davies did not do anything for me, if anything it left me with more questions than answers, something was not just right. I had a another look around you tube a couple days later for answers and found on you tube, Dongits Model Railways and watched his comments and that got me thinking as too what he was saying as something just did not add up with Richard Davies interview and he puts it there as an elephant in the room, I say there is a whole herd in the room as I'm in agreeance with him.

The last comment by me in this post is what my wife found on the internet about Hattons in a forum in the US, the forum being The MRH Forum (Model Railway Hobbyist) and some of the comments about Hattons moving their operation from the UK to the US and rebranding Hattons as the Model Train Stuff as this business in the US was bought by Hattons and also they had acquired a warehouse a couple a year ago in the US. The Model Train Stuff has an ad in the Model Railroader, page 31 December 2023 issue.

The mind boggles or I'm dreaming all this or maybe I've just fallen off the planet in relation to Hattons in the US, I just don't know what is going on in relation to Hattons in the US.

I'm not going to go into all MRH forum comments as you can read this for yourself.

Put this in a google search exactly as follows: Hattons Closure, Model Railway Hobbyist and then find MRH Forum and click onto this and read all the comments, it works as I have tried this a few times.

I hope someone can shine some light on Hattons in the US as only through dialogue can we understand what is going on.

Regards,

Glenn

[Yelrow]

Model Train Stuff, currently not accepting orders, and site static. This poses 2 thoughts. Are they closing like Hattons, or are they stocking up/ reorganising as new Hattons. I suspect, the former.. Time will tell.

[moawkwrd]

I don’t see why they’d rebrand the US business. Surely the existing Model Train Stuff is more well known than Hattons was in the US?

[Yelrow]

Curious though, one shutting, and US one not taking orders.

[Rallymatt]

Although Hattons may have acquired a US company, the US one will trade independently with its own accounts etc, that could be why it’s not operational.

[atom3624]

Any ideas what the family will be looking into next, or quite simply 'moving out of the game'?

Al.

[Bulleidboy]

It was announced in September of 2023 that M.B. Klein had been acquired by Hattons. A representative from Hattons has issued the following statement to Model Railroader regarding the future of Model Train Stuff:

“At this present time, the company is undergoing reorganization and we will share further news as to the outcome of this in due course. Hattons does own M.B. Klein; However, the two companies are operated as separate entities.”

Since the announcement of Hattons closure, the status of Model Train Stuff’s website changed to reflect the current status of the company. A statement on their homepage reads: “We have stopped accepting orders, pending a company reorganization.

Customer service agents are still available to handle order queries.

We will provide more information as soon as it is available.”

Originally founded in 1913 as a hardware store known as M.B. Klein, the company has since evolved into a model train distributor operating out of Maryland.

The exact date of Hattons closure is not known yet, but an announcement is expected in the coming weeks.

RDS Mod Note: In view of the fact that this post was held for Moderator approval, I can only assume it must have had some form of image originally - but there was no image in it, just a lot of blank space in the middle.