Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Varche]

I can understand the Toys r us going under but Maplin?

Who is next? 

[scimmy_man]

most people dont know what to do with half of Maplins stock,

and its usually 1/3rd the price online so...........

[LC0112G]

I can understand the Toys r us going under but Maplin?

Who is next?

When Maplin started, they had a single store in Rayleigh, Essex and sold electronic components to home enthusiasts. When I first became aware of them in the early 80's they had 4 or 5 stores including one in Hammersmith. I was at uni in Londinium and used to cycle there regularly to get bits. The other big players were Watford Electronics, plus a load of indy stores in Edgeware road.

Since then they've been bought out and expanded to 200 stores - we even have one here in Yeovil.  They have branched out from specialist electronics components into general consumer electronics which has put them up against the giants on the interweb. RS and Farnell both allow the general punter to buy electronic components direct now (you don't need a trade account) and both offer next day delivery too. If Maplin have got the bits I want then I'll often buy from the shop. If not, then eBay/RS/Farnell are usually quicker.

I can't say I'm surprised at their failure - they're basically going the same way that Tandy went and Tandy went pop too.

[Bigron]

Yes, I remember Maplin's early days, when Roger Allen started the business - cheap, good quality and a genuine interest in electronics, including producing project magazines.
Then Akai bought Roger out, and immediately upped the prices....and so it went on, so it serves them right.

Ron.


P.S. Rapid Electronics at Colchester are usually quite good on price - apart from their delivery charges.

[Lizzie Zoom]

Yep, I have been using the Maplin superstore just outside Canterbury recently to sort out a problem with a CCTV camera that has stopped working.  Before that I have been into the store quite a few times to just look around, then eventually buying my first item from them, the CCTV system.

During all visits, at various times of the week, including Saturday's, there was only one other customer in the huge store.  I know that is not viable as you must have a greater footfall than that, let alone customers making purchases, just to cover the basic selling expenses, let alone fixed costs, of running a store of that size.  Varche correctly states why their trade is under severe competition, so I cannot see any future for Maplins operating out of retail premises.  This is the fate for many retailers in the 21st century, and may even threaten the very existence of large out-of-town shopping centres across the land. 

[zirk]

Hmm, so why am I going to buy my BC 108's from now then.

[Bigron]

Try Ebay - they can't do fake BC108s, can they?

Ron.

[LC0112G]

Hmm, so why am I going to buy my BC 108's from now then.

Providing you don't need more than 9000 of them...
 
http://uk.farnell.com/search?st=bc108

Flash git using silicon transistors anyway. AC176's are the future once you've given up on EL84's :-)

[Kevin Wood]

Yes, I remember Maplin's early days, when Roger Allen started the business - cheap, good quality and a genuine interest in electronics, including producing project magazines.
Then Akai bought Roger out, and immediately upped the prices....and so it went on, so it serves them right.

Ron.

Yep, ironically, it was mail order (and you could even order "online" with a MODEM using their text based BBS, IIRC) that was their great strength when the likes of Farnell and RS wouldn't deal with individuals.

Their catalogue was also like a bible before online access to component data sheets, etc. because all the application information was there along with example circuits and so on. Those were the days!

I do wonder why they invested in so much retail space where if they'd kept the online side competitive for electronics "makers" without the overheads and needing to sell tacky toys and PC components with a huge markup, they might have been OK.

P.S. Rapid Electronics at Colchester are usually quite good on price - apart from their delivery charges.

Yep, I try to support them a bit too. They are a breath of fresh air after searching for the 22uF, 16V capacitor that you need on Farnell and having to weed down the list of 16,384 possibilities to pick the one you actually want to buy - only to find there's a £15 "us surcharge" on the price.

[Kevin Wood]

Hmm, so why am I going to buy my BC 108's from now then.

Providing you don't need more than 9000 of them...
 
http://uk.farnell.com/search?st=bc108

Flash git using silicon transistors anyway. AC176's are the future once you've given up on EL84's :-)

Are you perhaps forgetting the legendary OC45?

Now just try scraping the paint off a BC108 to turn it into a photodiode!

[redelitev6]

I can understand the Toys r us going under but Maplin?

Who is next?

Get used to this happening more often , internet shopping is great , convenient , hassle free and usually cheaper , BUT without the need to get off your a**e and actually go into a shop why do you need the shop ? Local councils don't exactly welcome cars into a town centre , high rents, business rates , minimum wage, they'll all add up to the death of traditional shopping , chickens coming home to roost ? 

[zirk]

I can understand the Toys r us going under but Maplin?

Who is next?

Get used to this happening more often , internet shopping is great , convenient , hassle free and usually cheaper , BUT without the need to get off your a**e and actually go into a shop why do you need the shop ? Local councils don't exactly welcome cars into a town centre , high rents, business rates , minimum wage, they'll all add up to the death of traditional shopping , chickens coming home to roost ?

Because this is Our British High Street Economy were talking about, its being ruined by Overseas Online Giants that are laughing all the way to there Off Shore Bank.

[redelitev6]

I can understand the Toys r us going under but Maplin?

Who is next?

Get used to this happening more often , internet shopping is great , convenient , hassle free and usually cheaper , BUT without the need to get off your a**e and actually go into a shop why do you need the shop ? Local councils don't exactly welcome cars into a town centre , high rents, business rates , minimum wage, they'll all add up to the death of traditional shopping , chickens coming home to roost ?

Because this is Our British High Street Economy were talking about, its being ruined by Overseas Online Giants that are laughing all the way to there Off Shore Bank.

Exactly the point I was trying to make , for far too long the high street has been seen as an income stream that councils think they can plunder indefinitely , always assuming that people will go shopping whatever the inconvenience , as i type this I've no doubt my Mrs is on her laptop browsing some shopping site while watching the blizzard currently blowing past our living room window , that is why traditional shopping is doomed , we need a massive attitude change from councils and shoppers to stop the death of shopping as we know it 

[Bigron]

Yes, I remember Maplin's early days, when Roger Allen started the business - cheap, good quality and a genuine interest in electronics, including producing project magazines.
Then Akai bought Roger out, and immediately upped the prices....and so it went on, so it serves them right.

Ron.

Yep, ironically, it was mail order (and you could even order "online" with a MODEM using their text based BBS, IIRC) that was their great strength when the likes of Farnell and RS wouldn't deal with individuals.

Their catalogue was also like a bible before online access to component data sheets, etc. because all the application information was there along with example circuits and so on. Those were the days!

I do wonder why they invested in so much retail space where if they'd kept the online side competitive for electronics "makers" without the overheads and needing to sell tacky toys and PC components with a huge markup, they might have been OK.

P.S. Rapid Electronics at Colchester are usually quite good on price - apart from their delivery charges.

Yep, I try to support them a bit too. They are a breath of fresh air after searching for the 22uF, 16V capacitor that you need on Farnell and having to weed down the list of 16,384 possibilities to pick the one you actually want to buy - only to find there's a £15 "us surcharge" on the price.

Likewise with the one produced by Ambit Electronics, of Brentwood - remember them? SO full of information and great kits to make, and hard-to-find components.
Happy days, indeed.....

Ron.

[BazaJT]

If I owed the tax man £15 they'd be down on me like a ton of bricks,yet apparently Toys "R" Us owes £15m in unpaid VAT and the parent American company are unwilling to do anything about it