Not as common as the opposite – the ” going out of business ” sale, but infinitely more useful to all concerned. I’ve seen both types and from both sides of a sales counter and I much prefer the former to the later.
The Chinese have a commercial tradition that says the first customer in the shop of a morning must be sold something – presumably to waken the spirits of good fortune for the rest of the day. People who dog the doors and dash in can sometimes bargain furiously and win as the shopkeeper tries for that lucky first sale. It was sometimes a point of contention in the camera shop when the customer was Asian and the shop assistant Australian and both were determined to be guided by the wisdom of the ancestors – but it was a different set of ancestors in each case.
As far as hobby shops go, there is a lot more joy at the going in than the going out. Currently one of the old stalwarts of the trade is trying to sell up, and may eventually be forced to the going out sale and the padlock. I am saddened to see a bastion fall, but it has been crumbling away for a long time. The last fall of the walls may yield bargains, but it will do so either in stock that has not attracted any interest for years or drag-ends of what once existed. I am not sure I should like to be there to see it.
What I would like to see is more trade specials by the remaining shops during the toy fairs and model exhibitions. I don’t ask them to beggar themselves for me, but a useful reduction on useful stock might well draw some useful cash out of my hind pocket. Go-on fellas…try me.
The Little World 
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