Thread: Maplin stores
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Old 26th Oct 2017, 7:45 pm   #16
G6Tanuki
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Location: Wiltshire, UK.
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Quote:
Originally Posted by nebogipfel View Post
It seems madness when they only stock one or two of everything when it comes to components and I suspect by adopting this stocking policy they have pretty much killed the component sales side of the business themselves.
I suspect that the components-side of things has effectively killed itself as far as high-street/out-of-town retail-selling is concerned.

The value tied-up in having loads of low-value low-turnover parts stocked in hundreds of stores - with associated stock-control, floor-space-rental for storage etc. must be vast compared with the profit they make on selling a couple of 10K 2W metal-film resistors to the likes of us hobbyists (who are also a dying breed....)

That's just not good for cash-flow. Switching to an online-only operation for components would make sense (smaller stockholding, less square-footage needed, in a cheaper location] but then they'd be up against the existing big players in that sector [Mouser/Digikey, Farnell, CPC, RS] who have a far greater range and turnover.

These days I only use Maplin for components when it's an emergency and I can't wait for next-day delivery.
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