The Hattons Directory
Posted
#291261
(In Topic #21968)

Site staff

Research Tool
Lots of information on various models.I beleive this is still being maintained by Rails of Sheffield.
Model railways in OO Gauge, N Gauge & many more from Hattons Model Railways
Posted

Site staff

Lot easier than opening up all the boxes.
Ed
Posted

Full Member
It's a useful resource. RoS have it, whether they maintain and update it…..
Nigel
©Nigel C. Phillips
Posted

Full Member
It does seem that now, we only have RoS as a "box shifter" and that's got to be bad news as far as prices go. It could be that Hattons were heading for financial trouble by being over ambitious with their pricing although my feeling is that their downfall was their US activities - it wouldn't be the first time a successful UK company had hit the buffers by attacking the US market.
Whatever the reason, they were a long established company with a huge turnover and a great reputation the, almost overnight, they shut up shop. Something pretty serious happened there …………………….
'Petermac
Posted

Site staff

Hattons share 'immense sadness' and reveal reasons for closure after 77 years - Liverpool Echo
Ron
NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline.
NCE DCC ; 00 scale UK outline.
Posted

Full Member
I learnt many years ago not to believe what one reads in the media………….
I have no doubt they tidied things up before they closed but I do wonder what the REAL reason was rather than the one they published.
They were perhaps the UKs largest retailer and had been for some time I wonder if their falling out with Bachmann had some bearing but my suspicion still rests with their US acquisition. That also closed 'for restructuring' I think they said but I don't think it re-opened. If the mighty Hattons couldn't survive, it begs the question how long have the other 'big' retailers got left and what secret potion did RoS have to enable them to absorb the bones of Hattons …..?
My guess is still there was something far more serious than the cost of posting overseas or reducing footfall.
'Petermac
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