Let's assume that one day things return to normal and model shops can re-open. I suspect there will have been a bit of a shakeup. Some people will have retired. Some won't have been able to take advantage of the mail-order boom during lockdown and run out of cash.
Others will be looking to grow, or maybe simply start from scratch.
The perceived wisdom is that model shops need to be on the high street, but that's going to be far too expensive. Rents are high and business rates aren't going to go down if the government is to pay off the biggest debt since WW2.
Allow me to suggest an alternative.
Around the country, there are mini-shopping precincts, like this on near me and two others within 10 minutes walk. Built at a time when little, local shops were very much a thing, most struggle to fill the units. Here we have a general store/newsagent, dry cleaner and that's about it.
Once upon a time, there was an excellent tropical fish shop and that's the model to follow. This sho was so good that people would happily travel to it. Closure only came about because the owners were made an offer they couldn't refuse, and decided working 7 days a week wasn't so appealing after many years.
But it would be perfect for a model shop. Out the front we have plenty of free parking. 2 minutes walk away, a bus stop. It's not hard to find. There would even be a little passing trade. Whitnash is a small town with a moderatly affluent population and I'm sure as high a percentage of modellers and crafters as anywhere else.
But who wants this shop unit? People go to supermarkets for the main food shop now. Specialist shops like butchers and bakers can't make this sort of place pay thanks to Tesco and co.
Obviously, you don't rely on people through the door - the shop would need a mail order side, but there is enough space for the shop staff to pack items as well as serve the customers. If either side becomes too busy, you take on more people. And maybe the unit next door.
Just a thought...
3 comments:
Phil, I think you might be on to something with this.
Some of my favourite model shops are in similar locations. The one most like your suggestion is Morris Models in North Lancing. Others that spring to mind are Roxley Models in Bookham and Kent Garden Railways near Orpington (who did actually expand into the shop next door).
The HiFi retailer Richer Sounds has made a very successful business out of having small shops in "secondary" locations and offering excellent service. The key seems to be, as you mentioned, creating somewhere that people will seek out to visit. With the added benefit of easy parking.
It could be argued that the new Kernow shop in Guildford also falls into this category, it's a fair old walk from the High Street.
Who knows, we may yet see the return of the local model shop.
Excellent idea. When I lived in Colchester there was a corner shop that had been there when the estate was built in an area of Victorian terrace houses and on another corner a small builders yard and in the next road, a pub.
Now I live in the small town of Halesworth in Suffolk a few miles from Southwold on the east coast. It has a short pedestrianised road with several independant shops including two greengrocers, an art supply shop, three charity shops (of course), a stationers, printers, three coffee shops, a deli and many more plus two pubs and a Toymaster thats sells Hornby boxed sets and can order individaul items as well. There is a group that had started on trying to reinstate the Halesworth Southwold narrow gauge railway.
I thought of Morris Models too, looks just like that, with the advantage of being just off a main road. Sussex Model Centre (no trains) is also on a busy road but we'll out of town with free parking. Gaugemaster use an out of town industrial unit, though that is more than a model shop I suppose. Come to think of it, when I was a kid Hattons was a small shop on a busy road into Liverpool, so maybe this isn't a new idea!
Post a Comment