Hattons closing

End of an era. I picked up a few things at around 11pm yesterday but there wasn't much left.
Only item suitable for G scale which I needed was some smoke fluid.
 
It was mentioned in the Coffee room yesterday - somebody said they blamed Hornby.

I have to say that it is 'strange' how Hornby have, in recent years, doubled-up on models manufactured by some of the smaller concerns.

Hattons announced their Genesis range of 4w/6w coaches, and Hornby brought theirs out at just the same time.

Class 71 electric locos were similar, and there have been others steam locos that have landed at the same time as other manufacturers - coincidence, or what? :mm::mm:

I wonder how much this impacted on Hattons' decision? :think::think:
 
This has affected one of the retailers in the US as well - MB Klein - that Hattons acquired a number of years ago. They had been around for 60+ years as well.
 
Rhinochugger said:
It was mentioned in the Coffee room yesterday - somebody said they blamed Hornby.

I have to say that it is 'strange' how Hornby have, in recent years, doubled-up on models manufactured by some of the smaller concerns.

Hattons announced their Genesis range of 4w/6w coaches, and Hornby brought theirs out at just the same time.

Class 71 electric locos were similar, and there have been others steam locos that have landed at the same time as other manufacturers - coincidence, or what? :mm::mm:

I wonder how much this impacted on Hattons' decision? :think::think:
Click to expand...
I wonder if the same Chinese factory made approaches to other retailers when they suddenly had a 'new' product available?

There is form for Chinese factories turning out models for more than one retailer..

PhilP
 
PhilP said:
I wonder if the same Chinese factory made approaches to other retailers when they suddenly had a 'new' product available?

There is form for Chinese factories turning out models for more than one retailer..

PhilP
Click to expand...
That is certainly possible, but if that's the case, Hornby clearly didn't have the interests of the hobby at heart.

OK, they're a commercial entity, but if they had real commercial brains they would have worked out that a healthy hobby market would provide them with the best opportunity for profit. So while there's competition, in a comparatively limited market there's no sense in going head to head.

Look at Heljan - they've looked for the gaps, and filled them - very effectively :nod::nod: both for the hobbyist and their profits ;);)
 
Personally I find the reasons which Hattons have listed in their statement make sense.
- Aging demographic = shrinking demand and plentiful secondhand supply as the affluent boomer generation dies off.
- Supply chain shocks (pandemic, Russian invasion of Ukraine) driving costs up. In common with most sectors.
- Compliance costs of exporting to the EU which have gone through the roof since Brexit. Hattons had more European business than most.
If they wanted to blame Hornby they could have at this point with some choice words about manufacturers in general - they've nothing to lose. But they haven't.
 
I seem to recall in one of the editions of a series looking at Hornby on ITV(?) at a rpesnettion by Hornby of there new planned range one of the independet shops represented had a go at them over coyping other people's ideas and more or less accused them of trying to put them out of business.
 
It seems to me that Hatton's decision is yet another outcome of the Global Flu-19 Pandemic. The way in which discretionary spending by individuals occurs has changed in a huge number of retail market sectors. The retail business models that used to work well in the past are now struggling to support continued operation in very different times.

As far as G scale goes it doesn't appear to me that it would make much difference, as I never found anything much on Hatton's web site that was of much interest.
 
Rhinochugger said:
It was mentioned in the Coffee room yesterday - somebody said they blamed Hornby.

I have to say that it is 'strange' how Hornby have, in recent years, doubled-up on models manufactured by some of the smaller concerns.

Hattons announced their Genesis range of 4w/6w coaches, and Hornby brought theirs out at just the same time.

Class 71 electric locos were similar, and there have been others steam locos that have landed at the same time as other manufacturers - coincidence, or what? :mm::mm:

I wonder how much this impacted on Hattons' decision? :think::think:
Click to expand...
Probably not a coincidence, just that both Hattons and Hornby have independently done decent market research and identified there's potential demand for those models.
Not unusual. VW producing a Golf doesn't mean Toyota won't produce a Corolla.
I'd have thought the legal, financial and reputational risks for Hornby of carrying out industrial espionage, even if it's in China, far outweigh any commercial advantage.
 
playmofire said:
I seem to recall in one of the editions of a series looking at Hornby on ITV(?) at a rpesnettion by Hornby of there new planned range one of the independet shops represented had a go at them over coyping other people's ideas and more or less accused them of trying to put them out of business.
Click to expand...
Sure - small businesses generally don't like it when big ones come in, copy their concept and undercut them. E.g. craft brewers, independent coffee shops, high-end chocolatiers being aped by budget supermarkets.
But Hornby have done anything illegal?
 
notofthiscenturyTim said:
Probably not a coincidence, just that both Hattons and Hornby have independently done decent market research and identified there's potential demand for those models.
Not unusual. VW producing a Golf doesn't mean Toyota won't produce a Corolla.
I'd have thought the legal, financial and reputational risks for Hornby of carrying out industrial espionage, even if it's in China, far outweigh any commercial advantage.
Click to expand...
To my mind, there have been too many for coincidence or simply market research.

Just look at TT120. Just a few weeks after Peco launched their brands (not that Peco products are mainly in direct competition with any manufacturer) Honby launched their TT range, but also labelled it TT120, and then, at the National Model Railway Exhibition, went to great lengths to try and make it exclusive - for example, it was displayed in an ante-room, and access was only permitted if you signed up (for free) to the TT120 club. While Peco welcomed other manufacturers to joint the TT120 venture, Heljan reviewed an earlier interest after Honrby tried to corner the UK scene.

Whether they have played fair or not, I'm not a lover of their past approach - could just be something personal; I'm not on a crusade :shake::shake:
 
I have tried to buy from them in the past, but whenever I have followed up a search on an item on the internet the Hatton's link has always led to the item but shown it to be out of stock.
 
Hattons seemed to be a ‘pile it high, sell it cheep’ retailer that needed high volumes of sales to make a profit, and there is nothing wrong with that approach. But the main market is in OO scale and that has changed considerably; models now are far more detailed and cost a lot more, which together with the rising cost of living means modellers are buying less, especially the high value items such as locos. In addition, short runs with lots of pre-ordering seem the norm for locos. Taken together this means the ‘pile it high, sell it cheap’ market has reduced considerably. Furthermore, some OO modellers are replacing their old locos and stock with new superdetailed ones, resulting in plenty of second hand bargains for those who don’t want to (or can’t afford) the new expensive ,odels.
 
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