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Old 28th Feb 2018, 6:03 pm   #161
dseymo1
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Default Re: Maplin

Quote:
Originally Posted by rambo1152 View Post
the staff members poised at the entrance waiting to "meet & greet" somehow seem a deterrent.
I quite agree, and by no means true only of Maplin.
The worst are those who insist on 'explaining' products with which one is already quite familiar, or in which one is not the least interested.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 6:53 pm   #162
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Default Re: Maplin stores

I am afraid Maplin has gone bust today.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 7:33 pm   #163
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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Originally Posted by AC/HL View Post
What is their connection to Maplins?
If you mean Fopp, nothing much apart from having a website a lot less useful than it should be.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 7:42 pm   #164
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Sorry to read about Maplins, used it many times over the years. Hope the staff can find suitable alternative work.
Cheers
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 8:08 pm   #165
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Disappointing to hear about Maplins. The only electronics store with a significant high street presence.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 8:36 pm   #166
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Default Re: Maplin stores

I'd rather have an electronics store with a back-street presence. Low rent, lots of lines, people involved personally in the business.

Maplin tried to be too slick and polished. Maybe the opposite would have let them survive?

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Old 28th Feb 2018, 11:01 pm   #167
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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It probably won't happen, but it would be nice to see some local managers take over their shops and run them profitably.
Nice idea, but how many of the ones who tried at the local level are still there. My local store has had a change of staff. Having had many a pleasant chat with the last ones, I hope they got out in time.
But in the case of our local store, I'd say it was only a matter of time. Parking and charges are closing stores in our town centre, and our local store holds only basics.
RW- possibly, as I felt that the longer Maplin survived, the further away from the roots they strayed. At one time, a Maplin catalogue was better than a set of data sheets.

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Old 28th Feb 2018, 11:23 pm   #168
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Default Re: Maplin stores

I'm sorry to see them go, but it'll force me to shop at the other more sensible options mentioned in this thread.

On reflection, I'm surprised that I put up with their 'we've only got one of these, but we can order the other one and you should get it next week' service for so long. But then I also put up with TalkTalk for far too long.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 11:31 pm   #169
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Great shame if they fail, speak as you find, I built the maplin valve amp project some years back and the component counter guy found me the last two ready punched chassis boxes left in their entire empire and the transformers to match.
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Old 28th Feb 2018, 11:44 pm   #170
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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Be sad to see them go as now Bardwells has closed in Sheffield I can think of nowhere locally to buy a resistor or plug etc... unless someone knows better!
You will have to go to Chesterfield.
http://www.jpgelectronics.com/
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 12:47 am   #171
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Default Re: Maplin stores

The last time I used Maplin it was to buy a 47k dual linear pot. I checked the website and found it was available from my local branch. It wasn't particularly expensive and the assistant retrieved it from the back once given the online reference. This saved paying delivery or minimum order charges from RS, CHS etc. and there was no waiting.

I must admit I buy most stuff from Chinese sources though, especially if I'm not in a rush for it.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 9:42 am   #172
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Maybe going off topic, but this looks, feels and smells like 2008 all over again. First the retail chains collapse, then the banking system, then ... some bail out?
 
Old 1st Mar 2018, 10:19 am   #173
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Default Re: Maplin stores

I still miss Tandy....

But Maplin served me a purpose....whenever I needed a cable, socket or component I knew I could get it from Maplin....three times the price of a specialist or bulk supplier but there on the high street when needed. A friend who runs an A/V company often used Maplin when doing events because some sort of doohicky was necessary to get the PA or projectors going properly. The Luton Maplin still sold parts and components, though the younger staff often didn't know. I'd roll up to the counter and ask for something, young guy would have no clue or even say they don't sell that sort of thing....then an older assistant would know exactly where to find it.

But all that said, people like me and my friend won't keep Maplin in business. For the general population there was no USP, no underlying reason to keep going to Maplin. And as others have said, parking charges kill the idea of popping out for a quick transistor.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 10:21 am   #174
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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Maybe going off topic, but this looks, feels and smells like 2008 all over again. First the retail chains collapse, then the banking system, then ... some bail out?
It's not going to go that way this time. Retail and commercial banking system is quite healthy at the moment particularly with all the ring fencing operations going on. The failure mode here is mandated by the capital providers in the retail sector. No backers (banks included) want to risk propping up the high street because they know it's a pretty bad investment.

Most shops don't come from a pool of cash in a bank somewhere. What happens is someone goes to a backing capital company and says "I need £450k to open this store and stock it" with a business case and their published expansion plans. Usually this is founded on a terrible assumption that unlimited growth is possible, a big failure in capitalism! The capital company says yes or no to this and specifies terms on which that money will come back to them, usually as a profit sharing agreement. As retail sales are collapsing thanks to the Internet (not a bad thing I have to say), then the likelihood of a return on that £450k is low so the capital companies start saying no to expansion.

This is the red flag moment. How Maplin got as big as they did I don't know. Competence was certainly not great there. You can't expand past your market.

The capital company has an agreed margin to which they always get their cash back. If they don't get it then the retailer has to cut costs by destaffing, closing stores or basically giving up but the capital gets paid first always. The customer and staff burns before the backers do. At this point the backers are probably pushing for liquidation as they will get first pickings on the assets.

And that's where everything is at the moment. The only businesses which will thrive through this are the niche independent shops with a loyal following or high foot volume (think food, specialists etc) which aren't heavily capital backed, are self funding and are well established with low costs. We're not talking business loans here by the way but much larger profit sharing agreements.

No bail out this time. People have just stopped believing in retail expansion and are stopping putting money into it.

The world is changing. This will get a lot worse soon. The next victim will be the book stores.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 10:21 am   #175
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Default Re: Maplin stores

When I worked for an electronics repair house in town, we often needed parts ordered in the same day, so we had a list of local places within a quick drive, such as May's TV shop, Chadwick's of Newcastle, Worthington Brothers, Smithsons Motor Factors (surprising what they kept from esoteric connectors to cable & bulbs) and luckily, in Stoke town centre, Maplin. Doug Simmons, then MD of maplin, called in once to say hello as he was passing. I was surprised they'd opened a big shiny shop in Stoke but they had their own free car park (unfortunately also used for free by visitors to the town and never policed) so going down was no trouble. Sometimes there was a queue at the trade counter. Doug Simmons told us they were opening shops based on the number of mail orders they had from specific post-codes. When I went to work for myself I opened up a shop account so I could just pop in if I was at a client's premises and needed something without having enough money on me.

Maybe the new owners (I doubt the brand will disappear) will have a better business plan, and re-inforce their mail order operations. The internet generation of component and kit buyers are used to slick online shopping from ebay and amazon etc; what we need are cheap, approved supplies of power supplies, pc parts, components and consumables that are here next day, dont cost a fortune for shipping and are guaranteed not to be DOA, be unsafe, blot-out freeview or a fire risk.

The farnell/RS model where free postage is paid-for by higher unit prices is a good one for low-cost items for the hobbyist, and good for trade buyers of high-value finished parts alike who don't mind if an item is £20 dearer tomorrow than one you can get next week.

RS and Farnell are (hopefully..I havent seen the books) successful for a reason.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 10:24 am   #176
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Farnell are far from successful. They have nearly gone down the pan a couple of times now.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 11:45 am   #177
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Default Re: Maplin stores

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Originally Posted by paulsherwin View Post

I must admit I buy most stuff from Chinese sources though, especially if I'm not in a rush for it.
Chinese e-bay suppliers have got wise to the fact that the delay due to shipping is a bit of a turn off (although generally, I've found that it's usually not more than 2 - 3 weeks).

Many of the faster moving items are available in the UK via 'drop shippers'. As an example, my 'scope probe failed yesterday and in the past, I might have hot-footed it down to Maplin, but I googled what was available, and bought two probes for just £7.61 post free from an ebay supplier based in Dunstable. There are those who seek out the highest spec, most expensive, much vaunted brands, but as a hobbyist, I don't fit that profile. These probes will more than meet my needs, one for each channel of my Hameg 203-7.

The paypal receipt showed that the supplier was Chinese!

Seller:

深圳市雅睿尔电子商务有限公司

Here's the spec:

Features:

Adjustable probe attenuation, you can choose 1X or 10X by sliding the switch.
Detachable hook tip, the hook is well protected by the plastic case.
Locating sleeves ensure the stability and reliability of the tip exposed to the test point.
Marker rings in different colors help to identify different channels.

Specifications:
Band Width: 100MHz
Rise Time: 3.5ns
Attenuation Ratio: 1X / 10X
Input Resistance: (1MΩ/10MΩ)±2%
Input Capacitance: 1X: 70pF-120pF 10X: 13-17pF
Maximum Input: 1X: 200 Working Voltage(Vp-p) 10: 600 Working Voltage(Vp-p)
Compensation Range: 10-35pF
Operating Temperature: 0-50°C
Operating Humidity: 0-80%RH
Item Length: 14cm

Took less time to find these on internet and to order them than it would for me to get my car out of the garage or to check online to see if Maplin had probes in stock at the local store.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 12:32 pm   #178
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Default Re: Maplin stores

I agree with Oldcodger #167, the Maplins Catalogue was an excellent read. But I must admit that I started to buy from the internet, so I suppose I’m part to blame for the demise of Maplins.
Just as a matter of interest A friend of mine runs his own Record shop, one of the oldest in Wales, and he told me he has to prop it up to the tune of a couple of £K most years!! He does this as he would much rather sit in the shop and meet people than sit alone in his house.
Cheers
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 1:17 pm   #179
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Quote:
Just as a matter of interest A friend of mine runs his own Record shop, one of the oldest in Wales, and he told me he has to prop it up to the tune of a couple of £K most years!! He does this as he would much rather sit in the shop and meet people than sit alone in his house.
I gather that's the same situation with a good number of small bookshops. And I used to drink at a pub [now sadly closed] that the owner/landlord openly admitted he ran as a way to lose money rather than have HMRC get their hands on it.
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Old 1st Mar 2018, 1:29 pm   #180
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Default Re: Maplin stores

Only found out yesterday that it started up in this my home town. (Rayleigh) Have used their first outlet (Westcliff) on the odd occasion and always never busy and staff always very helpful. Another High Street casualty like some many from Tandy, BHS to Woolies (remember their little electric component unit at Southend when a youngster). The High Street is changing fast which is the way it is with the internet. Days of shop browsing seem to be fading fast. Shame.
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