Model building shop in Fulda closes: a piece of passion disappears!

Model building shop in Fulda closes: a piece of passion disappears!

The last chapter of the model building land in Fulda will soon be written. The traditional model building store, which has been based at the vegetable market for almost 40 years, closes its doors on February 28, 2025. Senior boss Wolfgang Bohn, who took over the business eight years ago, deeply regrets this step, but sees no way to continue the business. The reasons for the closure are varied: rising costs for electricity and rent as well as a decreasing customer frequency. "The train has left", Bohn expressly describes the situation and emphasizes that the competition through online shopping and the availability of cheaper products from abroad contributes significantly to the decision. This reports Fuldaer Zeitung .

Last summer Bohn already noticed a decline in customers. Despite a short sales thrust during the Corona years, customer behavior has changed sustainably, which has also tightened the situation. It is particularly striking to let the enthusiasm for railway model construction, which once attracted a strong clientele in Fulda. In the 1980s, seven model building shops were still active in the city, while today only one remaining business remains. Martin Gass, a long-time model railway fan, also sees young problems in model building and explains that the main target group, the over-50 year old, is becoming increasingly rare.

The last sales actions

The clearance sale for the model building land has already started and offers customers the opportunity to buy a discount of 20 percent by the end of February 2025 to various model components, cars and trains. There are also special models among the collector's pieces that can cost up to 700 euros. Despite the decline, Bohn hopes to be able to maintain a final connection for model building items through personal home visits to his customers, the sums of up to 15,000 euros annually.

Bohn's son, Dominic, should take over the business, but his father decided to protect him from financial debts. After the closure, Wolfgang Bohn plans to continue to work privately in model building. He has already received inquiries from the city police and the fire department museum in Fulda to build small scenes and wants to create a miniature variant of the historic witch tower.

The influence of online trade

The closure of the model building land is symptomatic for the change in retail, which has been shaped by the rise of online trading in recent years. Comfort, accessibility and price comparisons are moving more and more customers into the digital markets. Digital Central emphasizes that stationary retailers have to develop new business models in order to compete with online trading. Innovative concepts such as Click-and-Collect are now very important to optimize the shopping experience and to strengthen customer loyalty through personal advice.

Despite a slight decline in sales in German online trading in 2022, sales of the leading B2C online shop continues to increase. Local businesses, such as the model building land in Fulda, are increasingly threatened by this development. The result is not only the loss of a business, but also the loss of a significant part of the local community, which has circled the passion for model building.

The future of retail requires flexibility and willingness to innovate. While the model building land in Fulda closes, the question arises how other small business can meet these challenges so as not to suffer the same fate.