Tenth Planet has closed

[SiHart]

From their website:

The Sad News; The 10thplanet Retail Store in Barking has now closed. Over the past year or so sales have dropped more than we would have liked not just because of the credit crunch but due to vast discounted prices from the major high street and online stores, there was once a time when it was hard to find Doctor Who merchandise unfortunately now it is everywhere from independents traders to high street retailers, plus online such as play, ebay and amazon etc etc. Although we had day to day customers the majority of our sales came on our signing days. As a result we decided enough was enough and the retail shop was closed as of Tuesday 17 June. Who knows we may re-open a store in the future but lets not forget the good times, the 10thplanet retail store ran for 10 years and we are very proud of what we achieved over that period of time but we must now move on.

Ahh, somewhat sad news after all the time we spent there a few years back, but i suppose it's good their website/ cons/ signings are still going on.

Si xx

[Rob McCow]

It's always sad when an independent retailer goes out of business, even when the staff have treated you a bit cruelly.

I'm pleased their online service is continuing though.

[WhiteCrow]

Well the world has very much changed. I know the guy who runs our local Sci Fi shop, Darkstar, and he says these days the shop is kind of secondary, and most of the buisness comes from mail, but mainly online orders, but they still have lost business recently to wholely online companies and eBay.

Shame really, as nothing is more exciting that looking through these shops for stuff you don't really need.

[Si Hunt]

It couldn't not be sad to see a Doctor Who shop close, but in truth their prices were atrocious - you can't expect people to pay 80% more than they could pay by ordering on-line, even if their running expenses (somehow) justified it. To be honest, even when we use mail order we always go for Galaxy Four as they have always seemed far friendlier.

Si.

[Dirk Gently]

I agree with you, Si. Galaxy4 are very good...even if they don't discount the DVDs. They are a good place to get rare books etc.

[Simon R]

It's a shame even if we haven't been there since 2003.

I'm glad the on-line version is still going on and the signings and wotnot.

[Pip Madeley]

They were never going to do great business in a place like Barking outside of special event days. It's sad they're gone but quite frankly like Forbidden Planet I'd never have paid the prices they were asking for. The Internet's undercut them - bad for them, but good for the consumer who is trying to stretch their money as far as possible (ie. nearly everyone).

In any case, the signings weren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. That's why I've not been there for years.

[WhiteCrow]

I don't think you can help being sad about something like this. YES the times are a changing, and you can get lots of stuff cheaper.

But the fact is for me, my local sci-fi shop (not Tenth Planet in this case) was so much more than just a place to buy stuff. It was almost a social hub.

When I was in Sheffield, you met up with friends to go to the Sheffield Space Centre. Granted that was because it was in the scary area of the city, and a group of somewhat fey sci-fi students needed safety in numbers against some of the less friendly locals.

[Rob McCow]

In any case, the signings weren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. That's why I've not been there for years.

Ah, back when you was a mere slip of a thing, that was when the best signings were!

[WhiteCrow]

In any case, the signings weren't anywhere near as good as they used to be. That's why I've not been there for years.

I have to agree a bit with Rob, that does sound like a bit of old school "the New Series was the worst thing to happen to Doctor Who fandom".

Actually Tenth Planets response reads as a bit like that too.

[Pip Madeley]

Nothing to do with the New Series, they just didn't have the same attraction/quality line-ups.

[P-Bal]

Pip's only interested if you get Dame June! x

[Phillip Culley]

I have to agree a bit with Rob, that does sound like a bit of old school "the New Series was the worst thing to happen to Doctor Who fandom".

Actually Tenth Planets response reads as a bit like that too.

I can't help but think the success of the New Series has had an effect - 4 years ago there was a lot less Doctor Who merchandise, and what was available wasn't always easy to find outside of the independent stores.

Now we have the ultra successful new series, merchandise is readily available all over the place from Argos to Asda to Woolworths and lots of places in between - stores who can afford to cut the RRP and charge less than specialist places like Tenth Planet.

In a way it's similar to Gary Russell's comments a few years back when he said the New Series hadn't helped Big Finish's sales figures a bit - in fact I think they had gone down as a result.

[WhiteCrow]

Now we have the ultra successful new series, merchandise is readily available all over the place from Argos to Asda to Woolworths and lots of places in between - stores who can afford to cut the RRP and charge less than specialist places like Tenth Planet.

And quite shockingly for Mr Dapol, Joe Public demands that figures of the Doctor et al actually look like the characters from the TV series.

Although "two handed Davros" has become a staple of fan talk.

[Larry]

I agree with you, Si. Galaxy4 are very good...even if they don't discount the DVDs. They are a good place to get rare books etc.

well as quitea few people on here already know I'm a regular with Galaxy 4, and get most of my stuff fromn them I've always found them to be a top quality service which is why I turn a blind eye to their more expensive merchandise. Though having read the reasons for why Tenth Planet has closed it's a supprise in a way that Galaxy 4 has managed to survive against the same stiff compertition of high street stores and internet retailers.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

It couldn't not be sad to see a Doctor Who shop close, but in truth their prices were atrocious - you can't expect people to pay 80% more than they could pay by ordering on-line, even if their running expenses (somehow) justified it. To be honest, even when we use mail order we always go for Galaxy Four as they have always seemed far friendlier.

Si.

It's funny you say this because it was only yesterday (or the day before), before I read this thread, that I was looking on both the Galaxy 4 site and the 10th planet site. A couple of DWM specials were about half the price on the 10th planet site than they were on Galaxy 4. In fact I've always found Galaxy 4 to have inflated prices and charge ridiculous postage on top of it. In addition, the one time I tried to combine an order and a pre-order on their site it wasn't even possible and it insisted on making two seperate orders and doubling the postage.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

When I was in Sheffield, you met up with friends to go to the Sheffield Space Centre. Granted that was because it was in the scary area of the city, and a group of somewhat fey sci-fi students needed safety in numbers against some of the less friendly locals.

This sound more like a typical case of students being unwilling to venture 5 metres outside of the student areas to me The Space Centre is about 5 minutes walk out of the city centre on a busy and public main road. Unless you're going down there in the middle of the night (and hence breaking in anyway) the biggest danger is being hit by a bus.

Oh and not to mention it's also a stone's throw from the South Yorkshire Police HQ.

[SiHart]

I used to like the walk down to the Space Centre myself. If nothing else at least it wasn't up or down a hill!
It was something of a tradition for me and my mate Steve to go down on a Saturday afternoon and look atthe stuff we couldn't afford to buy, or go after lectures with my mate Dan and he'd always get me to buy the things I couldn't afford!

It was far more fun than the Tenth Planet experience and the staff were always friendly there.

Si xx

[Larry]

In fact I've always found Galaxy 4 to have inflated prices and charge ridiculous postage on top of it. e.

to be fare you have to remember Galaxy 4 are just one shop run buy a few people they will have a lot of overheads and bills to pay and just can't compete financialy against the big high street and internet retailers. If they were to charge the same prices as say Amazon they would probably go out of business so thats why they charge higher prices.

[Zbigniev Hamson]

to be fare you have to remember Galaxy 4 are just one shop run buy a few people they will have a lot of overheads and bills to pay and just can't compete financialy against the big high street and internet retailers. If they were to charge the same prices as say Amazon they would probably go out of business so thats why they charge higher prices.

Well I don't know much about Tenth Planet, but presumably the same thing applies to them? Yet they do have the same item for half the price on their website. Although having said that that's probably why they're shutting down.

Anyway, you can say what you like about inflated prices, but postage charges that blatantly far outstrip the actual costs of postage are a bit dodgy to say the least.

[Jeff]

Well I don't know much about Tenth Planet, but presumably the same thing applies to them? Yet they do have the same item for half the price on their website. Although having said that that's probably why they're shutting down.

Maybe it was on clearance...

[WhiteCrow]

It was far more fun than the Tenth Planet experience and the staff were always friendly there.

Why is it that an afternoon wasted talking to the owner of a Sci-Fi shop never feels like a wasted afternoon?

[Larry]

Why is it that an afternoon wasted talking to the owner of a Sci-Fi shop never feels like a wasted afternoon?

I bet the Misses wouldn't agree with you on that one...

[Zbigniev Hamson]

It was far more fun than the Tenth Planet experience and the staff were always friendly there.

Si xx

The owner was on the local news again tonight, the shop's still suffering from when the road temporarily became a river last year. I don't know him personally but my brother and sister know him and I certainly know OF him and have done for most of my life so it's pretty sad to see. After all, their can't be many shops that would get hit by flooding worse than one full of magazines, books and posters, and with the store room in the basement.

[Captain Tancredi]

After all, their can't be many shops that would get hit by flooding worse than one full of magazines, books and posters, and with the store room in the basement.

In that case, if the insurance money has come through they may have taken a look at the finances and decided that it made sense to get out now rather than carry on trading in uncertain circumstances.