McLaren Models Falkirk

[luckymucklebackit]

Heard this morning via another forum. McLarens Models on Grahams Road, Falkirk, are closing down their shop and moving to online only. The shop has the "To Let" signs up, but it was still open yesterday. Don't know the exact closing date and no sure if this will affect the monthly swapmeet that they organize.

Jim

[End2end]

From their website
"THE FALKIRK RETAIL STORE WILL CLOSE AT THE END OF APRIL 2019, BUT THE WEBSITE STORE, MAIL ORDER AND OUR COLLECTOR FAIR WILL CONTINUE AS NORMAL. OUR EMAIL CONTACT DETAILS REMAIN THE SAME BUT A NEW TELEPHONE NUMBER AND CONTACT ADDRESS WILL BE ADDED TO THE WEBSITE SOON. A CLEARANCE SALE OF SHOWROOM STOCK IS NOW UNDER WAY AND NEW SALE ITEMS WILL BE ADDED TO OUR SALE SECTION OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS. SHOP FITTING DISPLAY CABINETS ARE ALSO AVAILBLE TO PURCHASE IN STORE ONLY.

THE NEXT FALKIRK SWAPMEET / COLLECTORS FAIR TAKES PLACE ON SUNDAY 5th MAY 2019 FROM 1pm - 4pm IN GRAEME HIGH SCHOOL, CALLENDAR ROAD, FALKIRK, FK1 1SY. "
Hope it helps
Thanks
End2end

[Bufferstop]

It's a consolation that these shops do remain as on-line traders, but I've often wondered if there's a way that they can still provide a degree of hands on trading. I assume that going on-line is indicative of too little footfall to support the shop rental. What you lose when they go online is the ability to po in and look at what's available that might do what you are thinking of, or to look very closely at how a model has been made, when you are hoping to do a bit of bashing.
Well there may be a way. We run a business from home, you don't need to get change of use approval if there's no outward sign of the usage. So as long as you don't have deliveries and collections on the scale of Hattons, you can store your stock in the garage and perhaps a garden studio, and visitors don't come other than by appointment, you should be able to keep in person visits by your local customers.
To give you an example, a friend of ours was a major supplier of electronics learning kits for schools. His business functioned from his house iand a number of outworkers from around the village. The garage was goods in and out and the parts store, design and administration was in the spare bedroom. Two large packing cases from Jaguar joined together across the top of the garden provided the development lab and production. Things like batches of PCB.s needing components fitting and soldering were taken round to one of his outworkers on a tray. He reckoned he was giving employment to five villagers and keeping the post office solvent singlehandedly. So I reckon you could run an online modelshop from home and still have your regular one or two customers a day calling in by appointment.

[Bigmet]

You have to be a little cautious on operating a business from domestic premises, dependent on local authority regulation. Our's is red hot on it; they want to lease you commercial premises.

[Bufferstop]

Our Council just wants to know what %age of the house is dedicated just to business. If it's less than 10% that's totally business (not shared use) they can't be bothered over that they charge that bit as business rates. I don't know if it's due to the numbers of small business people on the council they seem really slack. For nearly ten years one small garden centre had a strip of its floor hidden behind a row of display units. The signs on the end said the space behind the display is not open to the public. It kept him out of the Sunday opening regulations for as long as it took him to reach retiring.
I won't comment further on this as we've hi jacked the topic for long enough.