iMakr (London) Store Visit

[JohnA.]

Apologies for the crosspost to a few groups:

Stopped in at iMakr, the "World's largest store selling 3D printers" tonight while on business in London.

Took a few quick pics and threw them up - thought people might be interested:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jabella/sets/72157633480962717/

I met the owner and we talked shop for a bit. He was inspired by the MAKE 3D Printer Guide to open a shop. They sell printers (I saw them sell one and talked to the excited new owner) and also do print-on-demand.

John A.

[Jay]

and deleted in....three...two...one..

[JohnA.]

Why? They sell MakerBot there - I would think that makes it relevant enough.

JohnA.

[Bottleworks]

Looks like a neat place. 

On Tuesday, May 14, 2013 5:11:49 PM UTC-4, JohnA. wrote:

[GBR1]

I went on Saturday, TBH I wasn't that impressed..  The guys I spoke with was not that knowledgeable and 5 min searching on the internet would revel more than he seemed to know.  He only seemed interested in selling the CubeX the most expensive and the only one they had in stock!!

Overall its a good concept that people can see the machines and watch them print but trying to sell i phone cases at £20 or a necklaces just seemed a bit strange to me..

If it was my shop I would have a big computer there where buy you could go on thingiverse look for an item and then watch the process to completion (assuming not a long print time)..

Good concept, currently poorly executed in my opinion..

[JohnA.]

They've definitely got at least some stock now - I watched someone buy an Up+ and walk out with it while I was there.  I don't know how many you need to sell per day to pay staff / rent / utilities / insurance, but it's surely more than one.

I'm not sure what people's appetite is for hanging out while a printer runs for an hour or two though.  It's something we've discussed at length over the years while talking about various business plans.

JohnA.

[abellasr]

Thanks for sharing your pics.  Place looks nice and I liked some of the prints.  It is such a niche idea, hard to think many people would walk by and say " hey, what is that?" and go in and buy one? It is interesting to be able to go in and see different brands in one spot.  Were they printing out in the open or is their "production area" in the back somewhere?

[marcosscriven]

Out of interest, who's 'we'? Do you run a business related to 3D printing? Interested because I've started one myself.

[JohnD]

I didn't see MBI, but I saw CubeX and Up!  I agree on the rather lackadaisical idea of selling printed parts, but I don't see it - and I also don't see print on demand working *any* time soon - not to mention the implications of managing Thingiverse licenses.

They had a CubeX printing the Rook while I was there - which is double edged sword in and of itself, as the folks that were in there with me had no clue that it potentially took hours to print a model. 

I talked to at least one guy who was knew what was going on - and was trying to be honest. 

On Wednesday, May 15, 2013 8:33:21 AM UTC+1, GBR1 wrote: