What happend to Beatties the model shop?

I remember them being really popular up until the early 90's, anyone know what happend?

Is there anything around now to replace these stores?

Is there any good Toy Shop's in UK anymore?

Is there any need for Toy shops such as Beatties & Redgates anymore?

Are kids today more interested in Playstation & X Box these days?

Discuss - Beatties RIP

I believe the whole chain went bust :confused:
Which is a crying shame because (speaking for the Sheffield branch) the stock & sales team were excellent!

I'd completely forgotten what Maplins used to be before they took over Beatties at the Peace Gardens. I do remember Beatties with fond memories though. It was mostly model trains, cars and other games wasn't it?

Not sure if there are any proper toy stores around these days apart from Toys R Us and Toymaster in Atkinsons. Hmph! :roll:

There's Sharpes model & train shop on Attercliffe (there's another one near to it but its name escapes me)

And the good model & train shop upstairs in Meadowhall at the entrance to The Oasis

There's Sharpes model & train shop on Attercliffe (there's another one near to it but its name escapes me)

And the good model & train shop upstairs in Meadowhall at the entrance to The Oasis


Not seen the Model Shop in Meadowhall, the others on Attercliffe I have been to but I personally didn't rate 'em., Not got the selection and seem a bit old manish to me.

I do agree the beatties on Pinstone St was excellent much better than the Meadowhall branch, those places were always busy from what I remember! just can't understand why they went bust? ?

Tags Model shop at Fitzallen square is quite good. Admittedly I only went into get some plasticard and modelling tools, but their selection seemed quite decent!

Not seen the Model Shop in Meadowhall, the others on Attercliffe I have been to but I personally didn't rate 'em., Not got the selection and seem a bit old manish to me.

I do agree the beatties on Pinstone St was excellent much better than the Meadowhall branch, those places were always busy from what I remember! just can't understand why they went bust? ?
About 4 times a year Doncaster racecourse hold a toy & train fair at the exhibition centre.
It's about £2 or £3 to get in witn 400+ tables/ dealers.

that's usually worth a trip out one Sunday.

It's sponsoed by D&J fairs i seem to remember........

There's one at Donington tomorrow (http://www.uk192.com/busi_staticpage.asp?id=96&pn=diary.htm) 5th Nov looking at their webby :thumbsup:

More webby info HERE (http://www.d-jfairs.co.uk/)

I used to get My Little Ponies from Beatties :)

I do my little ponies in the bathroom.


Hope this helps?

I do my little ponies in the bathroom.


Hope this helps?

rotfl :hihi: :hihi:

I really miss this shop i used to visit every time i went to town anybody know why it shut down now if i want to by model making stuff i have to go to tmc at meadowhall. :mad:
I have tried tags but that's more for the radio controlled and diecast stuff
bring back beatties!!!!!!

I really miss this shop i used to visit every time i went to town anybody know why it shut down now if i want to by model making stuff i have to go to tmc at meadowhall. :mad:
I have tried tags but that's more for the radio controlled and diecast stuff
bring back beatties!!!!!!

I think they went bust a long while ago.
I used to work in the one in meadowhall in the days when it was next to Virtual Reality (the computer games side of Beaties) but it closed down. Then the one in town closed too.
Cant say im too dissapointed as i found them rediculously expensive.

they still have stores down south

I really miss this shop i used to visit every time i went to town anybody know why it shut down now if i want to by model making stuff i have to go to tmc at meadowhall. :mad:
I have tried tags but that's more for the radio controlled and diecast stuff
bring back beatties!!!!!!

I used to love the train running above your head when i was a kid lol
OHTHE MEMORIES.

The other shop down Attercliffe is Marcway Models, that ones more like Beatties used to be, the one in Meadowhall is upstairs near the Oasis entrance and is called the Model Centre, bit pricy though.

Hi All

Love Marcway models.has new second hand and most of what you could ever want.
just like model shops used to be and i was there as kid .OOOOH around 30 years ago..


top stuff

Andy

can't believe no-one's mentioned the train that used to go around the roof :-)

If it's model train stuff you're looking for, there's an old shop on London Rd called 'Sheffield Transport Models'. No disrespect to the owner if he reads this at all but it looks as if it's been the same forever, decor wise. Piles of old train mags and modelling stuff, and he has, or used to have, most of the Hornby range plus quite a few discontinued models.There's also 'Rails' on Chesterfield Rd,Heeley.

Chris

Oh I used to love going in Beatties as a kid! Shame its gone. The model train on the ceiling was brilliant!

I don't know wether I should admit this but I worked at beatties for about four years from about 1979 so if you would like any info please feel free I must admit we used to get up to some crazy things.

Marcways on Attercliffe is excellent- good choice of stock, and very helpful staff;

check out the link; http://www.marcway.co.uk/home.htm

I used to go into Marcway quite a lot back in 1983... mostly because of the charms of one lovely young lady who worked there at that time... bought tons of stuff that I never really needed... wonder whatever became of her ? Wish I could remember her name.

I used to work at Marcways between 1979 and 1984 on Saturdays and school holidays. The girl I think Redshadow is thinking of was Kathryn. She had long dark hair. Can't remember her surname or where she is now!

Chris Slater. Wondered what happened to you! How are you?

refering to Beaties, i believe the store chain was passed from the Managing Director, to his sons, who in turn, reduced the amount of stores, or simply cashed in? can't even find them on wikipedia they've been gone so long!

as for Marcway, i too have worked for them mid 2005 to early 2006, gave me my 1st proper job, was a fun place to work. the place has character, like the large bump in the floor towards the back for no reason whatsoever.....

What happend to Beatties the model shop?

I remember them being really popular up until the early 90's, anyone know what happend?

Is there anything around now to replace these stores?



If you don't mind using mail order the best model shop in Britain,( and possibly Europe), is Hannants.
They stock a huge range and I order in Germany direct from them with no problems.

www.hannants.co.uk/

Beatties shut in 2001 - the whole company went bust.

I understand that they were in debt to the bank to the tune of a six figure sum and I did hear and later read on The Internet that Dave Henley (anyone who worked there will know who he was - big boss man to all outsiders) had embezzled a considerable sum of the company's money, which would not have helped the situation. I never knew if this was verified but I have read on The Internet that he was briefly imprisoned in Norwich in connection with this charge.

Most branches were shut mid-morning on the day that the collapse of the company was announced, Sheffield being one such store, and the staff were left with no redundancy money as there was no money to pay with. They had to seek Government payouts in compensation.

I worked at Pinstone Street from 1986 to 1994 - was a great company to work for at that time but about a year before I left things started to get much less friendly and "family" and I think they had over-reached themselves trying to expand too fast, which I guess ultimately led to their downfall.

The boss of Pinstone Street got a job at Hornby where he still works to this day (that's Nick for anyone who remembers the staff) and the Assistant Manager (Graham) had a job in a Camera store that last time I saw him. Other staff went their separate ways and as far as I know most (maybe all) of them ended up in jobs that were not retail afterwards. I know of one who worked for BT - think he still does - and one who became a Council Gardener. The rest I never found out about.

Hope that solves some of the missing pieces of that jigsaw puzzle for you.

Further to my post a short while ago, if you go to zeteo.com/mar/news-may00 and scroll down about 2 thirds of the page you will see "Beatties in Bother" which gives the facts and figures associated with Dave Henley's imprisonment and indicates the date of the company's closure.

I being a model maker I used to go to beatties a lot and was shocked one saterday when I found the shop had closed down .
And yes I can remember some of the tricks the staff used to play on each orther as I was caught out one time in one of there tricks that was intended for a member of staff.
I still have one of the yellow plastic bags with the betties logo on.:o

What was the shop on the corner at Shalesmoor that sold model planes and kits called.

What was the shop on the corner at Shalesmoor that sold model planes and kits called.

It used to be called Hobbies, 248 Shalesmoor, Sheffield S3 8UH

Used to be a good little shop.

Has anybody been into what used to be Tags recently? I have, I bought a bus for my brother-in-law and a Red Dwarf set for me.

the shop on Shalesmoor -Hobbies was owned by my dad. He had to close the shop a few years ago for several reasons. A couple of reasons being the new road works around that area making it extremely hard for customers to get to the shop and also the rising number of people buying things online instead fo from small shops.

he still has some stock and sells it on ebay.

I totally miss him having that shop, i practically grew up in that shop and he knew exactly what he was selling and how it worked unlike a lot of shopkeepers today

Hi clairaclair,you probably know my cousin Janet,she was there for years ,I used to come in the shop when the lancastrian colledge was on shalesmoor,now thats some time ago.

the shop on Shalesmoor -Hobbies was owned by my dad. He had to close the shop a few years ago for several reasons. A couple of reasons being the new road works around that area making it extremely hard for customers to get to the shop and also the rising number of people buying things online instead fo from small shops.

he still has some stock and sells it on ebay.

I totally miss him having that shop, i practically grew up in that shop and he knew exactly what he was selling and how it worked unlike a lot of shopkeepers today

...did your dad used to work at Park Garage , Derwent St as an apprentice - early 70's ?

I worked at Pinstone street for a number of years on and off. Nick and Graham were great bosses, Dave on railways, before he went into teaching, the two Stewarts, Rob, Helen, Kirsty, little Richard and all the others. Great times, wonderful workmates. I still remember the Roxies Rock nights and the hangovers on Tuesday.

Beatties was good but Red Gates was the business.

...did your dad used to work at Park Garage , Derwent St as an apprentice - early 70's ?


Yeah my dad David did work at park garage. Then went on to work for Pickerings (as well as Hobbies.) Will he remember you?

...unfortunately no , as we were only kids , but i recognised him some 20 years later when i popped into the Hobby shop on Shalesmoor. ( i knew i had seen his face before !)- but i remember him being the "new kid on the block" on our street in the early 70's ,and he stuck out cos he seemed a young lad compared to the rest of the workers there ! We used to play on a massive AEC Matador (ex army) recovery lorry with crane ,which was dark blue, and almost permanently parked up, once they got a land rover with crane (which your dad often drove) and seemed to do the job as good . Played football for hours against the garage roller doors ! Most of the street had a game of football on a Sunday aft , before Rosita from Granellis called round with the ice cream van !
Shame about the houses all gone , but at least the garage is still there and looks almost the same !
Love to see any photos of Derwent St ....????

...unfortunately no , as we were only kids , but i recognised him some 20 years later when i popped into the Hobby shop on Shalesmoor. ( i knew i had seen his face before !)- but i remember him being the "new kid on the block" on our street in the early 70's ,and he stuck out cos he seemed a young lad compared to the rest of the workers there ! We used to play on a massive AEC Matador (ex army) recovery lorry with crane ,which was dark blue, and almost permanently parked up, once they got a land rover with crane (which your dad often drove) and seemed to do the job as good . Played football for hours against the garage roller doors ! Most of the street had a game of football on a Sunday aft , before Rosita from Granellis called round with the ice cream van !
Shame about the houses all gone , but at least the garage is still there and looks almost the same !
Love to see any photos of Derwent St ....????

Spoke to my dad, he remembers the kids playing on the road and everything else you mentioned in your post, unfortunately he doesn't have any photo's of Derwent street. He still has his car tested at Park Garage even though it's not under the same management as when he used to work there, and there are plenty of other garages nearer his house. Guess he's got some allegiance to that end of town :)

if i say so myself he's a pretty good old school mechanic my dad, seems he can fix anything and that's the place he pretty much started out.