Moccasin Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Just now, Rallymatt said: Wait till it’s available in every Sports Direct store! Ugh! A shame they got rid of most of their HoF stores, they’d have been a good place to have a concession. They’ve now got a similar 9% stake in Curry’s and I think they own Game, so maybe they’re considering a collaboration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 I think there could be a revival in the department store, MA has been buying up and investing in a very wide range of brands, the high street is on its knees, rents and values are rock bottom… time to shake it all up again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Fenwick have certainly shown how the department store can work oop north. John Lewis (Bainbridge!) on the other hand have really declined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted February 23 Share Posted February 23 (edited) Waitrose failed in Durham due to poor location. M&S closing its Sunderland city centre store… I do wonder if all the panic about retail is mainly about bad business decisions rather than customers. Back to model shops, how many are quite rubbish really? Edited February 23 by Rallymatt Spell check that isn’t that smart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Yeah there are a lot that could be much better. We’ll have to see if the Fraser’s tie up results in a retail venture as they mooted in their recent reports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted February 24 Author Share Posted February 24 21 hours ago, D9020 Nimbus said: I thought Hornby had got rid of all its concessions? Are Fenwicks still selling non-Hornby model railway items? All non Hornby items have gone. Now only selling Corgi, Humbrol, Airfix, Scalextric & Hornby. They used to sell Bachmann, at the least, and used to have a G? Gauge train shuttling end to end above the stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray-376212 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Nice to hear Fenwicks in Newcastle have TT120 in stock. I'm only a 10 minute drive away so i can inform my family where to go to get my birthday/xmas pressies. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted February 25 Author Share Posted February 25 Just now, Ray-376212 said: Nice to hear Fenwicks in Newcastle have TT120 in stock. I'm only a 10 minute drive away so i can inform my family where to go to get my birthday/xmas pressies. I have thought similar! I think the nearest alternative stockists are TMC near Whitby and Frizinghall in Bradford. It’s a limited stock at Fenwick’s though… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Purely in the interests of research, I ventured into Fenwicks in Newcastle at lunchtime and accidentally bought the ESSO TTA tanker. A couple of observations: there was little sign of much stock being sold since my first visit the shop assistant had to scan a separate "Hornby Service" barcode before scanning the barcode on the box, so I think that confirms that it is indeed a Hornby in-store concession. As I headed back to my office, I noted with a wry smile that buying today was a good plan. The small Fenwicks paper bag gave off strong "Mother's Day present" vibes! 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Until you mentioned Fenwicks, I would never have dreamed of looking in a department store these days for models of any kind. Needs a bigger push to let people know the different Hornby outlets are and who stocks what, EG: everything or Just OO, HM DCC or just TT:120 etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 5 minutes ago, Rallymatt said: Until you mentioned Fenwicks, I would never have dreamed of looking in a department store these days for models of any kind. Needs a bigger push to let people know the different Hornby outlets are and who stocks what, EG: everything or Just OO, HM DCC or just TT:120 etc. It's very unusual and it's hard to find department stores at all these days! Time was when every town would have a Co-op department store. My childhood town's store had a small Hornby selection. Fenwicks show up in the Hornby stockist list but not in the separate TT120 stockists list. If it was me, I'd have simple icons under each stockist showing at a glance what they sold. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 The challenge that faces the hobby not just Hornby, is marketing the hobby to a wider audience, selling to the faithful is a good place to start but long term it needs more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 I think their concession in Fenwicks is ideal - their toy dept is very busy at weekends 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 The traditional way into the hobby is via a train set, usually Hornby. From there the hobby either withers on the vine or grows like Topsy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 They have a few TT120 Scotsman sets and a range of OO sets. It’s actually a decent range, although no models are on show out of their boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 I have said this before, the shop demonstration layout was always a big draw and I think this ‘secret salesman’ has been overlooked in recent years. TT:120 would be ideal to have running to get imaginations fired up. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Yes they used to have one in the store but it disappeared. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 1 hour ago, Moccasin said: Yes they used to have one in the store but it disappeared. Mistake in my view 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted March 8 Share Posted March 8 Just imagine a nice TT:120 layout showing how a model railway could fit in any home situation … especially with epic sounds 😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 As has been said elsewhere, the TT120 layout at the Glasgow show was very popular. Maybe you should offer to build them half a dozen Mini Fells for a fee… 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_watts1 Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 I can remember as a kid, going to Beatties in Sheffield and seeing a steam engine going around the top of the shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happy tt Posted March 9 Share Posted March 9 (edited) I bought a class 92 for £20.00 when david morgans departmant store in cardiff when it closed it was half price . they had a very large box full of them on the shop floor but they were all the same sad as i did not know they sold hornby just past the toy department by luck on that day😊 Edited March 9 by happy tt it made more sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moccasin Posted April 13 Author Share Posted April 13 Popped in to the store today (pushing through lots of very happy Newcastle fans). They have more stock on show, including all three HSTs (DCC ready versions). The executive and GWR versions were showing and I must have accidentally moved them around so that the GWR was at the back and the Blue/Grey & executive version on view at the front. How careless of me. 🤷🏻♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rallymatt Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 Probably a wise move Peter….. we don’t talk about GWR on this side 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irishmail Posted April 13 Share Posted April 13 On 08/03/2024 at 15:19, Moccasin said: It's very unusual and it's hard to find department stores at all these days! Time was when every town would have a Co-op department store. My childhood town's store had a small Hornby selection. Fenwicks show up in the Hornby stockist list but not in the separate TT120 stockists list. If it was me, I'd have simple icons under each stockist showing at a glance what they sold. I remember the old Co-op in Luton back in the day. must have been late 1970's they had a big, well it seemed big to me at the time toy department with lots of Hornby stuff. My mum would sometimes get me a few items with the old Co-op stamps, anyone remember them? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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