Maplin "Insurers cast doubt over future of Maplin" (now CLOSING stores)

[trys]

For those outside of the UK, there is a company called Maplin Electronics who are by now our only highstreet choice for electronic components when we are caught short and just need that extra bit that we have forgotten about. It's usually for me, a connector of some kind, or an enclosure to put the thing in once I've eaten all the Altoids mints I can stomach.

Yes, they're expensive compared to online stores, but they do need to pay the ridiculous tax rates that local authorities demand, along with the charges that the retail parks impose too.

Even though I'd want them to improve in some ways (like get rid of those really *stupid* component drawers in their "stores of the future", instead of having them on display), and bring back the Sci-Fi catalogues with component datasheets) I don't want them to go.

**ANYHOW**

I read the headline "Insurers cast doubt over future of Maplin", with the article in the Daily Telegraph where (quote) "It means some suppliers could struggle to insure their debts with Maplin to enable them to continue supplying it with goods.". The article describes the losses they have been running at, and that's really worrying.

It's worrying as the "Maker/Hacker" scene is probably stronger that it has been for a long long time, driven by things like the Raspberry Pi, Arduino (and possibly by the Micro Bit). The reason I imagine that they have a bit of a problem is that you might read about the "£30 computer, the Raspberry Pi" and find they are charging a relative fortune for it.

It would be good to give them feedback as to why we are not buying from them I suppose. I don't know.

Would you be bothered if Maplin wasn't around?

Trys

[dmills]

Not really much of a loss, they have not been a sane option for anything much for the last 20 years.
Maplin are basically the latter day UK take on rat shack (Yes I know that was officially Tandy, but Maplin have ended up playing in much the same space).

Time was Maplin were actually useful, but you are pretty much looking pre internet, and these days all the full service component vendors will deal with private individuals on reasonable terms (I well remember RS refusing to play because I did not have a VAT number, you don't get that bullshit any more).

Regards, Dan.

[EEVblog]

We in Australia lost Dick Smith Electronics after nearly 50 years. We've seen it all before. We still have Jaycar though and Altronics in limited numbers in capital cities. So we haven't had to go cold turkey.

Jaycar and Altronics have been better than Dick Smith for parts for at least 30 of those 50 years.

[Avacee]

I'm surprised Maplin has lasted so long.

Years ago they went away from components and into boxed-goods so were directly competing with PC-World, Curry's, Dixons, Argos, (Insert umpteen retailers names here who no longer exist), who often had larger stores with a greater range of products. The merged PC-World/Curry's/Dixons/CarphoneWarehouse has pretty much won the bricks+mortar battle.
In the Internet age you can go direct the manufacturers/distributors website or find it cheaper on Amazon, or even cheaper on eBay where the chinese have won the component market battle.

Only reason to go into a Maplin now would be if they became a DigiKey/Mouser/Farnell's/RS/etc outlet store

Been in once this year and that was to buy replacement wire and connectors after I forgot to take the aerial off before a car wash and it was ripped out
So should Maplin close it will be sad, and I hope it doesn't happen, but it won't be missed.

Edit: Having said that if there was a closing down sale I'd be straight over there

[cdev]

It seems that the wait time between ordering something from China and receiving it has fallen a great deal. Just a few years ago when I ordered things from Asian suppliers it would consistently take a month or more to get here, but now it seems many things inexplicably arrive in just a few days. Often when the date they are supposed to arrive is still a month or several weeks away. Some Asian suppliers now seem to be using Amazon to deliver stuff too. Which means its really fast, because if it comes from China it must have been sent air freight.

This likely sets up a difficult situation for retail stores, with rent, employee wage costs, heating and electricity costs.

Only the very largest electronics stores like Frys in the Bay Area can compete with the online vendors on price and variety.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I'm surprised they still have the component drawers in the back, and so much hobbyist electronics stuff - on the occasions I've been in a branch I've never seen anyone even browsing, let alone buying in those sections. It seems to mostly be toys/drones, AV accessories and disco gear.
I don't recall ever having been so desperate to have to pay their prices for parts - they occasionally have a few neat tools.
I heard from someone that supplies them that they've always been terrible late payers.
 

[NivagSwerdna]

Would you be bothered if Maplin wasn't around?

Sorry... but it wouldn't worry me too much.  Maplin is very expensive for components so I haven't been shopping there for a long time.  I think it has become home of the techno pro-consumer nerd and I'm too much a cheapskate to buy my techno junk from a bricks and mortar store.

[borjam]

I used to purchase from them in the 80's. I even kept a catalog as a poor man's databook for digital ICs. And hey had a really huge books department.

But it's true that they have changed a lot. I have looked at their website at times, but I haven't ordered from them in ages.

A pity anyway. In the 80's and 90's Maplin, Jameco and JDR were really useful for me!

[cdev]

I investigated buying a (wireless) Velleman oscilloscope from them recently, but they wouldn't sell it to people in the US.

[Macbeth]

The Maplin catalogue was the best way to find the best stuff. That huge document had all the datasheets that nobody had access to without it back in the '80s. For some reason RS had a holier than thow attitude and refused to deal with little pieces of shit like me in 1985. Maplin had the shops and the magazines too.

It's absurd that Maplin will go the way of Dick Smith, when we now have a renewed interest in "Makers", surely Maplin knows their core market? Ok they have to sell cheap shit from China, but they can add some value?

[wnorcott]

Maplin published several good books on musical electronics and guitar effects etc. by R A Penfold and these are still good books.  I wonder if the publishing house will still be around even if the retail shops are not?  Even though a few of the parts in Penfold's books are obsolete and hard to source he really explained the circuits and are good for people interested in audio circuits.

So even though there are no store here in USA, Maplin still has an influence.

[coppice]

I guess they never really recovered from setting up business at Maplin Sands, and then the third London airport being sited at Stanstead.

[cdev]

The US has had lots of chains that used to be quite popular back in the 70s and 80s and then most of them died after CB and home audio sort of became computer madness..   Some stores managed to adapt (Radio Shack) and toughed it out until just recently, fading away only a few months ago, but Lafayette never sold anything digital except maybe the embryonic Pong games. 

Arrow is still around and they just sell parts.  Frys seems to only open stores in areas they are very sure have a large potential clientle.

Micro Center is another chain that focuses on computers, not so much electronics.

[floobydust]

Retail brick-and-mortar stores are failing and going belly-up all over the world.
It doesn't matter if it's clothing, consumer electronics, a geek shack, kitchenware etc.
The retail chains are constantly bought and sold as investor cash cows, ending up so poorly managed, with no stock, old stock, and outrageous markups that people are going online instead.

Stores start losing money, blame the cost of staff and rent- then panic and restructure/reorganize/refinance and change their product lines and continue the death spiral.
Too bad they forget to return to the basics and what made them great in the first place.

Dick Smith had 131 months worth of AAA batteries and 141 months worth of AA batteries in stock?! I can still buy them here in Canada

I'm not sure what Maplin is doing wrong, they've been bought and sold a few times it seems so they are probably clueless.

[aargee]

I visited a one or two Maplin stores while in the UK last year, saddened me to see how Jaycar (and Dick Smith)-like they were.
Trying to scrounge money from profits on cheap China imports, I hope it isn't, but it seems like a spiral to the bottom. 

Here, Altronics seems to be the best of B&M stores. It's always handy to have a 'run-to' store around for an immediate fix when you're in a pickle.

[fourtytwo42]

IMOP Maplin went downhill years ago when they stopped doing components and concentrated on toys.
The website has long since been deleted from my bookmarks.

[BradC]

I think one of the advantages Altronics has is they don't try to be everywhere. I agree it is handy to have a go-to store nearby. You can't hold back the tide unfortunately and seriously would anyone want to go back to the pre-Internet shopping days. My last internet purchase was a pair of TI MSP430 devboards. $10 delivered all the way from the USA. How good is that.

That's pretty good. How long did it take?

Being based in Perth, I have 2 Altronics stores (and the main warehouse) within a 10 minute drive. So I can place an internet order and pick it up next time I'm out and about. RS gives free next day on anything they have in stock (which is usually enough), and then the non-urgent stuff can come from anywhere. I have resorted to Jaycar a couple of times, but each time I go in there I walk out vowing never to return.

It is a _massive_ advantage though being able to jump in the car and get stuff 7 days a week when something comes up and I didn't plan ahead, or I let the smoke out of something. I don't think Altronics is going anywhere anytime soon. I've never been in an empty store. There's always someone there buying random stuff.

[steve30]

I think Maplin has had its day, and I wouldn't miss them if they closed.

I'm surprised they've been able to open so many new stores. Also, when talking about online competition, we must remember that Maplin started out as mail order.

Several years ago, I wanted something either Arduino-like or Pi-like (I forget), and I thought Maplin must have this stuff, even if its at higher prices (given that its more consumery than components). I checked the website for stock and prices, and it said 'Web only'  .

On a side note, my local-ish independent component shop, Bardwells, closed down this summer after many decades.

[G7PSK]

Maplins went south with the dawn of the internet. Back in the 70 and 80's with mail order (snail mail) They were just about the only supplier for hobbyists, well after RS got all shirty and would only supply trade.
If they go they go and I for one will not shed any tears on their departure.

Much much worse would be if the internet stopped working overnight.

[fcb]

I used to go drinking with some of the staff & managers at Maplin in Leeds in the early 90's.  It was in-decline back then.

I haven't been into a Maplin's near me for maybe 3 years, and the last thing I bought from them online was that WFS210 Velleman scope for £20.

[CJay]

Not really much of a loss, they have not been a sane option for anything much for the last 20 years.

I've been pleasantly surprised by Maplin recently, they're selling components (albeit a fairly small range) at reasonably sensible prices, 4N25 optocouplers at 49p each is one example...

Sadly they've removed the component counter in a lot of stores but I have used them a *lot* more when I've come up with some crackpot idea in the early hours.

Sadly I think it's probably too little too late (component sales are never going to shore up their business unless they pump a huge amount of money into publicity and some huge mail order operation)  and they're dead but just haven't quite stopped kicking.

[Kilo Tango]

Problem might be loosing track of where the market is going and not following. They are forgetting the "4 P's" of marketing.
 
There is a strong market in the UK for components, its just that Maplin's stock is not as wide/good as others. Their only advantage is if I want a component today I can drive down and get it. With Farnell, I order today and have it tomorrow.

There are also several people on Ebay selling parts from Farnell at 100% markup and they are doing quite well, strange how people prefer to buy from ebay and not direct.

Ken

[trys]

It seems that the wait time between ordering something from China and receiving it has fallen a great deal. Just a few years ago when I ordered things from Asian suppliers it would consistently take a month or more to get here, but now it seems many things inexplicably arrive in just a few days. Often when the date they are supposed to arrive is still a month or several weeks away. Some Asian suppliers now seem to be using Amazon to deliver stuff too. Which means its really fast, because if it comes from China it must have been sent air freight.

This likely sets up a difficult situation for retail stores, with rent, employee wage costs, heating and electricity costs.

It would appear that a great number of Chinese Ebay stores are operating in a way to bypass import duties, and actually have warehouses within the UK (or EU) to reduce the shipping times.

Have you ever had to pay import duty on any item you're bought from China? I don't think I ever have.

On the other hand, any item I've bought from Australia or the US has always attracted a very healthy import duty, along with a ParcelForce administration charge for the privilege of charging me.

So it would seem that Ebay sellers who purport to be in China are unfairly competing with not only other Ebay sellers, put they are practically using a nail gun firing in the nails into Maplin's coffin.

As much as I don't enjoy paying tax, I'd rather pay it if it means that it keeps our island afloat economically.

Trys

[Bashstreet]

There is no point to use Maplin for pretty much anything more than in situations where you happen be desperate for some sata cable and shop is close by and do not mind paying 3 times the price.

Mapling is dying has been for last 15 years when will investors stop sinking money to it i do not know.

Most Maplins are tiny have horrible stock of over priced old stock that is not moving.
Only thing they move i think is drones and some other toys.

Also it is systematic when you enter in one to be approached by 4-5 "sales assistants" Asking "can i help you" what i find rather annoying... and makes me feel are they thinking i am trying to nick something maybe one of those drones 

Mapling has had option to move with the times it has not.
Any business that do not do so.. will eventually run out of money.

I seen them try do so.. but it is always half hearted .. They do try expand to all kinds of electronics areas but end up being insufficient in all of them... you have to some extend concentrate into some area or you just end up with shop with all sorts in limited quantity without expertise in any.

Not to add the horrible web experience... finding components from even the tiny stock (where you cannot find components by capacitance nor voltage ratings.. etc in fact by no standard but price...) and even then you end paying rather heavy delivery change...

Or you can go to RS components buy components for 2 pounds... Free next day delivery.. it is amazing value

I would like Maplin other such companies survive... but there just is no real need for them nor do they produce good enough service.... if they did i would shop in them even if i had to pay some premium.
No Maplin sadly just is... well useless to me.

[CJay]

@Bashstreet,

I have to agree with pretty much all you said there, I have three stores in a ten mile radius of my home and I can rarely if ever pick anything up from stock so I just don't bother, I've had bare CMOS 4000 series chips pushed across a worktop at me by some genius in one store, he was amazed I refused the part, but, if I can find a part on their website that's in stock at a local store and I want to test some theory or design out right away, then they're handy.

RSWWW are my preferred option, superb value and service, and I spend a *lot* of my hobby budget with Chinese sellers when there's no rush.