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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 7:45 pm   #1
ColinTheAmpMan1
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Default Things that I used to buy from Maplin

Hi,

One of the consequences of the demise of Maplin is that there were some items that I can no longer just nip into the shop to buy on occasion (as well as mooching about). I appreciate that there are probably on-line sources of many of these things, but it used to be just so convenient...

They include watch- and alarm-clock batteries, CD/DVD storage cases, DVD cakes (though Maplin did stop selling cakes of 100), butane lighter refills, phone- and monitor-screen cleaning wipes, label remover-, freezer-, and airduster spray-cans and reduced price tools, as well as other small tools.

As I say, there are probably other sources for these, but I will miss the convenience when I next want to buy some of these things.

Colin.
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 7:52 pm   #2
stevehertz
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

So true, it was a great loss to lose a high street supplier of electronic components. I have already, on several occasions, bemoaned not being able to 'pop to Maplin' for an urgently needed component to use on my current project or restoration.
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 7:53 pm   #3
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

I miss :

Small/simple components. PP3 battery clips, jack, phono and DIN plugs, etc

Propan-2-ol cleaner, air duster (or as a friend calls it 'A can of pneumatic fluid')

OK, I can get something similar from RS is almost all cases, but it means I have to wait a day (put in the order, then pick it up at the trade counter next day).

But what I really miss from Maplin is cut lengths of cable. OK, you can get mains flex and the like from DIY places, but to be honest I use enough of those (making up mains leads) that buying the 50m reel from the local electrical wholesaler is reasonable. What I can't now get by the metre are things like 15 core screened cable, coax cables (other than TV aerial cable of dubious quality), audio screened cable (like the 4 core individually screened cable used for tape recorder DIN leads) and so on. And I can't justify buying large reels of all of those.

Does anyone have any suggestions for a source of obscure-ish cables by the metre?
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 7:57 pm   #4
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

I sell a variety of RF cables by the metre. Stock includes WF100 in black, brown or white, Rg59 shotgun cable for CCTV, CAT6 UTP and others. I carry some RG213 for 50r use too.
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 8:20 pm   #5
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

Most of the things mentioned in the first post are available from Poundland, as is air duster.
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 8:40 pm   #6
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

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Originally Posted by TonyDuell View Post

Does anyone have any suggestions for a source of obscure-ish cables by the metre?
Tony, CPC supply various cables by the metre, https://cpc.farnell.com/search?st=ca...20the%20metre# OK, not necessarily obscure cables but may be useful.

Regards
Symon
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 9:44 pm   #7
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

Farnell themselves at any rate used to do a reasonable range of cables by the metre.
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Old 3rd Nov 2018, 10:48 pm   #8
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

HHB Communications (London) are a PRO Audio company, and are happy to supply a wide range of cables in cut lengths - even ultra miniature 4 core screened cable for tape heads.


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Old 4th Nov 2018, 7:37 am   #9
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

A lot of things like co-ax, batteries, etc are available from your local branch of Screwfix if you have one. Otherwise it's next day for components etc, often through ebay sellers.
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 8:52 am   #10
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

Going back not too many years, I bought a pair of 15" Eminence bass guitar loudspeakers. They also used to sell Elna Cerafine audio reservoir capacitors. Apart from staple stuff like electronic parts, a selection of cases, cable, any cable by the metre etc.

But they progressive dumbed down their offering from high grade electronic and audio DIY parts to drones and toys, with the inevitable consequence that they were increasingly competing with big on-line retailers like Amazon.

Shame really, but their demise was alas the consequence of strategic incompetence.

Regarding cables by the metre, the professional audio company Canford sells all their cables by the metre.

https://www.canford.co.uk/
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 10:16 am   #11
David G4EBT
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

The point that Colin was making wasn't that Maplin supplied stuff we can't get elsewhere - clearly we can, and we do - but that he misses the convenience and experience of being able to wander in, have a 'mooch around' and maybe buy a few assorted things. On occasions when I'm out shopping with my wife, she'll wander into a store and I'll say 'What are you after in here?', which sounds to me to be a logical question. The reply will invariably be 'I shan't know till I've had a good look around'. The same could be said for Maplin. They used to have an excellent display of a wide range of cables of every type, a wide range of plastic and metal enclosures, and a reasonable range of Velleman kits.

I rarely visited the local store, but when down in Putney where my elder son and his family lives, I often went into the branches at Putney, Kingston on Thames, Richmond on Thames etc to 'mooch around'. The branch at Kingston was splendid - a large store with a wide range of items on display. In all the years I shopped at Maplin, despite what others have often said, I always found the staff helpful, obliging and courteous. They couldn't know everything about everything, but if they didn't have the answer, they'd ask a more experienced member of staff. Over the years, I've heard derisory comments about 'spotty-faced clueless youths doing Saturday jobs'. Well most of us were at one time 'spotty-faced youths' and if some kid is doing a Saturday Job, at least he's trying to pay his way in life.

Maplin were between a rock and a hard place. The stores which had the most footfall were in town centres with high operating costs. Those in out-of-town retail parks , with lower operating costs were 'destination locations' with little footfall, mainly catering for those who went with a shopping list.

Where I think they went wrong was in still catering for the likes of us - their original mail order customer base after a few resistors, caps, sockets, switches etc. They couldn't stock all such low value low turnover items in depth or they'd have had more stock in their shops than their warehouse, but by only having say two caps of each type, they irritated and annoyed the small and declining number of customer who went in for that stuff. I'm my view, instead of trying to service that diminishing end of the market (well catered for on internet), they'd have been better off to simply destock it all or make it 'net only' and re-focus on high value high turnover items, whether that be drones or Dalek voice gizmos.

Considering what's happened with other High Street stores I doubt that there was anything that could have been done to either significantly reduce Maplin's operating costs or increase its turnover. (Latest casualty is Evans Cycles, which can't, as yet, find a buyer).
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 11:03 am   #12
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

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Where I think they went wrong was in still catering for the likes of us - their original mail order customer base after a few resistors, caps, sockets, switches etc. They couldn't stock all such low value low turnover items in depth or they'd have had more stock in their shops than their warehouse, but by only having say two caps of each type, they irritated and annoyed the small and declining number of customer who went in for that stuff. I'm my view, instead of trying to service that diminishing end of the market (well catered for on internet), they'd have been better off to simply destock it all or make it 'net only' and re-focus on high value high turnover items, whether that be drones or Dalek voice gizmos.
So true on all counts, it didn't get its marketing right. But thinking about it didn't Tandy get rid of its 'resistors and capacitors' and concentrate on computers, calculators, radio controlled models, walkie talkies, music centres etc etc, and still went down the pan? I guess they too didn't quite get it right. I think Tandy's problem was its basic image; in most product sectors they wouldn't have been most people's 'go to' choice to buy an item. Yes the consumer is a funny old beast to satisfy.
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 11:26 am   #13
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

One thing which I miss which really were uniquely Maplin were their in-house project kits, in the days before they outsourced to Velleman.

I still have a Z80 single board computer system which was a Maplin kit, and various others.
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 11:44 am   #14
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

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Where I think they went wrong was in still catering for the likes of us - their original mail order customer base after a few resistors, caps, sockets, switches etc. They couldn't stock all such low value low turnover items in depth or they'd have had more stock in their shops than their warehouse, but by only having say two caps of each type, they irritated and annoyed the small and declining number of customer who went in for that stuff. I'm my view, instead of trying to service that diminishing end of the market (well catered for on internet), they'd have been better off to simply destock it all or make it 'net only' and re-focus on high value high turnover items, whether that be drones or Dalek voice gizmos.
Totally true: you have to sell a _lot_ of crocodile-clips, blank CDs/DVDs (does anyone still buy these?), 8-to-25-pin "D"-connector adapters, odd resistors/capacitors or phono-plugs to generate the sort of profit you get from selling a couple of CCTV camera/HDD-storage units or a disco mixing-desk: the low stock of each item always frustrated me too. I was always expecting to have the parts-counter person astonishedly say something like "Oh, you've come to buy our diode!".

They could have gone net-only but their website was a total mess, and I really doubt they could have maintained the sort of stock that RS, Farnell, CPC have.

[I was never a 'moocher' - I viscerally hate shopping of all types and the idea of wandering aimelessly round a shop looking for something to buy I find utterly soul-destroying. Whether online or in 'bricks and mortar' shops I make a list, and treat the whole process like a precision military operation!].
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Old 4th Nov 2018, 1:57 pm   #15
ColinTheAmpMan1
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

David has got my point totally. I used Maplin at Kingston-on-Thames, Putney, Strand and Wimbledon.

I have both Poundland and Screwfix nearby - I even have a Screwfix catalogue, so I'll have to investigate. The difficulty with Poundland that I find is that the stock varies from outlet to outlet, so there is no guarantee that you will see what you want.

With regard to my "mooching about", isn't that what we do when buying Christmas gifts? In the case of Maplin, there were sometimes reductions on potentially useful items. I think they were called "Managers Specials" or something. If you don't go in and have a look around, you will miss them.

Another group of things that I used to buy periodically from Maplin was PMR radio accessories. They had a nice selection of headsets usually. I now rarely use my PMR radios, but when I did, a variety of headsets was always a good idea.

Colin.
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Old 5th Jan 2019, 9:15 pm   #16
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

On the web site page for Maplins it talks about coming back with a new web site .
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Old 5th Jan 2019, 9:23 pm   #17
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

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Most of the things mentioned in the first post are available from Poundland, as is air duster.
Many are available in Wilko too.
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Old 5th Jan 2019, 9:26 pm   #18
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

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On the web site page for Maplins it talks about coming back with a new web site .

They are also after bean counters and software developers - based in Marlow, Bucks.


https://www.indeedjobs.com/maplin-online/jobs


I note "Maplin Online" ..... but I don't think anyone expected the "bricks and mortar" shops to return.
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Old 5th Jan 2019, 9:33 pm   #19
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

It will be completely different company who have bought the rights to the name. It's an asset which the administrators were obviously keen to sell.

Same as when Woolworths restarted online after they went bust, it was a home shopping company who were using the name.
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Old 6th Jan 2019, 2:11 am   #20
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Default Re: Things that I used to buy from Maplin

Maplins was a godsend on a Sunday morning when you needed something yesterday...and around Christmas time when you were stuck for ideas for presents, they usually had some fun novelty ideas..however in recent years the Maplin buyers seemed to have run out ideas themselves, when in fact it could have a good revenue stream for them catering for all those blokes still in the mall at 4.30 on a Christmas Eve wondering what the hell to get.
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