Local hobby shop is closing.. another victim of the economy :(

[suicideneil]

I buy every single thing I need online, either from ebay, or the UK version of towerhobbies (modelsport.co.uk) pretty much. The nearest lhs to me is 30 minutes or so away, but since I dont drive, it might as well be on the other side of the planet. Who needs an lhs, I asks yee...

[magman]

My LHS used to have a sweet indoor 1/10 track years ago...he now sold that part of the building to a mattress discount store.... His prices are sometimes at least 10% higher. The only time I order from them is for a part here or there...by the time I pay shipping for 2 items it is equal to what my LHS chargers so it is a wash. Although lately, when ordering from my LHs, the parts can take a least a week to arrive and seeing that it is 25 min away....

The bigger stores in this economy have a huge advantage over the little guy. I just hope that the little guy doesn't disappear completely.

[JERRY2KONE]

It is really simple economics. The Wal-Mart type stores will eventually run all of the mom & pop stores out of business. They have the huge advantage of buying bulk at lower prices and that turns into lower prices over all. Due to our situation of traveling from one country to another 99%of my hobby stuff comes from on line purchases, either directly from the major suppliers, or from second hand buys on sites like this one. I have only been in an LHS like two times in teh last three years. I guess it is a pain in the rear to have to order everything on line and wait for it to come in, but that is what I am used to.

Hey Linc I would love to see you open up your own R/C shop. From my observation the only way to make it work would be to have a track area connected to the store for sure. Like BrianG stated you would have a lot of business during track events that would keep things active on a regular basis. Not to mention the diehard R/C'rs who just have to run throughout the week testing their builds in preperation for weekend events. Plus I would either build or buy something cheap (building wise) that would not cost an arm or a leg to open and pay rent on. Keeping your overhead down would be a real deal breaker if you have to pay others just to keep your doors open. Install a wind generator, and somesolar panels to keep your electric bill reasonable orhave them paying you for power. These are all doable things that would make owning your own shop a profitable business, and that would make it pleasurable to. Low stress is the key to owning any business, and having good people working for you. Life is good.

[plettenbergs]

i would also love to open a HOBBY SHOP!...every time i see a great building in a great location i think to myself..."That would be a great spot for a hobby town"!....my wife and kids always get a good laugh!....just what i need is another business:landscaping and mosonry,firewood sales,custom emaxx chassis,ebay sales,craigslist sales of 4wheelers and motorcycles!!!GOOD TIMES!!!

[mkrusedc]

I think Jerry has the right idea. I am going to retire with my hobbies. Either a hobby shop, Bonsai sales over the internet or something to keep active and fun....

[JERRY2KONE]

Yea thats me alright. My wife calls it temporary retirement. I have worked every single day of my life since I was 14, starting off as a golf caddy. I quit school to persue full time caddy work in order to bring home the bacon for the family, and I have been doing just that ever since.

Anyway when we got married in 2004 I had to travel with her to Korea and could not work that year, because we were going to be shipped off to Belgium within ten months. Then I had to wait for a security clearnace and that took over a year to acquire, even though I had a top secret clearance in the military that did not matter to the State Department. I worked for two years there at USNATO, and then took custody of my 3 youngest kids, so the wife and I decided that I needed to stay home and become Mr. Mom for them for at least 6 to 12 months. Well I have done that for 6 months now and I am over it. We whipped the kids into shape and now I am ready to become a working man again. Within reason of course. I do not have to work, but we have plans for our retirement and I want to speed things up a bit finanacially.

So the good news is that I just received word from DC that I am going to become a Goverment contractor doing background investigations. I decide what cases I want to do and I control my own hours working out of our home. So that will be a first for me, and I am loving the idea of that. So all of my hard work is finally paying off big time. The kicker is that I can easily earn $100K+ a year just gathering data. So now I am set. I have almost everything that a man could ask for after putting up with a lot of Crapp for so many years. I am loving life right now, and my hobby room is not only my sanctuary of peace, but my wife is always looking for ways to help me improve the atmosphere and asking if I need anything to make things easier in the shop. She got me a 19" flat panel TV for Xmas just for the shop. So yes I do think I have the right idea. Finally. Thanks for saying so MK.

I would love to open up an R/C shop/track with a partner, but we still have 6 more years of international travel to get out of the way first. Trust me I am enjoying that as well. Owning a shop and running a race track would be a great way to spend my retirement years. I have some pretty good ideas that I have seen and learned along the way. Location, location, location is the key.

As one who works at a "successful" hobby shop, I thought I would chime in on a few things that I think makes a hobby shop work. Think of these as suggestions for those of you who want to open a LHS.

1. Stock as many parts as physically possible. It doesn't matter how many kits you sell, (cars/trucks, planes, helis, boats, or whatever), if you don't keep stock parts, and hop-ups in stock.

2. This kind of works with 1. Diversify as much as possible. We sell, planes, helis, boats, cars/trucks, models, diecasts, rockets, trains, pinecars, slot cars. There are employees who are knowledgeable in all of them too. I'm mostly into cars, but we have a "plane/heli guy," and a "train/slot car guy," and a "model guy."

3. Cater to what your customer base is. In our case, there are not a lot of racers, mostly bashers, so stock what they want. Therefore we do not stock a lot of Mugen, Kyosho, etc. because we sit on inventory and that costs money.

4. You do not need a track to be successful. We do not have a track and it works out very well for us. Unless you have a well known track that can bring in big races, the owner is probably losing money on the track part, more than likely they have it because they really support the hobby.

5. You have to be competitive with online pricing, whether that means really low margins on kits/RTRs, or buying in major bulk and storing kits. If you look at all our kits, they are priced within $5 of Tower/Horizon, or any other major online seller. As you all know, replacement parts are where there is any margin anyways, Electronics and kits do not make a shop money.

6. Your employees have to be excited and knowledgeable about their job. They have to want to work there. I've been to plenty of other hobby shops where the employee didn't know what they were talking about, or didn't want to help customers. Minimizing turnover will help with that as well. I've been working at this LHS for 4 years and I was the newest employee until just a few months ago.


Sorry for the long post, but as I think of more things I'll add it to the list. Right now I have to go to work at my LHS.

[ssspconcepts]

I hate to see any small business go under...heck, when I buy stuff from Mike, I don't use his cupon codes...because in the grand scheme of a $2K-$3K build, the $20 that I save in the parts that I buy from RCM Mike is minimal...and I want to see him in this business for a long time. However, with regards to the LHS situation there is another side to the story. Example: I am the market to buy a new Jammin X1 CR buggy. I have checked several LHS in the DFW area and the prices range from $519-$559 for just the buggy kit. I can get the same kit online for $374. I don't buy this crap that the LHS profit margins suck. I also recently converted all of my RCs over to Ofna (except my G3R) because I want some standardization of parts and so it would be easier to buy parts locally--no good there either because all they really stock is TRAXXAS. Its kind of irratating when I go into the LHS and they look at me like I am speaking in a foreign language when I politely ask if they have a 5mmX109mm turnbuckle. And forget about asking them for any info about hardcore brushless applications. I travel all over the country for work...and I have lived a lot of different places...and I am here to tell you that it is the same song and dance everywhere. A lot of...no scratch that...MOSTof the LHS that I have visited don't even know what a Neu motor is. They say "ya, all we sell is new motors." If you ask them about brushless conversions they say "ya, I heard something about Novak puttin some kits out but we dont sell them yet."

Now I understand that that we are in the "high performance" and somewhat exclusive side of the RC hobby...BUT, I also understand that owning a hobby shop IS NOT A HOBBY. It is a profession...which obviously some rely upon to put food on the table and a roof over their head. And like any profession, and in particular, retail businesses...it is in one's best interest to pursue higher levels of performance, knowledge, skill, and capability...and to do so with alacrity and a good sense of customer service. Maybe you all have the benefit of living close to better hobby shops than where I have found myself visiting and if that is the case then I apologize to those shop owners for offending them. But until I find such a place, I will continue to drive right on past and buy my RC stuff online. This is just my 2 cents.

[mkrusedc]

Billy the LHS that James and I were talking about above, Hobby Hut does just what you posted. They have, trains, helis, cars, trucks, models, pine wood derby, etc. (except high end BL) They are knowledgable in almost all areas and even though they sometimes do not have a large parts inventory they will get any order witihn a week at no extra charge. Oh, and they do not have a track.

[Arct1k]

I know the feeling i hate going to my lhs - some of the guys are nice but the owner is in it for the cash...

A couple of time i have relied on them i.e. calling up to check they have the part in stock or ordering it in for me I drive down there 10 miles and guess what he didn't place the order and there inventory tracking was wrong! So I'm out of racing / bashing for the weekend...

Anyway - any closing down bargains :)

[Finnster]

lol

No, no good deals either. The guy says he needs money to pay the business loan, so can't afford to have a sale. He'll just take what doesn't sell home and put it up on ebay.

I asked him if he saw the prices on ebay, and they are pretty tight, not to mention all the fees for paypal and ebay. "Yeah"
As it is now, no good deals. We'll see as it gets closer to the closing date. There isn't really anything I need/want. There are no 40 series tires, all the maxx size are pin-type tires, and most of the shells are 1/10, crawler or Revo 2.5. Nothing to fit my savvy XL.

Maybe he's just being like circuit city and their liquidation sales. Everything is expensive at first, then drops the last few days. I'll see if I find anything, make a realistic offer to take it or leave it.