Germany has started shipping to New Zealand again. According to DHL, NZPost is ready to handle international shipments properly again. This is great news for railway modellers and for us ;-)

Shipments from other European countries arrived reasonably on time lately, but this announcement still came as a surprise to us and our suppliers as well.
Shipments from the following brands are already underway:

* Kibri
* Vollmer
* Viessmann
* Brekina / Ricko
* Noch
* Faller

Some of our orders were placed before lockdown, but never shipped. No additional orders were placed because we had no idea how long the German suppliers could not ship. We are working hard to catch up now. More shipments will follow soon.

Most German suppliers are currently understaffed however due to the summer holidays in Europe. This could mean that our new orders take longer to process.

Preiser even closes every year for the entire month of August. Therefore, no new Preiser stock is expected before the end of September.

The stock from German suppliers is in addition to the large shipment of model railway supplies from America this month.

After a very successful 2019, we announced big plans for 2020. Our next goal is to move to larger premises with a large showroom for product sales and a workshop for the models we create for the upcoming Mini-Kiwiland attraction. The future of the Mini-Kiwiland attraction has become uncertain due to Covid-19, but still had hopes for a large showroom.

July 2020 turned out to be our second best month ever. Despite the fact that we hardly had any stock left for railway modelers and despite the fact the Hobby Expo in Taupo was canceled. Sales of model cars, military kit sets, as well as model railway suppliers were above expectations last month. This means that we are back on track to move by the end of the year.

The only setback is that we cannot go to most shows and events this year as we would like. This is not directly because of Covid-19. There is simply not enough available space for us. See 'Shows and Events'.

As a result, we are currently dependent on online sales. However, there's still much to improve. Now that all suppliers can ship our orders, we can finally organize sufficient stock and regular shipments. New releases should arrive earlier as well as special out-of-stock customer orders.

I will still look at options to keep costs down. Sea freight from the US is a good example. The more the better!
I will also keep looking for new brands. There are still many on my list, but not all of them are feasible yet. Growth is essential.

Many thanks to everyone who supports us. Much appreciated!

Kiro

Shows and Event are perfect for meeting customers and getting feedback on products and services. Something you rarely receive online. For visitors it's a good way to meet who is actually behind an organization. It also gives them the opportunity to see how products actually look like in real and to get inspiration for products they were not aware of.

We receive a lot of positive feedback from visitors about the quantity and variety of products we bring, the prices and the organized presentation. The 'Shows and Events' page was the most visited page of our website last month.

At the beginning of the year we announced our intention to be at even more events in 2020 than we did in 2019. In 2020 we are actually visiting significantly fewer events and this is not directly related to Covid-19. Most shows simply don't have room for us.
Mostly because of the following reasons:

Entertain Children

Most model railway shows are intended to entertain children by showing as many layouts as possible. The shows are not really for modellers not involved in the layouts, non-club members and such shows' purpose is not to support (any) local/small businesses. The more layouts, the fewer traders. More layouts are getting priority this year, so not enough room for traders like us.

No Newcomers

A lot of model railway shows and toy collectors fairs are for regular sellers only. Although we have been trading since 2016, we are still considered a newcomer. In 2019 we were lucky to be able to sell on some events, because a regular seller had cancelled. This year we are not so lucky unfortunately.

There are more reasons we are not able to get any space on some events.

Places where we are struggling to get accepted for events at this stage are: Tauranga, Hamilton, Taupo, Palmerston North, Whanganui, Wellington/Wairarapa (garden railway) and Christchurch.

Future Events

This leaves only Lower Hutt and Upper Hutt for this year.
This is not a lot and not being able to sell at so many events also has financial consequences for us. I am confident that internet sales will eventually make up for this loss.

We are still eager to meet our customers at events, so hopefully next year will be better. My apologies to all the customers we have to disappoint this year for not coming to an event near them.

Some customers suggested that we should organize events ourselves, but we need more volunteers for that. I will need to investigate the demand first anyway. In the meantime we hope to meet customers at the few shows we are going to or in our future showroom.

Kiro

Two 1:24 kit sets arrived recently. The container kit set includes decals for 'China Shipping' as well as 'P&O'.

Last week 9 different MiniArt Weapons and Ammo sets were listed on our website. Below are 4 examples. Stock is expected in September.

To visit the MiniArt page on our website click here.

The following two models from the 'Best Of British Police Cars' series arrived recently for the first time:

For a list of all 'Best Of British Police Cars' models on our website click here.

Various Italeri figures sets arrived in stock. Below are 6 examples:

For a list of all Zvezda 1:72 figures sets in stock click here.

Various Zvezda figures sets arrived in stock. Below are 6 examples:

For a list of all Zvezda 1:72 figures sets in stock click here.

The following Airfix ruined buildings arrived in stock last week:

For a list of all Airfix products listed on our website so far click here.

Atlas Edition has released several series that include 1:144 diecast planes. 21 of those have been listed on our website. Below are just 6 examples. Stock could arrive in September, depending on the demand.

For a list of the 1:144 scale Atlas Edition planes on our website click here.

10 Zvezda 1:144 scale kit sets of planes have been listed on the website last week. Below are just 4 examples:

For a list of all 1:144 Zvezda planes on our website click here.

The following Vollmer items are on sale or have been further reduced in price:

For a list of all HO Scale items on sale click here.

The following Faller items are on sale or have been further reduced in price:

For a list of all HO Scale items on sale click here.

A lot of Woodland Scenics landscaping items are on its way to New Zealand including the 'shakers' below. Content can be used for all scales. Not just 1:87 HO Scale.

More Woodland Scenics landscaping items will be listed on our website soon.

For a list of all Woodland Scenics items listed on our website so far click here.

The 'my account' page of users of our website has been improved. The following information will be temporarily displayed:

* Tracking information
* Special notifications
* Payments received

Tracking information: This is only displayed of your last shipped order until a new order is placed. This is to prevent confusion with the new order. This tracking information will also disappear automatically after 3 weeks.

Special notifications: Only Mini-Kiwiland Shop staff will be able to place and remove notifications about outstanding credit, pick up appointments etc. These helpful reminders are now stored on the website, so you do not need to go through older e-mails for information.

Payments received: On the 'my account' page, the amount paid will be displayed in red near your reservation list as soon as we notice that the money is cleared on our bank account. This way you can be sure that your order will be shipped soon.
When your order is packed you will receive an e-mail with the tracking number as usual. The payment notification on your 'my account' page will be replaced by the tracking number.

Hopefully the above improvements will make it easier to track the various stages of your order at any time on our website, so you are not completely dependent on incoming e-mails..

More suggestions to improve our website are more than welcome!

Kiro