Greg Myers Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I know , "So what?" but I just noticed at my local WalMart ( Norterra. I-17 & Happy Valley Rd.) they have moved the toy department to the back of the store and the small model section is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 The one store I went into every so often only had six or eight different kits, nothing special. Lately, every time I go into that store, I walk out wondering why I went there...that's probably why the visits have tapered off considerably.The Michaels craft store chain appears to have reset their model kit section...smaller than before, most Round 2 kits gone, most Revell glue kits also gone, replaced in large part by Revell snap kits. They're still good for paint, embossing powder, craft wire, airbrush jars, and all sorts of other stuff though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craig Irwin Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Our local Meijer store seems to be eliminating them again too.Moving and downsizing what little they had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC Norton Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 ....I envy my u.s. friends here, because at least you have several stores that sometimes have kits in stock.....up here in the not so great north....you buy 'em at the LHS for stupid money, or use Ebay and pay too......wish I had your choices, boys................the ace............. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XJ6 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 I fell anytime model kits disappear of the shelves such has this is Not Good for a lot of reasons but we won't go there ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maindrian Pace Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 That just means that they will be back three years from now, and we can all buy them somewhere else then, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 Seems to be a store by store thing.I went in one Walmart while out of town, and they had moved all their the models (not many) to a clearance shelf.The same day at the Walmart near me the whole store has been rearranged, but while the small model section has been moved it still occupies the one 4 foot section it has always had, nothing on clearance.The Michaels by me reset their models, added a few new ones, moved a few to clearance but no change in size. Not good for much but impulse buys, but 40-50% off makes those impulses harder to resist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunkypeanutbutter Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 The Ellsworth WalMart, in its original location, had a pretty good model section, I'd say about 8 feet. They moved to the new store probably 6 years ago.Off and on, they had some models. Then, they disappeared, then showed up in the clearance section, disappeared again... then a Revell '68 Beetle turned up in the diecast section, and after I bought that, I haven't seen any others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 great story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Haigwood Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 They cleared them out at the Walmarts that I visit. You can buy them online and there is free shipping to store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Myers Posted August 24, 2015 Author Share Posted August 24, 2015 I used it as an incentive to do the grocery shopping. Swing by and look at the same old stuff then on the mike and bread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angelo7 Posted August 24, 2015 Share Posted August 24, 2015 The Walmart near me had a lot of kits and even had spray Testors paints. They still have a few kits but no more paints. Why?, because people opened the sprays and painted all over the shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 They are clearanceing stuff getting ready for Christmas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I've said it once before, and I repeat: Walmart stopped stocking model kits as a general, staple category in their toy departments in 2005.Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Krazy Rick Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 They are clearanceing stuff getting ready for Christmas... I really wish they would do the clearanceing on the other stuff instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Geiger Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Walmart is the most astute and calculating retailer in the world. They know exactly how much every linear foot of shelf space makes in profit. If an item doesn't live up to a minimum, it's gone. And that's why there aren't models there. They just don't turn around quick enough and for a big enough profit. There's always something more profitable to put on that shelf!I too noticed that my local Michaels shrunk the model section. Maybe a year ago it went down to 2/3, with a section between Revell/Monogram on one side and Round 2 on the other was filled with cheap carded junk toys. Now the other 1/3 is gone and that cheap toy area is expanded. Lesson, that stuff must be more profitable. Could it be a big overuse of the 40% off coupon on models? Maybe so! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Walmart is the most astute and calculating retailer in the world. They know exactly how much every linear foot of shelf space makes in profit. If an item doesn't live up to a minimum, it's gone. And that's why there aren't models there. They just don't turn around quick enough and for a big enough profit. There's always something more profitable to put on that shelf!I too noticed that my local Michaels shrunk the model section. Maybe a year ago it went down to 2/3, with a section between Revell/Monogram on one side and Round 2 on the other was filled with cheap carded junk toys. Now the other 1/3 is gone and that cheap toy area is expanded. Lesson, that stuff must be more profitable. Could it be a big overuse of the 40% off coupon on models? Maybe so! Michaels 40% off coupon is good for any non-sale item in the store. I know model car guys are cheap, but I doubt those coupons are only buying models. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_rad88 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 And? What my local walmart had wasn't that good either. They had nothing new or exciting! All was like 2012-2013 reissues and other stuff. Countless of dukes of hazard cop cars, monogram cobras and mustangs that aren't good, and many snap kits with occasionally a semi. I had talked to a manager at my local Walmart before on why they stopped, and apparently in my area young kids (mid-high school) was stealing the glue and paints to get high. I've even seen a few huff in the store, and immediately told a employee. That stuff isn't cool at all! But I guess that's what I get for living in a cruddy area..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Anderson Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Walmart is the most astute and calculating retailer in the world. They know exactly how much every linear foot of shelf space makes in profit. If an item doesn't live up to a minimum, it's gone. And that's why there aren't models there. They just don't turn around quick enough and for a big enough profit. There's always something more profitable to put on that shelf!I too noticed that my local Michaels shrunk the model section. Maybe a year ago it went down to 2/3, with a section between Revell/Monogram on one side and Round 2 on the other was filled with cheap carded junk toys. Now the other 1/3 is gone and that cheap toy area is expanded. Lesson, that stuff must be more profitable. Could it be a big overuse of the 40% off coupon on models? Maybe so! From my experiences at Playing Mantis (Johnny Lightning), Walmart (and the other Big Box outfits as well) began downsizing their toy departments after the 1993 Christmas selling season, to make way (those stores are limited in size, BTW) to make way for other merchandise lines that would turn over faster, be more profitable. Most are perhaps unaware anymore that 9/11, in many ways burst a lot of bubbles in retailing for the holiday season. The toy industry (and like it or not, to those retailers, model kits are toys!) took a major hit in 2001, and '02 & '03 were in many ways just as dismal. Think of it this way: Model car kits take up a lot more cubic feet of selling space than say, hooks of blister carded stuff---a dozen or more bubble-packed toys can fit on a pegboard hook, and turn faster than the 4-6 model kits that take up the same amount of space. As Tom has so wisely reminded--Walmart et.al. have little sympathy where issues of inventory turnover are concerned.However, there is an upside: Losing the big box store market forced model companies to get going, develop new products that while pricier, are more the model cars we get excited about today. Most of the more esoteric models seen from US model companies likely would never have seen the light of day, were their industry so dominated by mass merchandisers as it was for a few decades in the not-to-distant past.Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZTony8 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 There are things at Michaels and Hobby Lobby that aren't kits or model supplies?Why else would anyone go there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I really wish they would do the clearanceing on the other stuff instead Walmart is the most astute and calculating retailer in the world. They know exactly how much every linear foot of shelf space makes in profit. If an item doesn't live up to a minimum, it's gone. And that's why there aren't models there. They just don't turn around quick enough and for a big enough profit. There's always something more profitable to put on that shelf! Rick, Tom has a great point. I have learned over the years if you see something at Walmart you have to buy it when you see it because they are always changing thier shelves. Nothing hardly stays the same long. Looks like models are on the way out... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Haigwood Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I think we are seeing the conversion to if not all at least a large percent,online shopping. I don't really like this kind of purchases and paying shipping costs but it looks like its in our near future. I noticed Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot and some of the other stores having a good selection of merchandise online but not stocked in the stores.I do look for free shipping to stores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
signguy2108 Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 Although my local Walmart never carried models, it had a wide selection of diecast cars & trucks which are now gone, replaced by radio control stuff! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 I think we are seeing the conversion to if not all at least a large percent,online shopping. I don't really like this kind of purchases and paying shipping costs but it looks like its in our near future. I noticed Walmart, Lowes and Home Depot and some of the other stores having a good selection of merchandise online but not stocked in the stores.I do look for free shipping to stores.That very much does seem to be the case. I tried to buy some cabinet hinges at Home Depot awhile back. They had a very small selection in the store, but online they have a huge selection and will ship to store for free. Strangely they can't or won't order the same items for you while you are standing in the store, you have to go home and get on the computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Haigwood Posted August 25, 2015 Share Posted August 25, 2015 From what I can see Walmart models are shipped directly from a hobby kit supplier . A Challenger kit at Walmart was $22.05, same kit at HW was $24.80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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