The (Continuing) Decline of Hannants of Colindale

[McGreig]

About a year ago we had a thread about the perceived decline of Hannants of Colindale.

Well, I went with my 7 year old son to the RAF Museum at Hendon at the weekend and took the opportunity to pop into Hannants. I was stunned by the appearance of the shop which looks as if it is in a fairly terminal decline.

The stock they had when they became a franchise and first moved into the new site was a lot less than they had had in the original Colindale shop but what they have now isn't even a decent fraction of that!

And the kits I was looking for weren't particularly exotic – the new Trumpeter J-20, the new Amodel L2D3/4 Tabby, and some of the smaller stock kits from the Amodel and AZ ranges, but they didn't have a single one. Even three months ago they at least seemed to have a reasonable supply of the newer kits.

The chap at the counter (not the manager) suggested that the last couple of years had been slow and that they weren't getting customers because modellers are using up their stashes in the recession. Which is fair enough except that:

My local ModelZone in Bromley may take a frustratingly long time to get some new items into stock and may have a very restricted range of kits, but the shop is well stocked (even if I'm not interested in most of it) and the staff are friendly and helpful, and

The Aviation Hobby Shop at West Drayton actually seems to have improved tremendously over the same period as Hannant's Colindale decline. As other people have said, TAHS used to be a book/magazine shop with kits but the range of kits has expanded greatly and the service is friendly.

I know that I won't be going back to Colindale but has anyone else been in recently? Am I just imagining it or is it really getting steadily worse? And if so, why?

[NARSES2]

Must admit that I was very disapointed last time I popped in a couple of months ago. I went in to look at the more non mainstream lines - AZ, A-Model, MPM et al - and they had very, very few. Havn't been back since, very sad.

As for TAHS I always considered it to be a book shop with a few kits. May have to take another look, havn't been for 5 years or so.

Chris

[lenny100]

I dont think is just the shop, the website is getting no better, a lot of stuff is unavalable now which can be found in modelzone most days!

[Martin H]

Lenny, the website is unconnected to the Hendon shop.
The boys at Colindale are only a franchise, and apparently are treated as any other trade customer by Hannants-Lowestoft. They get no special treatment.

[Nick]

I do pop into Colindale a few times a year to get some Xtracrylix paints and some brushes but as you say, it's not got better.

For them to survive I think they need to find the money to make a fresh new start -
Drop the Hannants name/franchise. Whatever they're paying for it isn't worth it.
Move to a new smaller unit in the housing estate near the station so people can pop in before going to the RAF Museum.
Expand into Warhammer, railways, racing cars and radio control tanks/aircraft etc. They are probably the only pure model shop I know of in this country outside of museums.
Develop their own website and online sales.

Trouble is I don't think that they have the funds to do any of this.

I haven't been to TAHS for 7 or 8 years now as it is rather out of the way for me. Maybe I'll make a trip there just before Christmas.

[kitnut617]

I read sometime ago when Hannants announced when they were closing the old Colindale that the new shop wasn't part of their network.  It's a pity that it's roping the 'real' Hannants down with it.

[Martin H]

The last time I was in the area I popped in for a quick look around. On this occasion I took my mate Clive.

The staff were very rude from the outset and told (not asked) me to leave my bag at the counter before I was allowed in to the shop.

Hence if I am in the area again, they will not get my business.

The attitude of the staff was as much a problem with the old shop as well.
If you wernt one of their mates, god help you if you dained to disturb their "private" conversation. And asked one of them to move away from the counter to open up one of the cabinets where the resin kits were stored/displayed.

Sounds like some of the old surly habits may have resurfaced.

[PR19_Kit]

I agree 100% with OGL, the only good thing about the old shop was the massive stocks they held.

But trying to actually BUY one of them required the patience of a saint and the constitution of a rhino! It was almost as if customers were there to provide an reason for the 'assistants' to spend their time chatting and reviewing kits! The attitude at the Big Green Hangar in Oulton Broad is totally different, they'll go out of their way to help you find stuff.

[NARSES2]

Must admit I've had no trouble with the staff at the "new" Hannants, just the lack of stock.

The old store was a pia, with the exception of Jay Laverty when he was working there, especially as Martin says if you wanted to get at something out of the ordinary. Mind you I do have fond memories of when I did my infamous TSR2 Transfer sheet run and bought their entire stock...the looks were worth the tube trip 

Hannants it'self has improved leaps and bounds in so far as their on-line business is concerned. I can normally order on a Monday and will get the parcel on Wednesday nowadays  . Used to take 10 days or so. As for stock ? they have what I want. Never been to Oulton Broad, want to, but it's a bit of a journey for a day trip

My local MZ staff are friendly, even the lad with the green mohican  although the younger ones are more wargammers etc then modellers and stock isn't bad if mainstream.

I heard a rumour (and we know what they are ) that Hannants were cutting back on Hasegawa because of the cost of the kits and that making them slow to shift. As I've said it's a rumour and I've no idea how accurate it is or not

[RPadavan2]

The internet is also a big factor in the decline of local hobby shops.  These days if we can't find a kit on the shelves, we can either ask the store to order it for us, if their suppliers even carry it, or we can go online and find someplace that carries it and order it ourselves.  Delivery time usually takes about the same amount of time, sometimes even quicker ordering it ourselves.  When I was living in Arkansas, the local hobby shop also carried train supplies and some gaming pieces.  The owner was good about ordering things I wanted and there were a few items he couldn't get due to his suppliers not carrying that line, or not having them in stock.  Depending on which day I asked, there were times I would have to wait a week before he could even order the requested item since he had just made an order and wouldn't do so until the next week.  These days we can order it off the internet and have it delivered even before our local shops will put in the request to their suppliers.  After I moved out of Arkansas, the area had no hobby shops and it was an hour drive to the nearest shop, which had limited stocks, or a 3 hour drive into Los Angeles (California).  I found it easier to order off line and have it delivered straight to the house.  Although I would make the drive into L.A. for the more hard to get items or specialty items.

[Nigel Bunker]

As far as I am concerned, Hannants of Colindale is a dead duck. No stock, certain members of staff who were more interested in makinfg their models than serving customers. And on Saturdays it seemed to become a branch meeting of Barnet IPMS. I do not call being served, whilst the man serving me carried on a conversation with one of his friends, a sample of good customer service.

Now TAHS is not a bookshop with kits. Jan & Tony have carried a wide range of kits, along with accessories & decals for 33 years now. No, they haven't got everything as they are not a mega store, but they have one of the best ranges I have seen outside of Oulton Broad (which is a warehouse).Yes they sell books as well, but a good part of their sales comes from the spotter fraternity - had they relied on kits or books solely, they might not still be going. I regard Jan & Tony as friends, and would urge you to visit the shop if you are nearby - and don't forget to look under the counters - they have stashed stuff everywhere.

[NARSES2]

. I regard Jan & Tony as friends, and would urge you to visit the shop if you are nearby - and don't forget to look under the counters - they have stashed stuff everywhere.

Cheers for the tip Nigel - might take a day out and pop on the train down there

Chris

[Alvis 3.14159]

The chap at the counter (not the manager) suggested that the last couple of years had been slow and that they weren't getting customers because modellers are using up their stashes in the recession. Which is fair enough except that:

My local ModelZone in Bromley may take a frustratingly long time to get some new items into stock and may have a very restricted range of kits, but the shop is well stocked (even if I'm not interested in most of it) and the staff are friendly and helpful, and

The Aviation Hobby Shop at West Drayton actually seems to have improved tremendously over the same period as Hannant's Colindale decline. As other people have said, TAHS used to be a book/magazine shop with kits but the range of kits has expanded greatly and the service is friendly.

I agree with your skepticism. I work in a hobby shop, a fairly large one, and the one area that moves slowly are the older stock. New stuff is always leaving at high velocity (1/32 JU-88 and He-111, New Airfix Spitfires, Tamiya 1/32 Mustangs and Spitfires, new Dragon 1/35 armour, Airfix new red boxes, and the Tamiya 1/48 armour sells well too). Sure, lots of people are using up stashes, but they also appear to be restocking them with newer kits. The "This industry is declining" mentality becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when you don't bring in stock. Sales drop, and you justify your poor planning with an ideology of defeat. Thus begins the death spiral...

We've begun heavily discounting the really old stock, to get some shelf space open for new stuff. Go figure...Once the old kits hit a certain price, they begin moving again. Everything has its' magic selling price...even Starfix kits!

Alvis 3.1

[PR19_Kit]

The "This industry is declining" mentality becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy when you don't bring in stock. Sales drop, and you justify your poor planning with an ideology of defeat. Thus begins the death spiral...

We've begun heavily discounting the really old stock, to get some shelf space open for new stuff. Go figure...Once the old kits hit a certain price, they begin moving again. Everything has its' magic selling price...even Starfix kits!

It also doesn't help when the manufacturers price their 'new' kits totally outrageously!

I read in the latest Airfix mag the latest re-pop of the Hasegawa F-14 is priced at almost £40! For a 1/72 scale kit that isn't even new? They're just plain greedy, it may be the best F-14 on the planet but it's a model damn it, not the real thing!

[tc2324]

I read in the latest Airfix mag the latest re-pop of the Hasegawa F-14 is priced at almost £40! For a 1/72 scale kit that isn't even new? They're just plain greedy, it may be the best F-14 on the planet but it's a model damn it, not the real thing!
[/quote]



I`ll take a real F-14 for 40 squid....