Re: Maplin stores
I would miss Maplin in the same way I still miss Tandy, a local and handy electronics store. Maplin do seem to have gone exactly the way of Tandy, more and more cheap domestic goods and toys rather than real electronics. Tandy, who closed 17 years ago now in the UK sold more and more toys in their later years, mainly remote control ones. These were so unreliable (or too easily broken) that many stores had a “returns desk” open straight after Christmas just to handle returns and refunds.
Maplin now no longer send out the monthly flyer which is a pity but could pick up a tip from Tandy. They used to do good reductions each month on different components, leads etc which then made them worth stocking up on. “Lucky bags” of misc components were also common. It must have helped clear the slower moving lines as well. I still have bagged Tandy stuff from those days!
Even on Saturdays our local Maplin within a retail park is very, very quiet, I can’t believe the store can cover the costs let alone make a profit.
Unless they make radical changes I can’t see them being here for much longer. I fear for most retail outlets, it must be very difficult to compete against on-line selling. Whilst I do buy a lot on-line myself I do miss physical shopping! Must be my age....
Peter
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