Model Railways Direct - Closing.

[bulleidboy]

I just received an email from Model Railways Direct to say they are closing - owners for many years have decided to retire.
I have used them many times over the years and always received a very good service. They have a closing down sale on at the moment. I have posted the email below:

Dear Barry As a valued customer, we wanted you to hear this directly from us. Jo and I have been running the business since 2005, first as an online business and then opening the shop in 2009. The business has been a great success over the past 20 years. We have made many friends and are proud to still be serving many of the customers that shopped with us from the very beginning. However, the business does take up a great deal of our time and costs have been rising rapidly over the past few years. So, after a considerable amount of thought and discussion, we have decided that now is the right time to retire. We plan to close the business over the next few months and will continue to operate as normal. A closing date will be announced in due course. We are both very grateful to our loyal customers for your support and friendship over the years. Both of us will very much miss chatting to you all. Kind regards Mark & Jo Model Railways Direct
 
I am sure that you will have many questions, some of them we hope to answer below. When will we close?We do not have a planned closing date, but we will still be open in the new year. As soon as this is known we will contact you. What about my Gift Vouchers?All valid gift vouchers will still be accepted until we finally close. What about my pre-orders?Your pre-orders are safe, and we will ensure that you receive them, even if they arrive after we close. We will continue to fulfil pre-orders until we close. In addition, we have organised with another retailer to take on any outstanding pre-orders when we close and have agreements with our suppliers that any outstanding orders for ourselves will be transferred over to the retailer to ensure you orders are delivered. Once we know our closing date we will be in touch with you. What if my item develops a fault Whilst we are open then please contact us directly for advice. After we have closed all the manufacturers have a warranty for the items we sell. A detailed list will be available nearer the time. Will someone take over the shop and business Currently this is unlikely, we will wind down the business in an orderly fashion and leave no outstanding debts.
 
Don't forget that our clearance sale continues: At Least 30% Off ALL Locomotives, Coaches and Wagons*Don't forgot that as well as our Clearance Offers, ALL Locomotives, Coaches and Wagons have at least 30% off the RRP*. At Least 20% Off Everything Else* Everything else has least 20% off the RRP*. * Excludes some new releases, pre-orders, out of stock items Ecos and monthly magazines.

[Walkingthedog]

That’s a shame. Purchased a few bits from them in the past. Still nobody can go on for ever.