Model Zone in Administration & to close

[little-cars]

Dropped into the MK store today, last few days sign in the window.

All the decent die casts have gone kits running down. Still only 20% off.

Paul

[Robert]

Croydon had 2 Tamiya Red Bull cars, £52 each.

Robert

[prowler0000]

Hello Everyone,

For anyone interested us at the BROMLEY store, had in today all the remaining stock from the Maidstone branch, mainly kits, few bits of die-cast and paints, i havent properly looked through it, i'll get a chance to put it out on the shelf tomorrow and book it in, but there is some Vallejo paints, tools, various Academy, Revell, Airfix, little bit more Tamiya and Hasegawa.

bit of both 1/72 and 1/48, some 1/35 but i'll get a better chance to see whats actually in the delivery tomorrow.

Hope this is useful information

Stuart

Coming in tomorrow (thursday), & hoping there's a transparent yellow in the Vallejo pile somewhere!

Thanks for the heads-up, Stuart!

[roymattblack]

Went into the Birmingham store yesterday.

It's stacked with model kits and loads of paints, die casts etc - just no customers!

Still showing 20% off kits, which means they are now only 10% more expensive than anyone else.......

They still don't seem to have cottoned on.

Roy.

[prowler0000]

Bromley today: Some kits & Die-Cast. 3 boxes of Vallejo paint, of which i got 4 bottles.....

Still, better than none & 1 was the transparent yellow i was after, so not a total loss!

Good chat with the guys (- Stuart, who was "off"), & a nice young bloke who has been referred to these hallowed pages for inspiration.

got my TS sprays too.

Thanks guys, sounds like they all have plans for "Afterwards"!

[sturmovik30]

also popped into bromley store ,got a tamiya grant tank for the missus!... good to see the lads getting other jobs etc and preparing to move on, they are a sound bunch, got home and worked on the airfix new 190, how did they get that mg cowling so wrong? thats for another forum i suppose , will keep popping into bromley mz till the bitter end.

[Mike]

The Boy dragged his Grandma into Chester's MZ and he walked away with a bunch of Corgi diecast helos, as Grandma just can't resist his charms I believe he also impressed staff and shoppers with his knowledge of the various choppers he was pointing out

[bootneck]

Is the Bristol one still open? If so does anyone know what is left there?

Plymouth is just a bit too far, if it is there still.

cheers

Mike

[Spookytooth]

Sad day . Portsmouth branch closed today, remaining stock to be passed on to the few stores left.

Cheers lads and lasses, I ope all go well for you in the future.

[PDH]

Is the Bristol one still open? If so does anyone know what is left there?

Plymouth is just a bit too far, if it is there still.

cheers

Mike

I've been to both Mike in the past 3 weeks. Wasn't worth going to Bristol for me. At Plymouth I managed to get 4 jars of Tamiya paint and a Humbrol cutting mat. Nothing else I wanted. Personally I'd save your petrol, both stores have very little left unless they've had some more deliveries.

P

[adam1314]

Is the Bristol one still open? If so does anyone know what is left there?

Plymouth is just a bit too far, if it is there still.

cheers

Mike

Bristol branch closed today 5:30pm

[Nigel Heath]

MZ Bristol - I've been there in the past, sad.

[Kallisti]

Reading closes on 14th Sept ,was in today and lots of diecasts, a few models, mostly airfix and revell, but with quite a few overpriced Hasegawa kits but not much tamiya or vallejo paint but plenty of humbrol still.

The guys siad they expect that the last day will see prices slashed further - maybe 70-80% just to shift it. I laughed and said that even at 80% discount people won't buy the silly priced diecasts and they agreed that was one of the biggest problems they had in the shop!

[prowler0000]

Here's a question: How many Revell Star Trek Klingon Cruisers are there in existence?

Bromley had at least 15, Last time i was in the (former) New Oxford St branch there were 9.....

I wouldn't have minded an Enterprise, or maybe another Voyager, but these pesky Klingons were all that was left....

How many more are there???

Oh, and if the Battlestar Galactica had as many Viper Mk VII's as MZ, the Cylon war would have ended mid-season 2!!!

& as for Die-Cast, the first clue is the first word in their name!!

[Rickpadwick1801]

Here's a question: How many Revell Star Trek Klingon Cruisers are there in existence?

Bromley had at least 15, Last time i was in the (former) New Oxford St branch there were 9.....

I wouldn't have minded an Enterprise, or maybe another Voyager, but these pesky Klingons were all that was left....

How many more are there???

Oh, and if the Battlestar Galactica had as many Viper Mk VII's as MZ, the Cylon war would have ended mid-season 2!!!

& as for Die-Cast, the first clue is the first word in their name!!

Well when I last went into the Brighton store a few weeks ago, they had 12 Klingon cruisers I think to sell and only 1 kit of the Enterprise C as I had snapped up the only Into Darkness Enterprise for my birthday :-)

[PDH]

Bristol branch closed today 5:30pm

Seeing this jogged my memory. I think the guy in Plymouth said they were closing on the 29th August when I asked them during my last visit. Where has August gone!!

Sorry Mike...looks like you are too late to visit either.

P

[CockneyCol]

The Metrocentre store still staggers on uttering "et to Diecast".......

Loads of paints left (no Vallejo though), a few kits, more diecast than there is steel in Sheffield...

[patjb]

I was in the Milton Keynes store yesterday, most models still 20% off a few at 30% . Overheard a member of staff saying they were still going to be open for a couple of weeks yet, appears to buck what a lot of stores are saying.

[Rob 1]

I've not been too impressed with MZ for quite some time. With the general poor behaviour of some staff, combined with the ever watering down of stock and any sign of specialism offered, also perhaps over stretching themselves in the number of stores, its no wonder they're in trouble in my opinion.

I transferred my regular custom to Hobbycraft stores a while ago, which offer a decent range of accesories and a limited selection of kits, in a proper profesional shop environment. I can get regular supplies there, and combine this with fulfilling my specialist kit requirements via a trip to specialist independent model shops if possible, traders at shows, or the internet (strictly in that order of preference).

Edited August 30, 2013 by Rob 1

[Kallisti]

Sadly the Hobbycraft in Reading has decided not to use a proper display rack for the Tamiya paints but instead has stuck them all on two shelves, separated out into sets of colours - ie all the greens together, all the browns together but since there is no rack they don't stay arranged for long and its a nightmare trying to find a pot of XF-26 or whatever it is you are looking for...

[PlaStix]

I must admit I liked Modelzone shops for the most part, and I'm sorry they are disappearing - I liked browsing the kits and looking at the displays and I got a few kits and die-cast items from time to time. Got a fair few paints, glues, etc as well.

Over the few months before them going into administration, however, I noticed some cynical marketing ploys on their part. For example I have been interested in Revell's London bus for quite a while - it seemed like a bargain normally at £40 (which it was in most model/toy shops I've visited.) Then, when I thought I would finally pick one up from MZ they'd put it up by £10. A few weeks later I noticed it in their sale at £40 with the sticker claiming a saving of £10. I know this is fairly typical of some other companies but, to me, it did them no favours. In their last sale before going into administration I picked it up for £20. I know nothing about the sales business but surely offering it with, say, £10 off at £30 would have encouraged people like me to buy it and made them an additional £10.

Even in their closing down sales I noticed some of the items with the 20% off were still more expensive than standard list prices. I am sorry so many stores are now closed, and especially for the staff loosing their jobs, but I think they needed to decide what was more important.

Cheers,

Stix

[Speckled Jim]

Is the Glasgow branch still open?

[Lightningboy2000]

Any body know the current situation with the Norwich MZ store?

Wasn't it MZ who bought out the Kellers sole trading shop? All the Kellers employees it seemed, went on to work in the MZ shop.

Now what? Can't believe that there's now just the one shop in Norwich that sells kits. It was a major port of call for me if I was in Norwich. So sad, I hope that the employees find good work, if not try and go it alone with a new venture as they had been in the trade for so long. I mean Kellers was on site for years & years until Model Zone snapped them up.

Where will it end, what is the future?

I do think that the distributors of kits etc should seriously think more about whom they use as outlets, The Works is a start, but I would have thought that Smiths would be another viable high street outlet.

I must say that it was a WH Smiths store that was the first place that I regularly used to purchase kits, paints etc when I was a kid. Not sure how they would deal with selling that kind of thing now though.

Martin

[SMD70]

I must admit I liked Modelzone shops for the most part, and I'm sorry they are disappearing - I liked browsing the kits and looking at the displays and I got a few kits and die-cast items from time to time. Got a fair few paints, glues, etc as well.

Over the few months before them going into administration, however, I noticed some cynical marketing ploys on their part. For example I have been interested in Revell's London bus for quite a while - it seemed like a bargain normally at £40 (which it was in most model/toy shops I've visited.) Then, when I thought I would finally pick one up from MZ they'd put it up by £10. A few weeks later I noticed it in their sale at £40 with the sticker claiming a saving of £10. I know this is fairly typical of some other companies but, to me, it did them no favours. In their last sale before going into administration I picked it up for £20. I know nothing about the sales business but surely offering it with, say, £10 off at £30 would have encouraged people like me to buy it and made them an additional £10.

Even in their closing down sales I noticed some of the items with the 20% off were still more expensive than standard list prices. I am sorry so many stores are now closed, and especially for the staff loosing their jobs, but I think they needed to decide what was more important.

Cheers,

Stix

I noticed the London Bus thing... I did get on at the right stop though. It went £40... then £20 in half price sale which is when I bought it... then £50 for a couple of weeks then £40 SALE!!!! It is £49.99 in Hobbycraft and so on these days so I'm not sure the rrp just didn't go up or something.

I'll miss the Deansgate (Manchester shop) mostly as it's been a model shop for as long as I can remember... not really because it was a MZ. I did quite like having a browse in the MZ's though as I tend to feel a bit under pressure to buy in some small model shops.

[SleeperService]

I thought it may be an idea to consolidate all the shop status information in one place as the Modelzone page doesn't show closing dates (here; http://image2.e-msg.co.uk/modelzone/store_locator.html )

I'll try and keep it up to date an new intel arrives;

Basingstoke: Unit 56 Festival Place, Hampshire, RG21 7BF CLOSES 12/9

Birmingham: S26 Martineau Place, 89/90 Bull St, Birmingham, West Midlands, B4 7AA

Brighton: 37 West St, Brighton, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 2RE

Bristol: The Galleries, Unit BG22 Broadmead Gallery, Bristol, Avon, BS1 3XB CLOSED 29/8

Bromley: 272 The Glades Shopping Centre, High St, Bromley, Kent, BR1 1DN

Cambridge: 15 Fitzroy St, Cambridgeshire, CB1 1ER

Chester: 71-73 Bridge St Row East, Cheshire, CH1 1NW

Crawley: Unit 97, County Mall Shopping Centre, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1FD CLOSED 29/8

Croydon: Unit 31 Centrale Shopping Centre, North End, Croydon, Surrey, CR0 1TY

Derby: Level 1 South Mall, Shopping Centre, Westfield, Derby,DE1 2PG

Eastbourne: 68 Seaside Road, Eastbourne, East Sussex, BN21 3PD

Gateshead: 75 Russell Way, Metro Centre, Gateshead, Tyne & Wear, NE11 9XX

Glasgow: Unit 69/70, St. Enoch Centre, St, Enoch Square, Glasgow, G1 4BW

Harrogate: Unit 30 Victoria Centre, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG1 1AE

Kingston: 30/32 Eden St, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey, KT1 1EP

Lakeside: Unit 96 Lakeside Shopping Centre, Thurrock, Essex, RM20 2ZG

London - Stratford: Unit SU0061, Westfield Stratford City, 2 Stratford Place, Stratford, London, E20 1EJ CLOSED 29/8

Manchester: 209 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3NW CLOSED 29/8

Merry Hill: 59 Upper Mall, Merry Hill Centre, Dudley, DY5 1SR CLOSED 29/8

Milton Keynes: 17 Acorn Walk, The Centre : MK, Milton Keynes, MK9 3AD

Newcastle: 129 Grainger St, Newcastle, NE1 5AE

Norwich: 54/55 Castle Mall, Norwich, Norfolk, NR1 3DD CLOSED 29/8

Nottingham: 149 Upper Boardwalk, Broadmarsh Centre, Nottingham, NG1 7LQ CLOSED 29/8

Plymouth: 22 Frankfort Gate, City Centre, Plymouth, Devon, PL1 1QD CLOSED 29/8

Portsmouth: 105D Commercial Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire,PO1 1BQ CLOSED 29/8

Reading: Unit 65/66, Broad St Mall, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 7QE

Rochester: The Signal Box, 382-386 High Street, Rochester, Kent, ME1 1DJ CLOSES 12/9

Southampton: 85 Above Bar St, Southampton, Hampshire, SO14 7FG CLOSED 29/8

Hope this helps people plan visits and avoid unnecessary journeys and/or upset!

EDIT: Rochester Signal Box added (Missed off MZ list at administrators) this shop closes earlier than the rest which Deloitte WILL be closing on the 14/9.

Edited September 2, 2013 by SleeperService