In the age of 150$ Hi-Points, 200$ bolt guns, and 400$ ARs/AKs, the Handi Rifle really wasn't all that cheap. It is also fairly limited in what it can do (which is a lot, but still not as much as something better made with a magazine) and far from the best choice ergonomically. Basically, they were the Hi Points of the Fudd world (which has subsequently gone by the wayside).
Always hate to lose a brand, but it's not like they were Ruger 1's or something. Were they even nicer than Baikal's?
Plenty of used beater single shots with wood stocks in pawn shops for cheap skates, anyways
As for the OP subject, it's worth mentioning that the shear number of brands and products are responsible for a lot of the corporate sclerosis that Remington is currently crippled by. It's hard enough to run an ammo company, when you're not also a rifle company, pistol company, five other rifle companies, a few ammo companies, bullet manufacturers, accessories maker, merchandise hawker, ad agency, importer, exporter, military supplier/contractor, R&D house, (formerly) silencer maker, and multinational corporation. No wonder they have no idea what they're doing
I think this corporate downsizing will be the best thing that's happened to Remington since their fall from preeminence. Fiasco's like the R51 and others basically show the company is incapable of bringing new products to market, the Marlin fiasco showed the company is incapable of restructuring successfully in its present state. There's likely been more dead wood than live for a long, long time (which is why it is odd Remington has been on such an acquisition-spree lately, but I'll chock that up to managerial denial of the situation), and it will have to be discarded before they can start growing properly again.
I'm most excited by the prospects a Remington power vacuum will have on the marketplace. Magpul or someone like that could well be the new preeminent commercial/military supplier within a decade, now that the Remington Sequoia has fallen and allowed the undergrowth some sunlight for a change. H&K may soon follow at the rate it's (been) going. That'd leave a mark on the industry, for sure.
TCB