Graham Farish in WHSmith

[Agrippa]

In the Modelzone section of WHS in Glasgow Sauchiehall Street  I was surprised to see
some GF stuff next to the Hornby items. about 4-5 locos, a coach or two and a few wagons.
Some boxed , some not, some priced, some not. Prices seemed quite high.Can't see them
selling anything from such a poor display.

[dodger]

I saw some in the Reading store last week and felt the same.

Dodger

[OwL]

Ditto with the main WH Smith in Birmingham.
They were selling mainly the boxed train sets and had little in the way of individual loco's or Rolling Stock.
Again there prices were High.

[steve836]

Perhaps it's a flyer to see if the market is there, perhaps it might be worth a punt on a wagon or two to encourage them.

[Claude Dreyfus]

The same for Croydon. It looks like what is left of Modelzone are sharing shop space with Smiffs...

[MikeDunn]

When I chatted to the ex-MZ staff member manning (ok, womanning  ) the MZ section in Birmingham WHS when they opened up there, I asked about FraFar (seeing as they had Bachmann).  She told me that they hoped to have GraFar items in for that Christmas - seems it too a year longer !!!

While I applaud WHS doing this, I do think that if they follow list process I will be extremely unlikely to buy from them !  It seems they're aiming to catch the "uneducated" potential market, ie parents 

[guest311]

When I chatted to the ex-MZ staff member manning (ok, womanning  ) the MZ section in Birmingham WHS when they opened up there, I asked about FraFar (seeing as they had Bachmann).  She told me that they hoped to have GraFar items in for that Christmas - seems it too a year longer !!!

While I applaud WHS doing this, I do think that if they follow list process I will be extremely unlikely to buy from them !  It seems they're aiming to catch the "uneducated" potential market, ie parents 

but will you be pressured into buying chocolate at half price as well 

[steve836]

When I chatted to the ex-MZ staff member manning (ok, womanning  ) the MZ section in Birmingham WHS when they opened up there, I asked about FraFar (seeing as they had Bachmann).  She told me that they hoped to have GraFar items in for that Christmas - seems it too a year longer !!!

While I applaud WHS doing this, I do think that if they follow list process I will be extremely unlikely to buy from them !  It seems they're aiming to catch the "uneducated" potential market, ie parents 

but will you be pressured into buying chocolate at half price as well 

I go to Cadbury World to do that!

[MikeDunn]

Yeugh !!!  Cadbury 'chocolate' is crap 

While I'm nowhere near as bad as SWMBO (she just adores 100% cocoa chocolate   I can't handle that high), it needs to be at least 70% to be decent ... unless it's a good quality white, of course 

So no - WHS "do you want cheap chocolate" just doesn't get anything more than a look from me 

[DesertHound]

The same for Croydon. It looks like what is left of Modelzone are sharing shop space with Smiffs...

Claude - literally walk out of the WHS Croydon exit that takes you into the Whitgift Centre (not the exit on to the High Street) and you will see Costa Coffee (surprise surprise) on your right. Walk past Costa and straight into the old Allders. There you will find The Model Centre (or named something similar). They have the real liquidation MZ stock and you can pick up Grafar items for half RRP. Ok, it's a bit of a lottery as to what they have on the day, but if you are in WHS, it's only 30 seconds away!

Cheers

Dan

[Claude Dreyfus]

Claude - literally walk out of the WHS Croydon exit that takes you into the Whitgift Centre (not the exit on to the High Street) and you will see Costa Coffee (surprise surprise) on your right. Walk past Costa and straight into the old Allders. There you will find The Model Centre (or named something similar). They have the real liquidation MZ stock and you can pick up Grafar items for half RRP. Ok, it's a bit of a lottery as to what they have on the day, but if you are in WHS, it's only 30 seconds away!

Hmmm... I wonder if I can swing a couple of hours working from our Croydon office and take a look? 

[DesertHound]

Worth a look IF YOU ARE THERE Claude. I don't want to say travel from afar, just in case they have closed, or don't have much left to offer. However, if you're there, or can easily go there, then why not? I was last there about six weeks ago. Picked up about six cement wagons for 3.50 each (or so), three bogie bolsters for 7.49 each (one was 11.49 I think), a brake coach for a cheap price, some EWS wagons (all around the 3.50- 4.50 pound mark).

Perhaps some other bits I cannot remember.

Dan

[OwL]

Yeugh !!!  Cadbury 'chocolate' is crap 

Heretic!

How can you say this! Whisper bars and Twirl bars rule 

[MikeDunn]

They have the real liquidation MZ stock

WTF !!!  Why did no-one tell me fore

I spent days down there for work recently !!!  :'(

[DesertHound]

I did mention it about six weeks ago somewhere on here Mike, but I guess unless you're scanning every thread for every word, you'll probably miss it. Ah, the labyrinth of information that NGF is!

Like I said Mike, the stock they have is very limited now and as I was told by the chap working there that they get sporadic deliveries but all the goods stuff goes very quickly. He also said they were working down the stock, since I asked if they would continue selling Farish stuff after they had cleared the MZ stock and he said only if they can get it at a good price. They actually specialise in selling liquidated stock and it's not just n gauge, they sell RC cars, airfix kits, all sorts (I guess like MZ did). It's the kind of shop that could be here today and gone tomorrow, hence I don't advise a special trip from afar, since it might have closed, or there might be very little there.

I wanted to buy larger rakes but was limited by what they had on the shelves.

Hope that makes you feel a bit better Mike 

Dan