Was driving past Stanbridges Hobby shop at Mount Lawley yesterday, and noticed a hand painted "closing down sale" sign out the front of the shop.

Haven't been in there to check prices, but last time I was in there, the shop was already looking pretty bare, so I wouldn't hold my breath for "the bargain of the century".

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

Sign of the times in WA? I know that in the industry I work in we have had customers (shops) closing down for a couple of years in WA at a far greater rate than the rest of the country.

Retail is bad all over but WA seems to be hit hard ATM

BG

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

Sign of the times in WA? I know that in the industry I work in we have had customers (shops) closing down for a couple of years in WA at a far greater rate than the rest of the country.

Retail is bad all over but WA seems to be hit hard ATM

BG

A lot of bricks and mortar retail shops are closing. They just cannot compete with the online giants. I have not visited a hobby shop for years.

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

Sign of the times in WA? I know that in the industry I work in we have had customers (shops) closing down for a couple of years in WA at a far greater rate than the rest of the country.

Retail is bad all over but WA seems to be hit hard ATM

BG

A lot of bricks and mortar retail shops are closing. They just cannot compete with the online giants. I have not visited a hobby shop for years.

Which is why you should support your local model shop as much as possible if you have a local hobby shop that is. I buy nearly all my stuff through a hobby shop here in Adelaide and I do not miss out on much and sometimes get it cheaper than online as well. I like to be able to go back to a hobby shop and thump the counter if something is wrong with a model I purchased. Also they sell secondhand stuff as well, way below what you would pay on places like EvilBay etc.

Was driving past Stanbridges Hobby shop at Mount Lawley yesterday, and noticed a hand painted "closing down sale" sign out the front of the shop.

Haven't been in there to check prices, but last time I was in there, the shop was already looking pretty bare, so I wouldn't hold my breath for "the bargain of the century".

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

Sorry, a bit of misinformation here.  DCC Concepts have not closed down.  The operation has moved from Naval Base in Western Australia to Settle in the UK.  Unfortunately what used to be a good reliable source of excellent model railway equipment has now become a somewhat awkward overseas purchase, now including GST, with no apparent (real) saving.

I always try and support local industries and business (within reason).  A symptom of modern times is for online overseas purchasing.  Vale your local hobby shop.  RIP.


Happy shopping,


John

My apologies, yes DCC concepts is still running in the UK.

EDIT for my previous post, probably should have said "With the closure of the DCC Concepts shop front in WA and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that'll be two brick and mortar hobby shops gone in less than 12 months"

I did read online that Stanbridges will still be operating their online shop.

Was driving past Stanbridges Hobby shop at Mount Lawley yesterday, and noticed a hand painted "closing down sale" sign out the front of the shop.

Haven't been in there to check prices, but last time I was in there, the shop was already looking pretty bare, so I wouldn't hold my breath for "the bargain of the century".

With the closure of DCC Concepts earlier this year and the (impending) closure of Stanbridges, that's two hobby shops within a year to close in WA.

Sorry, a bit of misinformation here.  DCC Concepts have not closed down.  The operation has moved from Naval Base in Western Australia to Settle in the UK.  Unfortunately what used to be a good reliable source of excellent model railway equipment has now become a somewhat awkward overseas purchase, now including GST, with no apparent (real) saving.

I always try and support local industries and business (within reason).  A symptom of modern times is for online overseas purchasing.  Vale your local hobby shop.  RIP.


Happy shopping,


John

They moved to Britain to be nearer their main customer base so they said, so that makes a bit of sense. If all your sales are mainly from overseas then it would be a good idea to be nearer your main customers than the other side of the world. Doing warranty repairs etc could become a bit expensive going from one side of the world to the other by parcel post or courier services and likely get more problems being transported etc.


Even when they were in WA you still paid GST on the stuff. I do agree with the rest of your post though John.

DCCconcepts are still in Perth WA, not so much a shop but no doubt would get what you wanted or point you to a local dealer selling their items

https://www.dccconcepts.com/contact-us/.

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They moved to Britain to be nearer their main customer base so they said, so that makes a bit of sense. If all your sales are mainly from overseas then it would be a good idea to be nearer your main customers than the other side of the world. Doing warranty repairs etc could become a bit expensive going from one side of the world to the other by parcel post or courier services and likely get more problems being transported etc.


Even when they were in WA you still paid GST on the stuff. I do agree with the rest of your post though John.

Hi David,

I may have been too obtuse in my reference to GST.  Of course all Australian companies pay GST.  The situation with DCC Concepts moving the retail base to Settle was that initially there was no GST payable on imported items with a total value less than $1,000.  This only lasted about 3 months.  In that time my model railway group was able to complete a purchase initiated when the retail arm was based in WA.  The discount we received was 15% (VAT??).  When the GST became applicable (01/07/18) this almost completely absorbed the discount. Given the costs of currency conversion (3%) and variable exchange rate it is therefore not economically efficient to source DCC Concept components from the UK.  Let alone we would no longer be supporting an Australian based company.

Interesting to see that there is a non-retail arm still based in WA.

Happy shopping,

John