This was mentioned in the MB Klein thread but I thought it deserved it's own topic.
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
I'm not surprised everything is so expensive now.
The British invented the steam engine and railroads. If a prominent model train store is unable to remain in business in England, it's truly unfortunate, and I'm sorry to say that it doesn't bode well for the situation in the US.
MELGAR
Indeed. I was just reading a UK forum and you can imagine the doom and gloom. It's a bummer alright. It makes me wonder if their purchase of M.B. Klein last year was a last ditch effort to branch out to new markets.
Hatton's is the English equivalent of Walthers. It would really shock the U.S. hobby if Walthers closed. I suppose that few businesses last forever.
It is a shame that Hatton's is closing. The website mentioned fewer customers and other issues with running an international business. I hope that all of us will continue to support our hobby shops. NH Joe
This is strange, the Hattons closure comes just a month from the acquisition of ModelTrainStuff/M.B Klein.
I hope Kleins got paid, and the that the check has cleared.
Hattons buggered off
@Craignor posted:This is strange, the Hattons closure comes just a month from the acquisition of ModelTrainStuff/M.B Klein.
I hope Kleins got paid, and the check has cleared.
Yeah, I read on another thread that Hatton's had a booth at York recently too. So it looks like they were guns-blazing until the end and then decided to throw in the towel.
Wonder if Brexit was a contributing factor?
@mark s posted:Wonder if Brexit was a contributing factor?
Direct quote from the page that’s at the link in the first post:
”Increased cost of compliance has become a large factor. Brexit, GST and other operational costs of running an international business have all increased dramatically over the past few years.”
Very unfortunate. I had done a few transactions with them over the past five years and they were great to do business with; they made it easy to get packages from them to the U.S. They were at the April 2022 York Meet at (IIRC) promoting their new U.S.-based operation for buying used trains. Between that and buying M. B. Klein, this is quite a turn of events in the wrong direction. I am sorry that the hobby is losing this source.
Since they bought MB Klien/ Model Train Stuff will it close down too? I hope not.
Modelrainstuff.com and M.B. Kline are one and the same. Kline was the walk in retail store ( up until perhaps a year ago ) and modeltrainstuff.com was Kline's on line presence.
