MODELZONE IN ADMINISTRATION (as of 26 June 2013) (1 Viewer)

[Naps...just Naps]

I thought I would open a new thread on this subject because I am finding it difficult to follow the "Modelzone exclusive" thread.
also I feel it is worthy of its own thread because of the importance to UK WB collectors and the impact it may or may not have on WB distribution and sales.

Reading the threads on this subject so far it seems there are a number of collectors with unfulfilled pre-orders with Modelzone. I am one of them.

Because the Modelzone website is now down I contacted Modelzone Croydon. I was told that they have been told that all pre-orders are still valid but it is the administrator (Deloitte LLP) that will have to deal with those orders.

The issue is are WB prepared to provide Modelzone with this stock in their current financial situation? I very much doubt it.

So does that mean Modelzone/the administrator will take our money from our credit and debit cards in the vain hope that they will receive the WB pre-order stock?
I can see a few out of pocket WB collectors here. Me included.

It would be good to get a William Britain perspective on this.

There is also the impact this will have on WB to consider. Have WB factored in future Modelzone orders in their factory runs. They must have.

If so they may have a lot of surplus stock and need to find another outlet very quickly or WB could be financially impacted as well.

I have spent a lot of time and money with Modelzone stores over the years and always found their staff very pleasant and helpful. It is very sad that these people could now find themselves out of work.
Such is the financial instability of a lot of market places at the moment.

 

[tdubel]

I thought I would open a new thread on this subject because I am finding it difficult to follow the "Modelzone exclusive" thread.
also I feel it is worthy of its own thread because of the importance to UK WB collectors and the impact it may or may not have on WB distribution and sales.

Reading the threads on this subject so far it seems there are a number of collectors with unfulfilled pre-orders with Modelzone. I am one of them.

Because the Modelzone website is now down I contacted Modelzone Croydon. I was told that they have been told that all pre-orders are still valid but it is the administrator (Deloitte LLP) that will have to deal with those orders.

The issue is are WB prepared to provide Modelzone with this stock in their current financial situation? I very much doubt it.

So does that mean Modelzone/the administrator will take our money from our credit and debit cards in the vain hope that they will receive the WB pre-order stock?
I can see a few out of pocket WB collectors here. Me included.

It would be good to get a William Britain perspective on this.

There is also the impact this will have on WB to consider. Have WB factored in future Modelzone orders in their factory runs. They must have.

If so they may have a lot of surplus stock and need to find another outlet very quickly or WB could be financially impacted as well.

I have spent a lot of time and money with Modelzone stores over the years and always found their staff very pleasant and helpful. It is very sad that these people could now find themselves out of work.
Such is the financial instability of a lot of market places at the moment.

I would like to know this too as I only order direct mail order from one of the stores - I think manchester, over the years, awesome service, they send it to me via regular shipping so I don't have to pay the high website shipping to the US. When I inquired last week on my preorder, I have not received any response. I hope that is not a bad sign as I would like to get this set too as ordered.

Tom

 

[The Military Workshop]

I thought I would open a new thread on this subject because I am finding it difficult to follow the "Modelzone exclusive" thread.
also I feel it is worthy of its own thread because of the importance to UK WB collectors and the impact it may or may not have on WB distribution and sales.

Reading the threads on this subject so far it seems there are a number of collectors with unfulfilled pre-orders with Modelzone. I am one of them.

Because the Modelzone website is now down I contacted Modelzone Croydon. I was told that they have been told that all pre-orders are still valid but it is the administrator (Deloitte LLP) that will have to deal with those orders.

The issue is are WB prepared to provide Modelzone with this stock in their current financial situation? I very much doubt it.

So does that mean Modelzone/the administrator will take our money from our credit and debit cards in the vain hope that they will receive the WB pre-order stock?
I can see a few out of pocket WB collectors here. Me included.

It would be good to get a William Britain perspective on this.

There is also the impact this will have on WB to consider. Have WB factored in future Modelzone orders in their factory runs. They must have.

If so they may have a lot of surplus stock and need to find another outlet very quickly or WB could be financially impacted as well.

I have spent a lot of time and money with Modelzone stores over the years and always found their staff very pleasant and helpful. It is very sad that these people could now find themselves out of work.
Such is the financial instability of a lot of market places at the moment.

Some comments as a Britains dealer.

I would very much doubt the Administrator is going to take anybody's money for an item they do not have in stock. However if MZ or a local store have taken pre payment already that is another matter.

If Administrator/MZ pays for the Britains stock and the business is ongoing then you would assume they will fill the orders. It may come down to some stores being more viable than others.

As far as MZ exclusive figures I think Britains will have no problem selling them and I guess it means other Britains dealers in the UK will get more to make up for the ones not sold through MZ outlets.

If you credit card has not been zapped already I would not be too concerned about getting Britains items in UK.

These are my personal thoughts and I have no knowledge of the MZ situation other than what I have read on this forum.

Brett

 

[uksubs]

What odd had a email from them yesterday about there latest item but they had a lot of sells going on as well so who knows

 

[jazzeum]

I can't speak for how the British system works but I would not expect it's completely dissimilar to the American bankruptcy system.

Under the American bankruptcy system, if a company files for reorganization, agreements can't be terminated when a bankruptcy petition is filed; the automatic stay provisions go into effect. Suppliers have to continue to provide product during reorganization, unless the trustee (the administrator) decides otherwise.

 

[The Military Workshop]

I can't speak for how the British system works but I would not expect it's completely dissimilar to the American bankruptcy system.

Under the American bankruptcy system, if a company files for reorganization, agreements can't be terminated when a bankruptcy petition is filed; the automatic stay provisions go into effect. Suppliers have to continue to provide product during reorganization, unless the trustee (the administrator) decides otherwise.

Brad,
That may be true but I think that means they only have to provide product if it has been paid for in full before shipping.
Brett

 

[pochmahone]

Modelzone only charge your card when the item is ready to ship, so I dont think they will charge anyone before they have the item in stock

Brian

 

[chalklands]

Sad news. I wonder what will happen to the figures. They must be near to completion in the production process.

Pete

 

[thebritfarmer]

Sad news. I wonder what will happen to the figures. They must be near to completion in the production process.

Pete

Before their website went down it stated they would be available at the end of July. Maybe Britains will take over the orders and sell them direct?

 

[chalklands]

Before their website went down it stated they would be available at the end of July. Maybe Britains will take over the orders and sell them direct?

I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

 

[graycap]

Apparently the stores (but not the web site) will continie tradiing, at least for the time being. According to The Guardian, the administrators are hopefully of finding someone to take over the business. I really feel for the staff at the various MZ stores as I have always found them very friendly and helpfull. I was in their new Oxford Street store a couple of weeks ago and there appeared to be no hint of this then.

 

[zulucollector]

Apparently the stores (but not the web site) will continie tradiing, at least for the time being. According to The Guardian, the administrators are hopefully of finding someone to take over the business. I really feel for the staff at the various MZ stores as I have always found them very friendly and helpfull. I was in their new Oxford Street store a couple of weeks ago and there appeared to be no hint of this then.

Not to be too morbid as alot of jobs/families are at stake. However should Modelzone not continue as a "going entity" do you think wbritains should/would re-release some of the modelzone exclusives as a mass produced run. I am guessing a lot of collectors would love an opportunity to complete their collection with some of the harder to find pieces. I am still puzzled to this day how wbritains agreed to allow exclusivity for Coghill and Melville. I understand generic exclusives but historical figures not so much.. Do you think K&C and Collector Showcase would only have exclusives for Hitler in their ww2 lines? Just ranting now...

 

[damian]

The Telegraphy says that ModelZOne expanded to rapidly and has been undermined by online competition.

 

[Deitz]

Maybe Ken can shed some light on what to expect from WBritains and Modelzone regarding the exclusive set yet to be released.

Brian

 

[ANSAR]

There is a lot lot more to it than that.

ANSAR

 

[Charlie Brown]

However should Modelzone not continue as a "going entity" do you think wbritains should/would re-release some of the modelzone exclusives as a mass produced run.

Undermine totally the concept of "limited edition" sets. Something that wouldn't go down too well amongst collectors.

Some limited edition pieces haven't sold as well. MKL's WB39005 William Britain Camel Corps Stretcher Bearer being one. From WB's point of view the production and stock is paid for. No stock sitting in the warehouse unsold for years.

Modelzone is also a key retailer for Bachmann Europe (model trains) who own the UK distribution of WB's product. So may be symptomatic of a decline in customer spend in the UK. Recently Hornby (trains, slot cars, Airfix, Humbrol paints, Corgi ) announced a sizable loss. Modelzone was a key retailer for them also.

A challenging time it would appear.

 

[uksubs]

Just got this email from them

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Dear Neil

Welcome to the latest newsletter from Modelenium!

Automatic Emails from Modelenium

You may have recently received two new automatic emails from Modelenium. The first is a fortnightly email letting you know about some of the latest models we have added to our web site. This will keep you updated, also if you click on the 'Whats New' page on the site this shows all the models added in the last 50 days. We will shortly be making it easier to look round that page with filters e.g. the Brands, scale etc.

Secondly if you have outstanding orders (reservations) with us you will receive an email at the start of each month confirming the models outstanding, and if your payment details have expired a reminder that they will need updating before we could send the model(s) out once they are received. There were a couple of techincal glitches on the first one sent out on monday which meant some customers received the email several times, and was incorrectly prompting for payment details when they were up to date and valid. Apologies for that , the technical boys will have that sorted by the time the next one goes out start of August. We hope you agree with us though that it is useful to have this regular update of your outstanding models.
Modelzone

You may have seen the press announcements this week that Modelzone has gone into administration. It is never nice to see other companies in our trade having difficulties, we know many of the Modelzone team and we wish them all the best as they seek a new owner. We sincerely hope they come through administration successfully and they can continue trading, if you have orders with Modelzone and have concerns whether they can be fulfilled, you should in the first instance contact the administrator. If we can help to confirm availability of the models by all means give us a call. We should stress that Modelenium is in no way connected to Modelzone so we are completely unaffected.
Amerang

You may know that Amerang are the UK importer for many ranges including Minichamps, Kyosho, Hot Wheels, Forces of Valor etc. Amerang as part of the Modelzone group are also in administration, but are hopeful of a rapid deal to be sold, as they are a profitable entity in their own right, and are continuing to trade through administration. All being well therefore there should be no interuption to these ranges. We will let you know as soon as we know the outcome.
Whats New

Going back to the latest news, it is worth spending a few minutes going through the Whats New pages, there are some great new products announced by Autoart, Forces Of Valour, Jotus, Matrix, GLM, Otto, Warmaster, Dragon, NEO, WSI, Minichamps and many more. Unfortunately we have not been provided with images for many of these models, we do of course upload these as soon as they are provided by the Manufacturers.

Best Wishes,
The Modelenium Team

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[rekp]

From what I have heard through the trade it appears a lot of manufacturers operated with Modelzone on a franchise basis. All of the Hornby stock in the stores was franchised by Hornby so thay stand to lose nothing. Just wondering if Bachmann/William Britains worked on a similar basis and the stock is protected.

steve

 

[Charlie Brown]

Stores offering 20% discount it appears.

 

[rekp]

Stores offering 20% discount it appears.

was speaking to Bachmann European Sales Director at a show yesterday and Bachmann/Britains were not in a franchise deal , he also said that when he visited Manchester store products were being sold below cost. Also said they had not decided what was happening as far as the Britains Exclusives at the moment .