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    Maplin goes into administration

    Another great day for British business.


    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-43223175

    #2
    Toys 'R' Bust.

    I quite like Maplin.

    Comment


      #3
      Wasn't Toys 'R Us going west down to the US parent though?

      Maplin down to

      - fall in customer demand
      - withdrawl of credit
      - fall in value of £ directly attributable to the Brexit referendum result.

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        #4
        Yes, the US parent went under in January

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          #5
          Wasn't Toys 'R Us going west down to the US parent though?
          Yes and no. The US company filed first, but the UK company isn't strong enough to survive on its own (at least not in anything like its current form). They already did a CVA after the US filing to slash rental costs, but it didn't last more than a month.

          Maplin is shit. It's the WH Smith of electronics.

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            #6
            Maplin are the masters of overcharging for the most menial of items. I remember wanting to get a 3m USB cable (so I could play my PS3 and charge the controller at the same time) a while ago and they wanted north of £20 for it. I got one elsewhere (I forget where) for somewhere in the region of £6.

            Good riddance, really, although it sucks for the staff.

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              #7
              Yeah, I went into Staples for an HDMI cable somewhere between 6 and 8 feet long. You can get them 4 feet long for $1 or $2 at Walmart or a pound shop. But the price magically jumps to $19.99 at Staples for 8 feet. Dude that worked there was like "Uh...yeah, just go to Canada Computes and they're like four bucks."

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                #8
                Maplin was OK for me to pick up the kind of specialist stuff I needed without having to go online and risk ending up with some piece of cheaply-made junk but yeah, it was ridiculously overpriced - £17 for a can of air duster I could get for £3 in the Wilko down the street.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Ginger Yellow View Post
                  Maplin is shit. It's the WH Smith of electronics.
                  It never used to be back in the days when it used to serve the hobbyist market out of a shed somewhere in Essex. We used to buy all our stuff from there, mostly because they sold practically everything and at really low prices.

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                    #10
                    To quote a forum post made elsewhere by a long term Maplin staffer, the problem was the same as it always once.

                    They are ran by arrogant retail jolly boys using the retail dinosaur textbook that became irrelevant 15 years ago and refuse to listen when their shop staff tell them whats wrong ("lower your prices on your higher margin products"). They are a high margin business, a little less so these day perhaps, and they've lost their niche in the market. Many of the products posters here have suggested they sell aren't alien ideas to the business. Its just they won't sell them because they won't make enough profit on them. And their customer base is literally dying out - older people to whom the internet is a scary thing and have used Maplin for years. Younger customers are savvy enough to know that Maplin don't offer good value. They might browse but then buy elsewhere online.



                    The company has been seeing a transactional decline for years.. They've tried numerous things but they've largely been well wide of addressing the actual problems. A few years back, they decided to copy PC World, right down to stocking the same shit and selling services and "protect plans" aka insurance policies (of which staff are not allowed to refer to as insurance policies). But the latest initiative really struck a blow. The CEO that done a runner to his mates company in January spunked obscene amounts of money on pushing Smart Home. If you've been in a Maplin recently, you might have noticed a big interactive table in the middle equipped with a Google Home, an Echo, Hue bulbs and the like. It generated fuck all business and if they'd only just asked us lot in store if that would drive sales, we'd have told them an emphatic no. 5 years ago, they had no debt and £50m spare. They've got fuck all now due to mismanagement and the delusion that middle-management buzzwords equate to a solid business plan. Oh and thinking that a box of fucking donuts is a meaningful incentive for staff to strive for impossible targets. Yes, seriously, donuts! The final nail in the coffin was when credit insurers pulled the plug on the company last November. Brexit also caused an issue as they buy everything in US dollars.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Mixed feelings about this. Always found it a bit too expensive and the staff (at least in my local branch) a little bit too pushy and know it all. It did have a good range of items though and contained things you couldn't always pick up quickly elsewhere. Sorry for the genuine staff who will lose their jobs and not sorry for the cocks in charge at the top end.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        I have a work account with them.

                        I usually get my electronics stuff on-line, but my local Maplin was useful for things like solder, solder wick, veroboard, and some small batch components.

                        I generally found their staff lovely, and because I'm a 'regular' I have got to know some of them. So I feel for them and as usual it's not their fault. While they try and find another low paid retail job, the retail jolly boys and girls will be off to their next 'project'. Wankers.

                        As others have said, it's pricey in comparison to some outlets, but in some cases it could be cheaper than say RS, Farnell and Rapid. It depends on what you are after.
                        Last edited by NickSTFU; 28-02-2018, 18:50.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Just another stage in the slow death of bricks-and-mortar retail. Personally I won't mourn it especially, although one feels for the staff whose jobs are at risk. It's struggling because the alternative is simply better - cheaper, more choice, more convenience. The next big battleground will be supermarkets. Amazon are striding confidently in that direction with their Pantry service in league with Alexa.

                          Comment


                            #14
                            What the fuck? I bought something there on Monday and may need to buy something else there this week. If you're not sure exactly what you're looking for then trying to find stuff online is like needle in a haystack, I much prefer actual shops. The woman who helped me on Monday was really nice. Grump.

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Well, fewer people are staying at holiday camps these days. (Etc.)

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Originally posted by SouthdownRebel View Post
                                Just another stage in the slow death of bricks-and-mortar retail. Personally I won't mourn it especially, although one feels for the staff whose jobs are at risk. It's struggling because the alternative is simply better - cheaper, more choice, more convenience. The next big battleground will be supermarkets. Amazon are striding confidently in that direction with their Pantry service in league with Alexa.
                                It also doesn't help that the competition is helped by creative tax avoidance and massive subsidising from the taxpayer.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  I like Maplins, bought batteries there just a week ago. Bought a plethora of leads/connectors for a Surface book at work and they were fine about taking them all back over Christmas.

                                  It would be a shame if we couldn't go into a shop and peer helplessly at leads.

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                                    #18
                                    Maplins was never the same once Ted Bovis had left.

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                                      #19
                                      This is a very good analysis of the role of private equity finance in Maplins demise. Charging interest rates of 15 percent- and also structuring the loans so they remained at the head of the queue when the business became (inevitably) insolvent.

                                      The business model of private equity is about stripping assets and looking after itself – while walking off with juicy loan repayments.

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                                        #20
                                        I can believe the account posted by Snake. I think the same thing goes for Toys R Us as well. High prices on generic stock that could be bought anywhere.

                                        I don't think I ever bought anything in Maplin although it was often fun for a wander. Especially on a retail park and the alternative was a trog through Dunelm looking at lamps.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          I’m with MsD, as a ‘peering helplessly’ type.

                                          Eg: got an iPhone b4 Xmas, didn’t recognise what the little paper clip thing in the box was, went into maplins to peer at ‘prising open iPhone’ kits and when I worked out I didnt need it (trans- asked techie colleague who laughed at me) they refunded with a smile

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                                            #22
                                            I actually found it quite handy for stuff like USB drives and external storage. I've got around 16Tb of storage at home in various NASs and USB external drives. People like to go "well, I can get it from Amazon for a fiver cheaper". Yes. But I can get it right now for that extra fiver, instead of arranging for the Mrs to be around so that it doesn't get dropped in the paper recycling bin/left on the front step/sorry you were out.

                                            I really ought to go through all those drives and consolidate them.

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                                              #23
                                              I actually found it quite handy for stuff like USB drives and external storage. I've got around 16Tb of storage at home in various NASs and USB external drives.
                                              A WD Red 6TB is £50 cheaper on Amazon! It's probably £20 cheaper at any other physical store.

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                                                #24
                                                I think the same thing goes for Toys R Us as well.
                                                Another victim of a highly leveraged buyout.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Basically, I'm not 100% convinced on the "death of retail" narrative, as opposed to capitalism not - for want of a better phrase - working properly. The owners of Maplin, and TRU and Carillion and others weren't running businesses. They were playing spreadsheet games. The goal was to extract as much money and pay as little tax as possible before the whole thing collapses into a smouldering heap. The health of the business was secondary and any investment in making the business actually work for the benefit of the company as a whole detracted from the extraction process.

                                                  As mentioned, the incentive to succeed is further reduced by the free tax ride and subsidies given to the competition.

                                                  There really ought to be some kind of laws against it, but we've been in a situation of regulatory capture since the New Labour days so....

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