Opening My Hobby Shop, ANY IDEAS, or INPUT?

[rccartman]

I am planning to open a hobby store where I live, and I am curious to find out if there are any of you that think RC repair & maintenance classes, or some other classes would be a successful idea. Also I am planning an indoor track where races will be held, as well as, a place to test drive vehicles. Any suggestions on how I could make my business unique, and attract even those individuals who are not yet RC entuisiasts? Feel free to display any ideas or things that you'd like to see in, or done at a hobby shop. Thanks :D :D

[ 09-07-2001: Message edited by: RCCARTMAN ]

[ATeam]

Here is an idea. Have a fleet of rental cars available to race with. All cars would be the same vehicle, say RTR TC3's with different color bodies, or Bolink ledgends would be cheap. Newbies could show up and for say 25 bucks rent the car for the night. That $25 plus say a $10 entry fee and they could compete in 2 heats and a main event. A person interested in trying RC would come closer to paying $35 bucks to try it than $350.

I'm not sure if this would be a financially feasible idea or not, but you asked for ideas. Thats mine.

ATeam

[ATeam]

OH one other thing, put anyone who rents a car into a begginner class. So that they are matched up with people of similiar driving skills. Unless of course the person is a seasoned veteran wanting to try a diffent RC before buying.

ATeam

[Interceptor]

Maybe cost wise, the traxxas sedans could be used.

[Grant Tokumi]

My LHS has this car renting service as previously mentioned. He charges somewhere in the $8 for 30 minutes range. They play around on the indoor track (offroad) and have fun. 95% of renters are very young kids whose fathers let them try it. The store owner turns down the amp limiter to limit the top speed. And good thing because these kids TRASH the trucks. But I can tell by their faces that most kids have a blast with the rentals. I believe he uses Associated T3s and B3s. That should give potential buyers the bug.

The repair class sounds like a good idea, as long as its helpful. How to rebuild a diff, how to troubleshoot and isolate a problem, are some ideas that come to mind.

Another person on this board (forget who or what thread) mentioned one time of this service his LHS provides. The store puts a bunch of different size pinions together and loans it out to the customer to easily test different gear ratios without having to buy them. I thought that idea was pretty clever.

My LHS recently renovated the store. One of his main objectives was to isolate the track from the store. He said previously, his store was filthy from all the dust coming from the track. Also, he put a viewing window between the store and the track. When the owner was explaining his new layout to me, I didn't pay much attention to the window, but after it was done, I realized how it really enhanced his store and was a key store feature. Customers could still watch the nitro cars/trucks tearing up the track in the quiet pleasant store environment. Or if they wanted to, they could still choose to enter the track area and watch and hear the trucks in action more closeup. Oh, the current track design is such that cars launch a huge triple jump right across of the window, within 2 feet from those watching from the other side of the window.

[Big Wig]

ATeam has a great idea!

I have one too :D :

If I owned a hobby shop I would offer free seminars on nitro vehicles. More people get turned off by this hobby as a result of purchasing a nitro vehicle than those who buy electric. Although it may take years to master the secrers of making an electric vehicle as fast as it can be, with nitro, it takes awhile just to be able to enjoy the thing.

If I owned a hobby shop, everyone who purchased a nitro vehicle from me would be able to attend a free seminar on how to run their vehicle. This could be 2 or 3 hours in a parking lot with an explanation of how the stuff works and some hands on tuning and adjusting. I would do this say once a month. When someone bought a car from me I could tell them when the next one is and they would have something to look forward to if they were having problems. If someone was having real trouble, they could attend more than once!

I know this wouldn't make everyone a nitro expert but I'm sure it would increase the percentage of folks who decide to stay with it!

[HauntedMyst]

Ateam has a a great suggestion. I wouldn't hold repair classes if you want some of your income to come from repairing vehicles. One class that my LHS is considering is an airbrushing class. They also do very well with birthday parties running those little Tamiya cars that run on an enclosed table top track.

[ATeam]

HM's airbrushing class is a great idea. I wish I knew how to make an awesome paint job.

ATeam

[draggerman11]

Maybe I should present some of these ideas with my lhs. These are all great ideas, things that would definently get more people into the hobby, which is good for all of us. ;)

[RCCARTMAN]

Good ideas! Thanks... Keep the coming. I'm sure that you local hobby store owners would like these ideas as well. They want us to come back time and again. Any other ideas feel free to post or email me. What might be the best type of track to initially start with offroad/onroad, nitro/electric, oval/road, etc. ? :)

[Grant Tokumi]

What might be the best type of track to initially start with offroad/onroad, nitro/electric, oval/road, etc. ?


As a nitro off-road racer, my biased opinion would be for an off-road indoor track that accomodates both nitro and electric. :)

Onroad vs. Offroad
Onroad would definitely be cleaner. Not as much dust kicked around, so less maintenace on your part, the store owner. If its indoor, it probably won't be very big. Onroad might not have enough space to experience those ballistic speeds that make us love them. Not like you can experience that with offroad in small spaces either, but with offroad, you can at least draw audience attention with jumps and banked berms.

Nitro vs. Electric.
It is assumed your track will have electric. The question is to allow nitro. My LHS has a swamp cooler in the ceiling in additon to 2 huge fans, around 5-feet in diameter to blow air out of the store when he runs gas. With small crowds, of like ten 10th scale trucks running at the same time, it was fine. He started allowing 8th scale buggies to race and that to me was a bit too much. The room was smokey, and sometimes my eyes would even get watery just staying in there. One time, EPA (Environment Protection Agency) came in and did some air tests, and made the store only run a maximum of three 10th scale gas trucks at a time. That was insane. Store owner enforced that rule for a few months. I'll probably get cancer when I'm 40. The fire dept. also got on the store owner one time regarding blocking the back doors with the fans and having too much gallon fuel bottles in the store. Someone told me recently that thats why manufacturers are starting to sell fuel in metal containers nowadays. Just wanted to give you the heads up on some of these issues that my LHS had to deal with.

Oval vs. Road.
Most oval tracks I've seen, which is actually not that many, have incorporated a normal track with an oval on the outside. My track tried that concept on one its layouts, and it didn't seem to catch on with the racers.

Oh, one thing I REALLY like is that the store changes the track layout around once every 2 months or so. I would highly recommend your track be able to do the same. I would advice against something like an onroad course that is permanently painted on the floor, or an offroad course that is unable to be changed.

[bullfrog]

at my local slot car track eddie ( the owner) rents out cars he gets ALLOT of busness doing that and allot of people that rent cars end up getting one of thier own.

[rjb]

Just one suggestion - group products that get used together in the same area. I went to my localest hobby shop and found the glow igniters with the plane stuff aisle, the fuel bottles with the car stuff, and the fuel in yet a different place. I'm still kinda new and this didn't help. I had to ask for everything on my list in order to find it without wandering through the whole store.

Maybe that's marketing, but it made it a chore.

[HauntedMyst]

rjb, what store do you shop at?


Cartman, you should also consider looking at a HobbyTown USA franchise. They seem to be a great organization and actually help you get up and running very quickly.

[ 09-06-2001: Message edited by: HauntedMyst ]

[rjb]

HM, I go to either the Hobbytown in Geneva or the one in Aurora. Geneva's only 10 minutes away and Aurora's like 20. Al's is a cruise so I don't go there - yet.

The Geneva one is the one I was talking about. I'm not talking bad about them - they're real helpful, knowledgable, and friendly. They just seem a little disorganized - could be that it's a small store.

[RCCARTMAN]

What brands and other hobby items would you all like to see in a store? :)

[RCCARTMAN]

I was considering buying a HOBBYTOWN USA franchise, but I'm not sure of the limitations and constraints they may be able to hold me to within my ideas.

[hotmodrc]

Wow! you have hit on a hotbed of terrific ideas! the plexiglassed off track is supercool! The classes on rebuilding and repairing are probably not going to be very popular. Financially your best approach is to sell a 'tutoring session' with a new kit. Like say for $35.00 extra the person gets to come to a class with a set time, and you explain fundamentals of nitro, pull starts, tuning, etc. Also on different nights have the electric class, to explain esc's, batterys and care/charging etc. General but much needed elementary concepts of the sport.
This way you get the money up front and if they come, great! if not you at least havnt weasted your time or money to set up these classes. Also i always thought having a "night track" would be hella-wikked-cool!
you could have big black lights, the cars would have headlights, and tailights, and the cars would be painted with UV paint. super cool!! It wouldnt be totally dark, but alot like at a club, with blacklights. :D

[RCCARTMAN]

Do you all think that Hobbytown USA has a good reputation?

[RCCARTMAN]

There have been many good suggestions so far, so please keep them coming.

[SwedishPhish]

one thing cool about my lhs is that they have a TV were they show their cars and trucks going, or sometimes its "live feedback" from the track. Also, and im not sure if someone else said this yet, but maybe you could have someone who paints bodies and u could charge like $15-20 a paintjob? or I think maybe a painting class is a good idea. Also i have found trophy races, or races with a prize attract more attention. And my last thought may sound kind of weird, but ive seen it done: A "streetrace" style drag race, were all the racers put in like 5 or ten bucks and the winner gets about 75% of it, and your lhs gets the other 25%.

[HauntedMyst]

I think HobbyTown has a great reputation. From what I understand, it's your store, you order the way you want. Plus they give the small shop owner the buying power of a huge chain.

[grandmasterofpool]

WOOHOO! Another LHS in Maryland. I suggest you give a discount to rcca bb members living in central MD :D

Seriously though, I'd like to see a nice offroad track. One big enough to run a 1/8scale buggy and monster truck class. If you could carry OFNA parts you'd have all of my business :D

I like the idea of the how-to class, but not the repair class. You outta charge for the repairs. There are lots of wealthy people here in Howard County that'd take advantage of a service like that.

I'd love to enter a sick air contest too. Maybe the winner could either get the above mentioned "pot" or a new set of shocks..lol

If I think of more stuff I'll let ya know.

[SVTMaxx]

We have tried to convince our LHS owner to let us use Traxxas Rustlers and Stampedes to let kids drive around between qualifying rounds when we have parking lot racing and he refuses to do it. I think it would be a really cool idea to do that. Let the kids get hooked on it, let them drive em around, then explain to the parents how it teaches the kids how to work on the cars, responsibility (If something on the car breaks, they have to save up their allowance or something to buy parts - also teaches them not to hit stuff :)), and it's a hobby that they can grow with. Also, RCHTA publishes a booklet that answers the FAQ's of the R/C world (How much does it cost, etc. etc.).

[TC3Racer]

i like Ateam's idea. another cool one would be like on-road T/E-maxx's V.S. TC3's or something. i think that would be really entertaining!

[RCCARTMAN]

I have so many ideas, and getting feedback helps me to decide which ones to consider further, and ones I didn't think of yet. Thanks

[Grant Tokumi]

TC3Racer. I like that idea about mixing monster truck and TCs. Every time a MT runs over a TC, the MT get an extra bonus lap. Every time a TC runs over a MT, the TC gets 5 bonus laps :).

[SwedishPhish]

lol, tokumi, ive seen TCs take down monster trucks. I saw this one guy with a rs4 2, racing a t-maxx. and they were reallly just parking lot bashing but it was a funny little race. well one guy made a crack "sure, the rs4 may be faster, butlets so whos is more durable" and everyone was laughing, but the rs4 driver took it personaly and did a sharp turn and drove right into the maxxes rear tires. Now i dont know if t was luck or what, but the maxx did a barrel roll and then rolled along the concrete, and te rs4? nothing happened, not even a broken a-arm.

[RCCARTMAN]

I was condiering a RC demoltion derby. With a great prize. Would this be a good idea? Tell me what you all think.

[RCCARTMAN]

Is anyone there?

Demolition Derby with RC vehicles, Good Idea? yes / no?

[JK1]

Oh yeah, I'm in a demolition derby everytime I drive my cars! :D

[rims']

i had a demolition derby between my T3 and a T-maxx and amazingly i won!! :eek: :eek: :cool: :p but as for a track...my lhs has a dirt oval with a paved oval around it and a track with jumps and stuff inside the oval.

[RCCARTMAN]

I feel the same way. Whenever I race I end up with many broken parts, so why not enter a competition with that purpose. I wouldn't feel so bad if my car got broken, if I intended for it to happen. Today I made contact with Hobbytown USA owners and found out their perspective on owning a store within that franchise. I'm still not convinced. I may go on my own. Many people are willing to help me with my plan. I even have state funding awaiting my proposal for my own personal business. This could benefit me and people in the area. Hope it comes togehter.

[RCCARTMAN]

What other hobbies beside RC should I have in my shop?

[RCCARTMAN]

IS ANYONE OUT THERE?

[BigCatDaddy-Outlaw]

Well if it were my store, I would have RC Cars, planes, Helis; Static models, maybe trains, and stuff like that. Enough stuff that you aren't relying on just RC for business, but not so much that people are overwhelmed when they come into the store. I like the idea of renting cars, so as to let people drive them a little first to see if this is what they really want to get. Make sure you care a different array of Manufactors and there parts. I really wanted something different than I got, but my LHS didn't carry parts for it at all. The classes seem cool. Oh and Birthday parties for kids. Have 10-12 inexpensive cars(like legends or diggersor TA01s) so that the kids could race one another. With cake, ice cream, and RC Cars....What a blast that would be for a kids 7th or 8th Bday! Also make sure that when you build a track, that it has power for those that don't have power supplies. That's all I can think of for now. Need more ideas e-mail me. bigcatdaddy4_20@***** .com (I was gonna open a shop in my hometown, but couldn't get the funding to do so, so I have many ideas in my head.) :) :) :)

[MISTERgadget]

I dont know about your local HTU's, but i have dealt with 3 different htu's that had 5 different owners over time, and they all were horrible. Overpriced due to htu's franchise fees and requirements for a location. Bad service that kept pushing sales and would recoomend stuff just for the sake of making a sale, and not truly for the best interest of the hobbyist. Also, due to htu's natinal campaings in magazines and such, they require you to carry a certain amount of everything, so somone can walk into an HTU anywhere and find what they need. This creates a problem by wasting money on inventory that isn't needed or simply doesnt sell in an area, and wastres more on everything to store and show it.Make your own name, and hopefully become an LHS with a good, established reputation, like atomic hobbies in miami, orange blossom hobbies or bruckner hobbies or national rc, and many others.

[draggerman11]

You should most likely carry R/C cars, R/C planes, static models, model rockets, maybe trains..etc...

[RCCARTMAN]

Good ideas. BIGCATDADDYOUTLAW what is you ISP? Aol, MSN, other?

[BigCatDaddy-Outlaw]

I use a cable modem through @Home, love it. :p :D

[ATeam]

another thing, and I'm sure you've considered this. What about the economy? Do you think that a hobby shop can survive a bad economy?

ATeam

[Bishop]

Hobby stores are a tough thing to run, it's hard when your dealing with products that can be considered a fad.

Sometimes buisness can boom, and other times it can just about dry up completly, you need to set up a buisness that can survive the good and bad times.
A few people here import and sell cars out of home, as a part time buisness, I have no idea how well they do though.

[RCCARTMAN]

I think with the recent attention into BATTLEBOTS and other radio controlled competition format shows, people may be in need of a RC television show to boost interest.

[TC3 Benjammin]

I think that as long as you have a decent offroad track (and hold regular races), you will make plenty of money to stay afloat during harder times (speaking of, God bless our fellow Americans in NY and DC).

By having a decent offroad track, people can visually see the excitement of R/C (which keeps folks interested year round), plus when they break a part, YOU are right there selling it to them.

Personally, I think offroad attracts more people than on-road. Good luck, partner.

[RCCARTMAN]

I really appreciate the input from all of you. I am not greatly knowledgeable about all of the aspect of RC so your expertise and ideas have given a a good start in my research. Thanks

[RCCARTMAN]

Are there any hobby store owners or workers that have suggestions on what not to do or to do? Everyone still feel free to post any input. Thanks

[bolink]

Thier was a new hobby shop biult near me,and they started out selling fish,like for the fish tank,caust that americas 1 one hobby so he started out sell fish then started bringing in more and more rc,he has a carpet track and offroad track both indoor

[NatlRC]

How do the fish get around the track? :D

[RCCARTMAN]

AHH a fish track now there's an idea. But should I allow for a 21 class? HAHA

[jeepinator]

RCCARTMAN, I have not read this entire thread, but I have just a few suggestions :p

1) Hire RC fanatics that are PERSONABLE, and don't have freaking weird attitudes. (VERY common in the RC scene).
2) Pay more than minimum wage. You will not regret it and sales will go up. I give you my word on this.
3) DEMAND your employees have the utmost respect for the customer. This should be number one. It is critical beyond all that I can describe.
4) Always ask what is working at the local tracks. Be aware of the "hot setup".
5) Do not tell customers what they want. Listen 10 times for every 1 time you speak.
6) Reward your often returning customers with discounts.

If you look and sound professional people will return. If you give good advice they will return with friends. If you are in tune with the local scene and involved with the community they will return with lots of friends.

I am utterly disgusted at the level of service at some of the local shops around here. I have heard things in these shops that floors me. I have seen people walk out in horror and be laughed at by employees as they walk out. I am not joking.
And then I hear this big push to support your LHS ... well I call BS. You want me to support you ? Then you better be worthy of supporting.
If someone were to open a professional, helpful, informative RC shop in my immediate area, they would be very succesful. We need one BAD.

[ 09-14-2001: Message edited by: jeepinator ]

[BigAirGuy]

Great ideas, guys!!. However, I don,t think you should charge for repairs. Its a good way to make money, but if you only charge people for the price of the new parts, and have them watch as u do the repair, so yhat they learn how,its more likely they'll stay in the hobby :)

[RCCARTMAN]

How can I attract new individuals to the sport?

[draggerman11]

Well, why not hold some parking lot races? Its in the open, and people will see them. I totally agree with Jeep, follow what he said, and you'll be succesful.

[jeepinator]

RCCARTMAN,
You can attract new blood by being helpful. Word of mouth is 10 to 1 better than any advertising.
The silly overused adage, "If you build it, they will come" truly applies here. I am not sure what your fundage or goals are, but if you intend to stay in biz in this industry you are going to need to fill a gap. On-line stores are selling stuff very cheap. I am not cheap, but I buy from them because there are no "value add" stores in my area. It is a no brainer for me.
If you add value to the product you are selling (advice, expertise, courtesy, expediency, famiiarity, and others), you will be able to win over the on-line buyers, with no problem. I, as a consumer, want service way more than I want price.
When a truly kick butt hobby shop was in town (Kit Kar), I bought exclusively through them. They added value to my purchase.
On-line retailers cannot do this. You must add value. You must give the consumer a reason to buy from YOU.
I cannot stress enough that you need to have a professional appearance to your store and the people who represent it (your employees).
nbo loudmouths, no "experts", no "inventory reduction sales".

I hope this helps, and I hope you succeed. This hobby needs good retailers more than any single thing.

[hotmodrc]

jeepinator's got it pegged! I can't tell you how many times ive bought online just so i don't have to go in my lhs (hobbytown usa) and listen to the retards that work there.
But Phillip, the reason most hobby shops don't carry alot of different parts for different cars is~ no one buys them. That is why lhs's have certain classes "open" so they can buy alot of parts for certain cars that people are buying, that way they actually sell the parts instead of them collecting dust and spiderwebs in a back room. Yeah customer service sucks these days,
and yes i had my lhs peeps laugh at me before, but theyre missing out on my $500.00 sales that tower happily accepts. lol. Just to recap a bit, the best adive here is:

1. build a track that is accessible and viewable, i got started by seeing a parking lot race. there are alot of people who dont even know this hobby exhists!

2.pick some decently popular cars/trucks to support race classes in, that way you have parts and kits that will sell. on a side note have ameteur races, no newbie wants to pit his rtr truck against a teamkit gt and get shamed in public when he's new.

3.Great customer service will bring you more customers than you ever thought possible. Make it a fun place to be, and people will come.

4.Offer repais (for charge) and classes on nitro/electric, offer classes with new purchases and charge for it, your in this to make money, if they attend the class they'll save money by doing repairs themselves.

5.have "testor" cars, or rentals, it's an addictive hobby, it will pay off in the long run.

6.Be a trendsetter and have a short term lay-away plan, with a restock fee. Some people may want a 7.5 but can't dish it out all in one lump, be flexible, but not soft.

7. Try not to split the cash flow too much, no one wants to share their rc store with grandma's looking for the latest harlequinn novel. lol

8.Offer monthly classs on paining or some other specialized area pertaining to the hobby. or contract an in-house airbrush guy. That is a sure fire money maker!

9. customer service, did i mention this already? well it deserves repeating. lol

hope i didnt leavce anything out, oh and dont forget about the night racing with glow in the dark paint!! lol

hotmodrc

[jeepinator]

YES !
Glow in the dark paint :eek:

I like it. And you could use cyalume sticks for the tuns and stuff.

Quite a few years ago a buddy and I taped Mag lights to the top of our trucks and drove around on an almost pitch black night. It was funny as heck for about 20 minutes.

The only flashlight I has was a 5 D cell Mag light. Those things are HUGE and HEAVY, so handling was not exactly great :p

[Railman]

RCCARTMAN, I think it's great that you have decided to operate a track/shop. :cool: To do it right takes a lot of work, & also a lot of help. The best scenario for help is to somehow form some type of a club or organization to help out. You might want to talk to some of the higher profile tracks for advice. Our local track did reasonably well for a while, but eventually had a hard time getting everything done each week well enough to satisfy the hard core racers. Most people will help if you give them some sort of break on race fees & such. A couple of overlooked building priorities are often overlooked. One is ceiling height. It's har to get the drivers' stand high enough to see the track if the ceilings low. Two is dirt. This is extremely important. If you get the right dirt mixture the track takes less mintanance to get good traction. Poor traction is more frustrating for the beginer than for the pros. The pros will get theirs to work regardless of the conditions. For the beginner it's very dificult to just drive around the track when it's slick. Three is lighting. Ever go to a store that's poorly lit. Brite si lesss stressfull & more condusive to having a good time. If you can swing it use halides or something close to the natural light spectrum. The track that I run at in Columbus Ohio is just a pole barn. It's operated by an RC club. They don't have an on site shop, because it's basically a non profit club. It's 10,000 sq ft, with no insulation, & no built in heat. They just run space heaters when it get's cold. It does have fantastic lighting with a high ceiling however. It also has a dirt floor. That is a big plus when it comes time to change the track & also makes it easier to keep the track at the proper moisture level, because it has the ability to draw up moiture from down under. If the dirt is put over concrete, it wants to dry like a brick. If your thinking about an on site shop definately isolate it from the track area. The humidity level from the track's open dirt is a major problem for
the shop area. It's also way easier to keep theft down also. If you have to leave the shop, for a while, just lock the door. Spend your money on the things that make the track more fun to drive on, not the cosmetic things. Go for big sq ft, good dirt, good lighting, adequate pit space, & it'll be a hit. It's also a big plus if there's fast food near by. I would try to talk to some track owners and or clubs. I'm shure they'd
offer plenty of good free advice. I don't really see track owners on this site for some reason...probably just too busy to frequent. Try WWW.CRCRC.com (http://WWW.CRCRC.com) ;) Good luck
Joe

[ 09-16-2001: Message edited by: Railman ]

[E-MAXX]

I have read most of this thread and I'm going to give some of my input.
1. Don't have a super big hobby shop with many rooms and doors. I like a medium sized shop, it makes the customers feel connected with each other.
2. Have a viewing area of an off-road track. Have a big window with many chairs by the window for veiwing pleasure
3. Carry all sorts of RC brands, not just a few.
4. Have a big invetory warehouse fully stocked in case of loss of parts.
5. Have street cars(nitro,electric), stadium trucks(nitro and electric) Monster trucks(nitro and electric) and some tanks. Have an employees in charge of that area and show the renters how to operate their rented vehicle.
Have fun and be nice!
Philip S

[RCCARTMAN]

I really appreciate the feedback. I hope to have my plans in action by December. I am scouting store locations now. I may try to get a monthly "BATTLEBOT" type event monthly to draw people into RC.

[RCCARTMAN]

This forum is being buried down the list so I had to bring it back to life to get responses

[jeepinator]

This is a THREAD.
The FORUM is titled "General Discussion".

Just thought I would clear that up ... :)


Plus, you get a freebee BTT

[RCCARTMAN]

Thanks JEEPINATOR for clearing that up. It sorrows me that I have offended you by typing a unclear thought for your viewing. haha Just kidding. FOR the record this is a new topic everyone.

[LA TMaxxin]

I have given a lot of thought to running a shop and track in an area that has not much in the way of tracks. One idea i have that hasn't already been talked about is perhaps a club fee, like healthclubs, members wouldn't have to pay for practice and have a smaller fees for the races. A member might pay $15 bucks a month to have unlimited practice time instead or $5 bucks for a practice day. On race day a member might expect to pay $10 bucks to race one event instead of $12 bucks for a nonmember. A person who practices 5 times a month and races twice a month would save $14 bucks a month.

[RCCARTMAN]

Are the local RC clubs willing to participate in store events? What would be a good fundraiser and a way to inform people of an opening store?

[RCCARTMAN]

In order to open a HobbyTown USA you must travel to the main store. Are there any owners out there?

[RCCARTMAN]

Hello

[jeepinator]

Hi !

[RCCARTMAN]

I was just trying to bring this topic back to life.

[timberwolf177]

Cartman...my 2cents... We are on separate sides of the contenant, but out hear in Northern California I have watched about 7 hobby stores dissapear... The ones that survive are the ones that jeep man has talked about... Customer Service. I am a manager for a landscape company.. If I where to treat my customers poorly, I wouldnt have a job. But for some reason retail operations think that you should be thanking them for being there, instead of them thanking you for shopping there.. I have another idea to spu out in a moment.

[timberwolf177]

Now, for the rest of the story...

I think another big factor on the hobby store issue, is what you will carry. I noticed most of the stores that went out of buisness just carried cars..Nothing else.. Or just r/c stuff.. nothing else. The ones that seem to make it, carry other items as well. Take your hobby town for example. Models, books, yo-yos, games etc. One of my best buds in Colorado (when I lived there) worked at a hobby town.. He said there biggest seller was the pokemon cards and Yo-yos. And that had the biggest mark up. So an idea that I had..and it might not work in your area.. but out here racing is huge... Nascar, nastruck, stock, oval, you name it. If I had some capital.. I would start a 'Racing Store' You carry all the good hobby stuff and have a track.. you carry racing goodies.. models, diecast (VERY Big out here), flags, shirts, hats.. all the goodies for all types of racing. You throw in some racing video games.. some racing events on a big screen.. What this does, brings in an already existing crowd that doesnt car about economy.. they are hooked.. it is a drug. The souviners dont cost much and are still wanted by many.. Then, they see people racing r/c cars. You alway want to race after you watch a nascar event.. Now they can.. In my opionion, I would try to offer more than just the hobby itself. When times are tuff, people will cut the hobbies first. (except us hardcore... lol) And the best way to attract new attention is to take it to the people... Go to the local mall with some friends, and set up a small race.. have fliers ready to hand out.. This always grabs attention. Lots more, let me think about it. I have given it much thought, as I would love to open one, and have it succed big time.

[RCCARTMAN]

There are few hobby stores in MD. When I first entered into the hobby again after 12 years, I found several rude workers. My first truck when I got back into RC was the TMAXX. I didn't know a thing about nitro and a magazine article said that this was a good beginner. I had problems with it of course, so I returned to the hobby store. I was insulted and called a F$%^ing idiot. I explained that this was my first and that I didn't know what I was doing wrong. They proceeded to say the it was "common sense" and that only an idiot wouldn't understand. I was ready to whoop some tail then, but decided not to since this was a 19-23 year old kid that weighed about 120 pounds, and I am 6'4" and weigh 280, so instead I called the manager/owner over and told him the situation and he looked at me and said "What do you want me to do about it?" I said "What do I want you to about it... nothing forget it and forget about any further business of mine F&%#FACE" then I left. So believe me I know what you about the workers acting like they are doing you a favor when you are a patron of their store. My store will be different.

[draggerman11]

Thats good RCCARTMAN. I guess I am lucky, the workers at my local Hobby People are very informative, know what they're saying, have a little fun with you(you know, a joke or two, not about you of course) and get you what you need. Hobby People is an excellent example of a big hobby company, who hasn't lost its "mom and pops" type feel to it.

[RCCARTMAN]

Today i watched the races at the local Hobbytown USA and I was thrilled to see the childrens excitement and enthusiasm. I hope to make a year round race course so it wound just be a fair weather sport. Would you all like to race year round? Of course those of you who live in Cali. probably do, but here where the weather fails us with rains, hail, snow, and other meteorological downers. HAHA

[GearGuy2002]

I have read most of the thread and here is my ideas:
First your customers are yor number one reasonsbility that means that if someone that didn't buy a car from you they should be serviced after a customer that bought from you has his car fixed even if the guy that didn't buy from yu got his car there first.
Second you should start a club that will promote RC like say for 40.00 dollars you get 10 race enteries forany race and you get your name entered into a drawing for a car and you can come anytime the store is open and pratice.
Third only hire exprienced people like people that know what they are talking about and hire a guy that wil paint bodys for 20 dollars or so
Forth make a track with a painted on road serface and moveable divders and then have some dirt you can move in and make a dirt track and some jumps then on the side of that track you could make a oval or viewing area

[draggerman11]

Cartman, you seem to be on the right track. Customer service is a big priority. Make sure they feel welcome, always wanting to come back. Make sure your workers know what they are doing, and make sure they are not cocky about it(and or a jerk) Try to keep everything as cheap as possible. Carry a variety of things, such as R/C cars, planes, model rockets, model cars, trains, etc.. An off-road track should be a bigger priority than an on-road if you want to atract new people. because for someone watching it, off-road is more of an eye catcher(of course try to have on-road too) I hope this helped.

Kyle

[Nitrotruckman]

Here are my suggestions:
1. Be nice to the customers, help them, amd make them feel comfortable.
2. Try to carry many different brands of parts and cars. My LHS only sells Traxxas, and they lose many customers because of this.
I know you need to have a lot of the popular in-demand brands, but please make an effort to stock essential parts like spur gears from Ofna, Kyosho, and other brands.
3. My LHS let's you test cars sometimes but no one wants to try because they are afraid to hassle the workers. They don't even have the cars out. Make the customers feel welcome to try the cars out.
4. Make the total emphasis of the shop on r/c, trains, and maybe diecast. Don't waste your space with a bunch of useless stuff you can find at Toys 'R Us.
5. Classes on r/c cars is an excellent idea. Especially with nitro cars, since the difficulty for most people getting started in nitro is the main reason they give up and never try again. I'd say a lot more people would be into nitro cars if they could just get some tuning skills.

[Roostachuck]

I think a lot of that stuff is some great ideas. I'd have to say there's 2 things that would get you business the other guy can't get.

1. Allow orders. Some of us enjoy the "exotic" cars & trucks, and some of the brands are harder to get parts for. (Xpress, Schumacher, Yokomo, XRay etc). Allow people to pay up front for the Part(s), and then order them for the customer.
None of my LHs's will do that, and it really makes me mad @ times.

2. If you have an indoor track, make sure that there's plenty of room for a good sized pits, and make electricity availible in the pits, etc. My LHS's pits are terrible. There ain't enough room for 35 people (figure 20 racers and their friends, at least!) So, just make things nice that way.

Keep good parts stock, and don't just carry Losi & Associated. Carry the odd ones, the Xpress, Xray's the exotics. I know 5 people off the top of my head that have a hard time getting parts & hop ups. That's where a shop like yours could come into play.

Anyway, good luck, and I wish U were starting it here in Kansas.. hehe.. We don't have enough of em, and the only 2 ones are Hobby Haven and Hobby Town USA.. and Hobby Town's prices SUCK. :D

[RCCARTMAN]

I am truy glad to see so many responses. I'll consider all of these ideas. They all are so good, but I really only have 20K or so to start with. Hopefully that'll be enough. Another question, are people any of you RC people interested in videogames as well? I was thinking about making a combination of many of the interests I have had growing up. I kow it should attract a younger croud, if i advertise right, but how about you RC'ers 15 years old and up? Would you all like to see Video Games and RC in the same stores? Would it work? Maybe instead of a HOBBY SHOP it could be a recreation shop. Let me know what you all think. Thanks again. :)

[tylerlikes69]

I have noticed in my LHS that people who come in to look around usually buy somthing. I've seen about 20 people buy new cars/trucks, and they are always, ALWAYS Traxxas. I don't belive Traxxas is the best by any means, but they are always up front in the display windows. I think you should give all brands (Serpent, Yokomo, Losi, Associated, Traxxas) equal "advertisment". Have everything out and in the open with prices clearly listed and big big colorful pictures. Just my 2 cents, but I am sick of seeing people pass up the HPIs and Associateds just because the Traxxas's are up front.

[RCCARTMAN]

How are your hobby stores set up? What are the focal points? What are some of the DO NOT's?

[timberwolf177]

Rccartman... I am seeing alot of good ideas as well.. I helped a friend of mine set up a track side r/c store.. The first trick is to check with the distributers to find out what you can carry.. Some distributers wont you allow to carry some of there stuff if another hobby store close by already deals with them. Thats the first step.. also, with 20k, stock the parts first then only buy a few kits. If you are setting up a track, most people racing will already have there r/c cars and will be looking to buy parts and hop ups. Start out with one of each kit untill you build up more capital. And, thou, I agree Traxxas is not the best, the reason it is such a hot seller is because it is reasonablly priced and all together. Now with all the other companys coming in with the RTR's you will have more to chose from. And yes, video games will work well.. trust me on this.. You have racers that bring in friends and family.. they get board during non race times, they are going to head straight for the video games.. And I will have to dissagree with the idea of only selling r/c items.. like I said in the above.. I have watched to many companys go out of buisness.. the little stuff grabs the visitors attention just as well. yo yos and other similar items dont cost much in wholesale and have a great mark up. I would also see.. if you get a place big enough, to put in a mini z race track. Its inexpensive and fun as hell. Most hobbies stores are selling these things for 140 to 160. That is afforadable to a lot more of the market than 400 to 600. And the experiance will lead them into the bigger toys down the road. I hope some of this has helped. I really do know what you are trying to accomplish, and I wish you all the success. Just be buisness smart, treat the customer well, but dont give things away.. It's easy for us customers to want a buisness to just hand out all they can, but this will cause you to go broke fast. Feel free to email me if you want to chat further.

[RCCARTMAN]

I didn't sign on in 2 days and this site sure has changed

[mikemann]

RCCARTMAN,

You should email me offline, I'd like to talk with you. I'm on the other side of the US in California and am talking with HobbyTown as well. I'd like to get your opinions on that and hear what you've found.

I'm going to Lincoln, Nebraska next week for a visit.

My email is mikemann@value.net, maybe we can call each other.

Thanks,

Mike

[RCCARTMAN]

My email address is RSmith3304@aol.com.

[RCCARTMAN]

Mike sounds like he is closer to opening his store than I am. I really appreciate all of the help, that all of you in RC Zone, have given me. Keep it up. I really need the help:)

[RCCARTMAN]

I truly try Jeepinator. I try to keep this thread at the top so I can continuously get feedback. Thanks for your help.

[timberwolf177]

you guys are slacking... this thread was pretty buried!!!. Anyway, cartman.. I was wondering how much have you looked into this. Have you found a spot at all that you might like to use? The area and the size will determine alot!! The bigger you are, the more you can offer!!And I would like to hear, as well as all the others I am sure, what ideas interested you the most.

[RCCARTMAN]

I am a RC car fanatic as well as a videogame fanatic, but even more so I am a MONEY fanatic. I love money. The ideas that I will benefit the most from will be the ones that I like the most. These are also the ideas that will benfit my customers and my business. All ideas are considered, but some are a little too risky to venture into. I want to keep my customers happy and intrigued to come back, but I also want to make a profit so my business doesn't go under, like so many of the hobby stores in this area. I can tell the difference between the people who really put a great amount of thought into their replies, and those who list something that they'd have at a fantasy hobby store. Not to say that those ideas are any less appreciated, but realisticly some ideas wouldn't be beneficial for me to try. Though i would if I make a twenty or so million in the future. Then yes the store would be basically a non-profit fun place, but in the beginning I need some return. I must sound like a politician. i can't really say that I like one idea more than another, because this may keep an individual from further replying to this thread, with a truly wonderful idea. All I can say is that everyone has been great in my research, and I thank you all. RCCARTMAN

[HowieStern]

i have refrained from replying to this thread for quite some time... but here's my .0000002 cents...

i helped get a new hobby store going early this spring.... it was opened because there was no LHS within 1 hour of our local track.. and that's a long ways to drive if you break a part on race day... LOL..

it seems most of the responces here are from people telling you the ideal way a hobby shop should be... which is all great if you are NOT looking to make money....

ok..... first off... mark up on hobby parts isn't very high at all.... i don't know if you've seen cost on most hobby parts.... but it isn't squat... the lower the profit margin, the more volume you must sell to pay the light bills... email me cart if you would like a better idea of profit margins... b3_racer@*****.com

second... to me, i would never open a hobby shop if i wanted to make money... there are a zillion better/easier ways to make money than with a hobby shop... the big mail order places have ensured that profit margins are kept low, making it VERY hard for a LHS to make any money....

the big mail order places advertise dirt cheap prices to your potential customers, and they end up also being your LHS's suppliers.... this is far from an idea set-up...

this hobby has been forced into a state where only volume sales can provide a decent living..... (ie- mail order, or the ONLY LHS in a HUGE metro area)

i've seen people say... "pay your employess more than minimum wage".... "buy all the kits"... "only hire trustworthy people".... most of those are very obvious statements.... but there is a reason why most LHS's have poor help, and a very small selection.....

why do most LHS's tend to have poor quality employees??? simply because the money is NOT there to hire well trained, hardcore r/c people... with net profits being so low at most LHS's, they simply can not AFFORD to pay more then chump change.... and we all know you get what you pay for.....

why do most LHS's tend to have poor part selection??? do you realize just how many different kits are on the market?? then add stocking all the replacement parts.... then add all the hop-ups.... that's about 3.9 zillion parts an LHS needs to stock.... LMAO.... and guess what?? a zillion 3 dollar parts add up in a hurry.... and the KICKER is... most will be OUTDATED 6 months from now and be worth nearly nothing.... most manufactures in this hobby release a LOT of new products every year.... this makes it very hard (and expensive) to keep a good stock of current parts....

i could probably go off on this subject forever.... but overall... because of the way this "industrie" is set up.. it makes it dern hard on LHS's....

support you LHS if at all possible folks...

peace out.... :)

[Moo-Shoe]

Here's a comment/question for you folks out there...

All the posts I've read concerning the track mention one type of track or another. This definitely limits your audience. If you only have a dirt track, and only sell dirt kits, you will lose many a on-road customer. Get a location that is big enough to have both a dirt track and a road track. That's my comment.

Here's where the question comes in... I know we are limited to the 6 27mhz bands and 30 75mhz bands for radios and receivers. I also know that in Europe and Asia, there are a couple of other bands available to RC enthusiasts. Can we use these frequencies in the US to allow more drivers on the track at the same time? Is there a way to "shield" the track to prevent frequencies from travelling too far so you can run multiple tracks? If you could have all 36 frequencies running on both a dirt track and a road track at the same time, think of the amount of extra business you could generate. Heck, if you had a big enough parking log, you could have nitro running outside, and 2 electric tracks indoors if your building were big enough...

[RCCARTMAN]

I know of a two LHS tht have a decent profit margin. This is due to the new fanatics. They develop loyalty to the people that are helpful and informative. Customer support is a great way to keep business. As far as employees, my family and friends are willing to work for scratch to get this underway. I have a few other businesses that I shall open as well. I am opening businesses that I have interests in or feel comfortable operating. My friends and myself will run the customer service part of the store, my family will run the business aspects. My friends ask for minimum wage and discounts, my family ask very little (just that I succeed). I will succeed.

[Rotorranch]

Cartman.....don't forget SLOT CARS!!! Slots, especially home scale slots, are on the upswing in this country right now. And diversity in inventory is very important. Many other good points have been made in this thread. With luck , you should be able to run a successful Hobby Shop.

Good Luck!

Rotor

[RCCARTMAN]

I sure hope the year round indoor racing will be a success. I will run on road for the first half of the day and offroad the 2nd half of the day, or vice versa. Or maybe saturday is onroad, and sunday is offroad, or vice versa. I'll have a suggestion and questionairre for my customers to fill out, and each participant gets a coupon or something.

[RCCARTMAN]

Have you guys seen the new Novak Super Receiver. It can be changed to varying frequencies. It looks really cool. I may buy a few of those and a Spectra transmitter, with module.

[RCCARTMAN]

I visited the local hobbytown races today. Boy that store really bites. Event he owner is rude to the customers. When I open my store I am going to take his business. I go in to the store and stand there waiting for some help finding a new linkage set up for my 21 MAXX and the workers are standing there looking at me, so I say " do any of you know where I can find the throttle linkage gear?" The one guy points to a manual on the counter and say there are some in there. I said "No, I need to find it in the store to buy." He pointed to the back of the store and said they might have some back there, then him and the other workers continue to talk. I wondered to the back, trying to find the parts I, which I couldn't find. I finally became disgusted with the service from this store so I left. I have spent too much money in that store, and even if I never spent any money there, they should see that the customer gets assistance. Don't get me wrong some of the workers there have been helpful to me at times, but lately the service in downhill.

[staticx1134]

did u ever think of 1/24th slotcars??? or a r/c drag class.......the only thing with slotcars is that it may be a whole store of its own......... any q's e-mail me at staticx1134@aol.com:D :D :D

[RCCARTMAN]

I never saw a 1/24 scale car. That may be a good idea. This area doesn't carry much more than 1/8 1/10 and 1/12 scale vehicles. I'll have to look into it. Do they have nitro in 1/24? If so they probably can't handle much of an engine. HAHA

[Rotorranch]

Heres a couple pics of 1/24 slot cars

http://members.aol.com/rotorranch/images/mvc-012f.jpg


http://members.aol.com/rotorranch/images/mvc-015f.jpg

Rotor

[RCCARTMAN]

Who are the main distributors of these cars? are they like other RC's? Likes and differences?

[Other_cents]

I would suggested creating a RTR racing class for people new to the sport. There are so many good RTR machines out there that would race fine together and would help those new people into the sport. I would also recommend steering your new customers away from Nitro. The worst thing to have is a new RC person trying to learn how to drive, tune, and keep that nitro engine running. It might cost more up front for a electric, but it is well worth it in the long run since it takes less time and effort.

Most hobby shops specialized in specific cars. You might want to check around the area and cater to what most people drive. My LHS specializes in Traxxas and Associated. They have some Losi parts, but not much.

Classes you can hold:

1) rebuilding electric motors

2) rebuilding nitro engines

3) building a matched side x side pack

4) tweak check

5) shock building 101

6) rebuilding diff (why and how)

There is a LHS in Denver that is mainly a small store (not much bigger than a bedroom) and the rest is an indoor track and an outdoor track. All they sell is RC stuff, but they are ROAR certified and everything. Depending on how many tracks are around you and what fees you will have people pay for pratices and races you might be able to do this also. This track has plenty of inventory they just use sliding walls to show different type of products or parts that are available.

Really three things you have to decide before starting a business. What do you want it to be? What does the customer want? Will what you want meet the customers needs?

The last thing that everyone in Business needs to know is LOCATION. You can have the best RC shop in the world with the best parts, track, and employees, but if its on the wrong side of town in the middle of an apartment complex then you probably will fail. LOCATION. Your best bet is to find a barn on the side of a major freeway or road build an off road and on road track, paint RC RACING TRACK on the side of the barn, and stock only TC3 RTR kits, RC10T3 RTR kits, batteries, and chargers. After you have sold enough to purchase more inventory get upgrade and replacement parts for the TC3 and T3. After you start making alot more money start bringing in more kits like the Racer, Team, FT, Losi XXX-S, and everything else that your customer wants.

It all starts with LOCATION.

[RCCARTMAN]

I have a few friends that are willing to teach classes and help me run the store, they only ask that they get parts and kits for cost, i said no problem. The state has a program to help individuals get their businesses started all I have to do is turn in my proposal that is based around my research, so keep the info coming. Thanks.

[Rotorranch]

Cartman....slot cars are distributed by Eagle dist.(my favorite!), REH, ERI, ScalextricUSA, LGB America, and many more. If you want more slot car info, you can email me at Rotorranch@aol.com

Rotor

[bullfrog]

hey rotor thats a nice wing car! i was into slot cars till i sold them i mean dont get me wrong they are great but i needed to sell SOMTHING if i was gonna get my pede. i had a wholeshot drag chassis with a super wasp. i also had a roundy round chassis ( forgot the name of it) with a stock 16 D. i used to race at eddies slot car world here in vallejo california. he had a 80ft. strip on the right side. a blue king in the front and a motherload in the back he was a ok guy but his language wasnt so " family friendly" if ya know what i mean ;)

[staticx1134]

hey.....i am in slotcar bulttin and my pic is to...it is for the south....if u want the websiite to where i race here it is www.bocaslots.com we had a national drag race their and one of the cars went 118mph!! these cars can go some sick speeds... if u want any more info e-mail me at staticx1134@aol.com:cool:

[staticx1134]

hey rotor not to b mean but thoes cars look real old....they are more advaced now:)

[Rotorranch]

Thanks Bull.....It's one I painted up for a customer to run at a Nats Warm-up race. It ended up winning the Concours award for pretty car. The body is pretty beat now, after being raced a couple times.

Staticx.......They are a little old.....7or 8 years for the group car, but it's the only pics I had to show! ;) No offense taken! The Mazda RX3 is a Plafit chassis that I had a manufacturer pull some bodies for me from a model kit. I raced a 1:1 RX3 for about 10 years in the SCCA SEDIV, so I wanted a slot car like my real car. :D

We've been playing 1/32 here at the house, and I have over 50 new Fly, Carrera etc. for home use. Plus most of my old cars, dating back to the early '60s.

No commercial track on our side of town, but am working on some new stuff to make a comeback to commercial racing! :cool: My 9 year old son has the urge to try it, and there are some new tracks within a 100 mile radius of home. The track I worked at hosted the 1990 USRA Nats.

Cya at OWH!

Rotor

[staticx1134]

hey rotor i was in the fldiv2 races they r alot of fun....except when you have secretaries trying to over rule the tech dircecter.......thoes arnt int fun...and you end up loosing alot of stubborn people............anywho ya they r great!:D :p :D :p


i think the nats this year were held in ny if im not mistaken:D :o

[RCCARTMAN]

So these slot cars are really popular. I never hear much about them locally. Are they like the race car tracks where you have a trigger for throttle and the cars blast around a track. I had one of these as a child made by "hasbro? (I think?)" If these are the same thing I don't know. Are the track powered to supply the cars with power?

[XXXER]

I WORK at a hobby shop. Pay is not the best, but hey, it is all about good old fashioned F U N! We carry all sorts of things, masses of plastic models, RC Cars, planes, boats, Slot cars, doll houses even,but, what we are mainly about, is TRAINS. To be flat out honest, Trains are where the money is to be made in hobby shops. Also, kits, they are not where the money is made either, it is in the parts. Here is a link to the hobby shop I work at, it is a "Mom&Pops" type joint, and they are doing great. They have been in business for like, 18 years, or so. Something kind of cool(just a little bit of history) the owners are Father and Son, the son(doug) actually started the hobby store, his Junior year in HIGH SCHOOL!(Yes, I said High School!). His parents would take care of the business while he was at school. A link to my hobby shop, is www.mrshobby.com Also, here is a pic of what our Slot Car track looks like, we rent out a special type of car, to anyone(Parma makes Slot Stuff too! And a full line of Rental cars, that are just built like TANKS!)
http://mrshobby.com/images/cars/track.jpg

If you have anyquestions about what I do, or any questions on how the hobby shop I work at, works in general, please, drop me an e-mail, that is visible in my User Profile.
EDIT: I almost forgot, about our Slot track, it is roughly 120 feet in length, it is really cool!
-Steve

[RCCARTMAN]

Are the slot cars big business? How are they powered? How do you control them? Are there transponders? Do you make your own tracks or are they prefabricated? How much do they cost? Thanks for the help. I may have found a prospective location for my hobby shop/indoor race tracks (an abandoned warehouse next to a shopping center). :) :) :)

[mikemann]

hey rccartman,

Slot cars like the 1/32 and 1/24 mentioned in an earlier post are made in kits by Carrera and Scalextrix. They go together similar to the HO scale tracks you probably had as a kid from Toy's R Us and Sears. But think bigger size and better quality.

We have a huge slot car store by our house and I have looked into them for personal use, it's a big portion of their store now. I think a lot of the popularity for these kits come from the scale and detail of the cars. They are quite impressive.

However speed and handling are another story in my opinion...I've tried them a few times and they are a completely different experience than the "toy" HO scale stuff like Tyco, Tomy, Lifelike. The cars were hard to control and seemed very slow to me. I wasn't that impressed by the performance of them.

The other kind of slot car the gentleman mrshobby is showing is 1/24th scale but more of a "commercial" track. Those tracks cost thousands of dollars and are made of large wooden sections that have been routed for the slot and have high-grade wiring.

These are very cool in my opinion, still nothing like R/C's but it's the roots of the R/C hobby. These cars are wicked fast. How most shops operate is they have timers set to each power supply which each powers an individual slot or lane. Usually 4-6 lanes per track. The timer then provides power to that person's lane for however much time has been "rented". Very slick setup and I'm sure works great. Lap timers can then also be incorporated in many ways, like photocells or the best way to describe it is smal breaks/switchs in the track. So when the car goes through that point there is slight intermittance (sp?) in power and it tracks the time and lap. This is all routed to a PC and software.

I think a commercial slot would be very cool and a neat addition to a hobby store, especially in areas where the seasonal weather changes can limit/restrict certain hobbies. Slot cars can be a cold-weather alternative to R/C's

Lastly, as if this post wasn't long enough...you should contact me again about HTU. I just got back from corporate and can give you a lot more info. If your serious about this we should talk.

-Mike

[staticx1134]

thier are 8 lanes,and how they count the laps is like how mikeman said ther is a spot known as the "Dead Spot" their are sensors under the slot that counts the laps and the guid og the car goes by.......i am into slotcars alot cause my bestfriends dad owns 1. and i am thier every day so if any info e-mail me

[mikemann]

yep...8 lanes. My mistake! Duhhh, I should have just looked at the pic above, there's eight lanes in the pic! hahaha ;-)

[staticx1134]

hehe yup:D

[RCCARTMAN]

So they are like the ones I had as a child. Do they fly off of the track in turns? I loved when they'd do that.

[staticx1134]

yup they sure do fly off:cool:

[pudder]

i would be very much like my lhs :D

their site is http://www.cellardwellerhobby.com/

-mike

[RCCARTMAN]

Hey pudder is that a hobbystore where you live?

[RCCARTMAN]

I have seen some incredible stores on the net. I search them out by the ones listed on the trinity page in RCCar Action Magazine.. Did any of you see them?

[Mini_me]

This may have already been asked but where is your hobby shop at. If you say Indianapolis, you are a saint.

Thanks
Mini me

[mikemann]

Isn't there a pretty big and nice HobbyTown USA in Indy? They did the Trinity Snowbirds there the last few years I think?

BTW - I think RCCartman is in MD.

-Mike

[RCCARTMAN]

That is correct. I am in MD. But who knows if I make enough money on my own maybe... a national franchise:p :D :) ;) :eek: :cool:

[RCCARTMAN]

California has a ton of hobby shops. I wish I could say the same for Maryland

[Mongoose420]

first off i didnt read all 4 page's of idea's so im going to duplicate some im sure.

A. Offroad track and Onroad track if you can. If not i would have to say onroad just from a practicality stand point. Plus because of the NE usa winters(Pa here) you could hold race's year round if your choice is between a indoor road track vs a offroad outdoor track.

B. Altho it would be nice for a LHS to keep a huge stock of parts its not exactly the best way to do things because you would have to charge more for the parts you sell to make up for the investment in the parts that collect dust. So keep in stock whatever your track race's, BUT if someone starts race'n with a diffrent car try and stock some commonly broken parts for that person because they will not sit on the shelf all that long.

C. Other than word of mouth try talking your local mall into letting you use a unused patch of parking lot and do a race there once a month. Kids walking into the stores to buy tyco will walk to your shop the next day that your open to buy a hobby quality kit.

D. I dont think that you need to be a Hobbytown just to have big buying power. There are im sure "distibutors" that can stock a large quanity of parts and sell them to 20 or 30 tracks/lhs and still keep the cost down.


hope that helps


AND if you have aLHS that doest deserve your support get the local racer's and all go to a diffrent one or if you dont have one try a static model shop that currently doesnt support RC and walk in with 10 or 12 guys that will all buy RC they would be stupid not get into it because it would be bad 4 business

[RCCARTMAN]

I am planning a open yet covered on, and off road track for year round racing. It will have protection from the elements (rain, snow, and other conditions that are not conducive to RC racing), yet allow the fumes from the nitro to be blown away, thats unless I find a nice warehouse where I can put a killer exhaust unit in. That'd be sweet:D :D :D :D

[cj1267]

How are you going about financing the new shop?

[RCCARTMAN]

My money, local programs, loans, and payback programs that the distributors have.

[RCCARTMAN]

My plans have been pushed back again. I won't be moving until late January- early February, but I still inend to open my store. Thanks for keeping the information coming. :)

[ATeam]

sorry to hear about the push back cartman. Hope your store goes well. What kind of billing options do the distributors have? How long do they allow you to pay off your initial investment?

ATeam

[jayskiia]

hey Cartman, sorry about the delay, but maybe it will give you a chance to do a bit more planning and get your affairs in order. I have on huge question-how do you plan to have a big enough covered but open space that will allow exhaust to flow out, but not let snow in, and yet stay warm?
maybe i am missing the whole concept nut if you have an idea please share, maybe others can use it too

[RCCARTMAN]

There are several ways to battle the elements. I have been looking at large vacant gas stations with large open dome like covers where the gas pumps were, large warehouses with loading dock bays and huge exhaust fans, and vacant grocery stores. The heat on the other hand is another issue. My father works on the railroad, and they have work heaters in storage that have been replaced by new, and they will remain there until I open. I was considering that, and the more I thought about it the more I feel that it'll be a try and see type of deal. The cold air is great for running nitro in and the electric can be help in an enclosed area. So many businesses in the area where I am planning on relocating to are going under. I know that I am going to have to advertise well, and I have atleast 20 racers that are willing to take the 40 minute drive to my store due to the lack of RC stores and racing facilities here in Baltimore, and in MD in general.

[RCCARTMAN]

It would also make it very difficult to open the store this close to the holiday. I want my grand opening to be spectacular.

[timberwolf211]

RCCARTMAN Please let me know when and where your hobby shop/track is going to be. I live in edgewood and would be willing to help out with the layout. Also the MD club is slowly coming together.

[RCCARTMAN]

Have you all heard of Hanover PA. Its about 40 minutes away from Baltimore City. Take 795 almost 40 miles and there it is... I may just buy a home there and open a shop here in MD... still up in the air right now. On Tuesday I am going back up to look at this shut down mechanic shop that is large and has bay doors.

[RCCARTMAN]

Where's everyone?

[RCCARTMAN]

I visited Hanover PA this week and they have a pretty nice indoor track. I spoke with the owner and they said that the market for other vehicles, beside electronic touring there, is null. Their set up is cool. I'd like to work a collaborate circuit with this shop as far as racing and which brands we carry. I'd hate to take all of the business that they have. Especially because they are so nice. I'll leave the electric touring mainly to them but the rest is mine.

[RCCARTMAN]

Any Maryland or Pennsylvania R/Cer's here?

[RCCARTMAN]

Oh no! not my thread... NO NO NO it can't be, its..its...its dead... NOOOOO please please bring it back.... HAHAHA

[James414]

For the derby I would use bolink diggers or something to that effect to keep the cost down and I like the Idea of the pot prize but I think it should be 65/35, or present a certificate for your store, I am glad to find this because I want my own shop too,

[James414]

well about the other store, you and them could work out a series race in which you guys alternate sites and track directions and confirgurations. The series would be set up by points and manufactures and gift certificates could be offered to the winners. If there were like 20+ races then you could have 10 weekends of track fees and the other guy could have 10 weekends. and then you would hold a finals for the ten highest point totals and alternate each year. But how ever you do your own personal hobby show races you would need to find out what the schedule for the other tracks in you area to make sure you do not conflict. another thing you might want to try to rank folks so that you have like skill racers racing each other and maybe qualify you track for a state champ race. Just some Ideas. I know I want a large track. I am looking for some one to pave a 300' X 300' foot spot for onroad racing. if you want some ideas for tracks look at http://www.*******.com/ they have some pics of some GREAT onroad tracks.

[timberwolf211]

Cartman I am still here and I know where hanover pa is.

[onroadrider1]

First rule in running a hobby shop is ALWAYS make a profit on EVERY transaction . You have no idea how fast you will go down the tubes if you befriend every r/c racer who walks through the door. Second parking lot racing is the best advertisement money doesn't have to buy. An indoor track is great for the racers but for attracting attention to the store , I'm sorry it just won't work. You have to get these smokin gas powered cars out there where peaple can hear and see how neat they are. You have to remember people are shy they will seldom walk into a building to get the the race. Third never rent a car out . Many hobby shops have tried to do this and have always lost money. Fourth never let a customer test drive a car even if its a used one . You will just have to guarantee that it will perform as you say. The customers will be able to see the cars in action on race day or night during the parking lot racing I mentioned in rule number two. Fifth never hire help or pay for it. There is always the longest line of free help out there just waiting to have some part in the lhs. If you feel compelled to hire peaple never withold taxes , do contract labor and let them be responsible for their own . Remember when you withold taxes as an employer you are responsible for not only witholding the taxes but you must also match social sercurity and medicare. The tax rate is .0625 for ss and .0145 for medicare so you would double this and this would be the total you have to deposit at the bank by the 15th of each month. I could go on all day so if you have anymore questions feel free to email me @ onroadrider_26@msn.com
Visit my website http://onroadrider.tripod.com/alshobbies/index.html
Check out the new message board.
P.S. Have work benches so your customers can work on their cars. When a customer buys a car from you , you will help them for free if they have problems and want to learn how to fix it , but you will charge if they break it and just drop it off and say fix it.

[RCCARTMAN]

Onroadrider1 thanks fr the great ideas... That must be your hobbystore, huh? Man let me know all of the secrets to staying open, and the same goes for the rest of you out there. Thanks again.

[ATeam]

uhh you never answered my question

[onroadrider1]

In response to Ateam's question , unless you have incredible credit and a good track record as a business a bank won't loan you the money for stock. The distributors are net by the 10th or whatever day of the month they choose . Most are C.O.D. To get a hobby shop off the ground properly you need 100,000.00 cash or more. It can be done with as little as 30,000.00 but the walls will be pretty bare. The first 6-9 grand goes for rent and utilities. WOW !!!! bet you didn't know that. lol

[RCCARTMAN]

ATEAM I didn't mean to ignore your question. The one i am considering the most is ACE Hobby Distributors http://www.acehobby.com/termsandpolicies.html . I am considering them the most because the Thunder TIger MT's. I think they'll be a big hit.

[ATeam]

I know you didn't

[staticx1134]

well rc.......i rember helpin u out maby a month ago when u asked what other hobbies should i get.....well i said 1/24th scale r u still gonna do that?? i am jw and to lasy to look all the way back hehehe good luck tho man!~! also when is some 1 gonna open a shop in south fl~?!?!!? gosh i wish some 1 had your smarts to do this here!! :) :) :)

[RCCARTMAN]

I am considering the notion. I may start small, because I don't see a lot of them in the other LHS, but that doesn't mean that they won't be popular. Trial and Error

[staticx1134]

ya.....but i think u should stick with the rc stuff i was jw if u were gonna put a track in hehe

[RCCARTMAN]

I want it all, but realistically, in the beginning i can't have everything.

[timberwolf211]

Remember that you are not going to be able to stock everything.Just stock what your customers buy and be willing to order them something if you don't have it in stock.And most important be friendly and senistive to your customers needs.They will be the reason you have a shop and employment.

[RCCARTMAN]

Timberwolf where is Edgewood. Is RC big there? I am trying to decide if I should open my shop in MD or PA?

[timberwolf211]

Edgewood is north of Baltimore approx 20-30 minutes on 95 depending on traffic.The exit is 77 it is the bel air/edgewood one. We have one hobby shop in fallston and it is not very big and has no track. Also she mostly carries Traxxas and some OFNA, HPI but that is about it.She is very friendly and willing to order most things that she does not have in house. Also the Hobby Town in Glen Burnie carries a lot of stuff but the owner and the people who work there are not at all friendly or willing to help with any problems so I refuse to shop there.I think PA has enough hobby shops and MD could benifit from another one.And if the one in MD had a track would be a welcome and I bet it would see a lot more buisness than one without.

[RCCARTMAN]

Thanks Timberwolf... Are their any other Zoners from MD or PA with an opinion on where I should set up shop? If so, please do so.

[chrismc]

The only reason touring cars are the only thing that does well in hanover is because its the only thing they really run and its the only indoor track in the area except kranzels - dirt oval in harrisburg. RC - How big of a building are you looking at - it needs to be 5000 squrare feet on the small end, the reason it is successfull is chris and alison are so nice and there is no competition.

[chrismc]

Oh yes to answer your question. I would put a track on the 83 corridor between york and harrisburg. You should get racers from baltimore, harrisburg, lancaster and surrounding areas, probably even some from phily, state college, and allentown.

[RCCARTMAN]

I will consider the idea. Thanks for the input. My hobby will bring new life to which ever area I open it in. I am sure anyone in Hanover, PA or somewhere in MD would enjoy some of the concepts I am willing to try. I want to make it fun for people to enter hobby shops, and not feel afraid to ask a question. I want a place where people feel at ease to interface with employees and other enthusiasts.

[RCCARTMAN]

Has anyone seen any locations where I can put my store? Locations that have other business around, and that are for sale, not lease. Please help!

[jacknjul]

Dude, I have some room in my backyard....seriously though, what area are you lookin in? You probably mentioned it somewhere else in this thread, but I'm kinda lazy when it comes to reading 5 pages of responses.

Jack

[RCCARTMAN]

Maryland, but you can travel all of the way here to buy from me, or you can move here just to buy from my shop. Just kidding.

[CK9887]

I think you should make a small track just for kids who want to test the cars. You could have like 5 lap races for the kids testing the cars. I think this would make kids want to buy the cars because i think its kinda boring just driving a car on the street but at my local track i have so much fun driving my car. Racing the cars makes it much more fun.

Also be sure to have lots of parts for the cars you sell in all the time because nothing makes me more mad then when i break a part and the lhs doesnt have the piece and they have to order it.
CK9887

[CK9887]

How do u like that idea?

[RCCARTMAN]

That is a good idea and I may try it. I will definitely stock parts for the vehicles that I sell.

[ATeam]

Check your PM's

ATeam

[RCCARTMAN]

Got Ya, and I'll help you as much as I can

[timberwolf211]

RCCARTMAN I think you should look into the Harford County area. There are plenty of places to build and have a track if you want more info e-mail me and we can talk more maybe even call each other.

[RCCARTMAN]

Timberwolf I'll take whatever you got. I am opening in MD, just not sure where. I am gathering all of my prospect and going to the Chamber of commerce for each area and getting info on the inhabitants. I then have to gather info from the local and do surveys, as well as simply talking to locals. I will be living onsite so I can dedicate my time to the store for at least the first 6 months open.

[RC Freak]

make sure you have some kind of drink or snack machin

[RCCARTMAN]

Gonna have a set up where bottled or canned drinks will be available, some heat it up yourself foods (I'll have a microwave available), non-perishables, packaged snacks (cookies, chips, candy, etc.) This will be located in the race area. I was gonna offer short order food, but the licensing and codes aren't worth bothering with.

[chevymaxx]

A cheap entertaining idea: You could build a lil drag strip outside, (or maybe even inside if you had the room) and let it be open to everyone. It would be neat to see a nitro and an electric go at it! It wouldn't be hard to build at all....just a thought.

[RCCARTMAN]

I was considering drag races as special events. Maybe more if it caught on. Thanks

[timberwolf211]

Cartman,
I know of a good vending to service your store. Also if you need some good sites let me know. I think of one at the corner of 152 and rt 7 and there are more around. If you want to talk more e-mail me and I will send my phone number and we can talk in person.

[RCCARTMAN]

My email is RSmith3304@aol.com You all can email with any info you have. Thanks Timberwolf and the rest of you all

[jacknjul]

How goes the search?

[NiTrO_SPrc]

i dont think i got many ideas but 1 good idea is to be a great listening and nice worker to where they come and when they leave they tell friends, then the friends come then they tell thier friends and so on lol

have fun on the store hope it goes well

[RCCARTMAN]

I am having a hard time finding a decent location. Also no the distributors are asking for my credit references, though I have none. I have never had a need for credit, because I pay cash for all of my needs. I guess I have to establish a line of credit. This sucks, but hopefully it won't create a set back. Still aiming on having the location and setting up the shop by late February.

[AFSilverstar]

Yea that would be cool if you had all the cars you sell assembled and all so people could test them out or controllers before they buy them , oh and dont me to exspensive!:eek:

[RCCARTMAN]

When I first open I will allow adults and some children to test drive my personal RC's vehicles which I will also be selling the stock versions of each, and more.

[RCCARTMAN]

I am getting discouraged. The search fo a good location is still on. If U all know anywhere in MD let me know. Specific sites for sale. Thanks

[jacknjul]

After you find a site, PM me and I'll give you some good advice for setting up. I am in my 3rd week of business right now, and have ran into a few problems that would have been easily avoidable had I known about them.:)

[RCCARTMAN]

Thanks, I appreciate any help. So many set backs, but I just got one out my way. Now on to the next one.:p

[RCCARTMAN]

I see that timberwolf is out and about. I saw a flier he must have posted recently at Stoneleigh Hobbies. Local MD'ers help me find a spot for sale. The realtors are really letting me down and the ones I find on my own are not panning out as well.

[timberwolf211]

Cartman shoot me another e-mail. I will let you talk to a friend of mine who is a realtor. I will give you his e-mail and phone #.

[spenzalii]

Hey Cartman,
Exactly where in MD are you looking to buy? While there are shops in Waldorf (Doug's Hobby), Glen Burnie (HobbyTowne), Laurel and Rockville (HobbyWorks) and Gaithersburg (The Track), none are close to DC, and there are quite a few of us that like to run close to home, but hate the travel.

[MaxxThrasher]

Originally posted by spenzalii
Hey Cartman,
Exactly where in MD are you looking to buy? While there are shops in Waldorf (Doug's Hobby), Glen Burnie (HobbyTowne), Laurel and Rockville (HobbyWorks) and Gaithersburg (The Track), none are close to DC, and there are quite a few of us that like to run close to home, but hate the travel.

TRAVEL??? Just how far do you have to travel? Your in a state thats the size of my living room and you have 3 hobby shops and a track!:p :p :p

Actually,living in a city with 4 million + people, the nearest hobby shop is about 20 minutes away(about 30 miles). I wouldn't mind having one closer either.;)

[spenzalii]

LOL Yeah, we may be small, but we're powerful!

All the hobby shops are at least 25 minutes away from where I live, and the track is about 30-45, depending on traffic. It makes it a pain when all I want to do is get a set of brushes or replacement steering knuckles. I almost have to wait until I need a lot of stuff to make the trip worthwile. Thank goodness for mail order!

[dreamer_1uk]

Hi,

You could have like a "second hand/used" section where you buy/trade for peoples old stuff and sell it for more! You have to speculate to accumilate!
Also, another thing you can do is sell other peoples cars etc and charge them a fee for advertising/displaying them in store and take like %5+ (depending on the final sale price) of the total sale price once the car has been sold.
Do a classified section too and charge peeps for putting adds say in like the shop window or in the shops catalogue.

Hope that helps,

[windellmc]

You guys don't know how good you have it. The nearest shop is 45 minutes from me (it's the only one within 2 hours) and the nearest off-road track is around 2hrs. Although I may soon have a track/shop within 20-30 minutes away. That will be nice.

[schmacher]

carry schumacher !!!! :D :D :D :D
alot of schumacher !!! :D :D :D :D

[schmacher]

carry schumacher !!!! :D :D :D :D

[RCCARTMAN]

I am looking in areas of MD within 20 miles of Baltimore. Right now, with the way the search is going I'd open up just about anywhere that is decent (not a lot of crime, lotta traffic, and people that want to have fun). I am getting discouraged now and again, but I keep telling myself that anything worth having is worth waiting for (sounds like a load, huh?). :D I already screwed myself out of the spring racing group but I will make a killing while the rest are not running in winter and I have my indoor track. I really hate the associations regulations within certain communities in MD and PA (too many restrictions). But I will get it up and running, or I will die trying.

[spenzalii]

Have you looked in Columbia? That should stay in your 20 mile radius and he area is quiet.
You definately should stock a lot of parts for a lot of makers, not just limiting yourself to HPI or Tamiya, as HobbyWorks does. A knowledgeable and objective staff for both nitro and electric is a must, not just buy the most expensive stuff. And above all, keep it fun!

Which other shops in the area have you gone to? Find the pros and cons of each and do them one better.

[RCCARTMAN]

The Columbia area is one of those tricky areas due to the residential / commercial zoning restrictions. I could open a shop there in a strip mall, but then I would have to lease, and I am really against leasing, plus I couldn't have an indoor track. I have seen a few properties that are promising for sale, but they are $400,000 and up usually. I am not going to give up. I have to find more publications that have strictly Commercial Listings posted in them. If anyone has seen any or know of some links let me know. Thanks :)

[spenzalii]

Ouch! Just don't give up the search. The more we have, the better we are. BTW

1. which shops do you frequent now?
2. How are you planning to promote your shop?

[crazy9.5driver]

Maybe u should open a bank/hobby store so when people come in and see how damn expensive it is u can just direct the to the bank to get a loan.:)

[RCCARTMAN]

I currently frequent Hobbytown USA in glen burnie (closest), Hobbyworks in Laurel (most helpful staff, especially Kobey), Hunt Valley Hobbies (have most parts I need and fuel). I occasionally go to Stoneleigh Hobbies, Yorktowne Hobbies, Create a Hobby, and Dougs. Would of mouth is the best promotion, but I have many other ways. I have been going to shops and telling customers there aboutmy plans, giving them my phone number or email address, I will advertise on Comcast preview guide channel, RCZONE, this forum, local races, friend, networking, newspaper ads, outdoor (so passers by see what is going on and stop in) and indoor track, help of friends to spread the word, and anyway possible.

[spenzalii]

The TV thing would be great. I haven't seen anyone try that yet. Every time I go to HobbyWorks, Kobey is never there. He does give great advice. I just came from Dougs where they're running 2day. But I have to rebuild my front diff on my XXXS. He didn't have the mini nut that I stripped, so it's off to Mimi's at The Track. She's great, but just so damn far out (Gaithersburg)

[RCCARTMAN]

Kobey is there on Wednesday-Saturday after 4 pm.

[racer13]

Ok, first of all... you will let me in for free, i will buy large amounts of good's from you, you will paint my body for my birth day.. i will be able to race for freee 24/7 chanting me on with popcorn kthnx, jk.. i'd say make a huge sign out side saying " FREE SEX > IN HERE! " but maybe that will just scare people away from you?! All the better, then you wouldnt have those people in ur store stealing huh?!

[spenzalii]

ROFL rc13. I don't think the free sex thing will fly 2 far, butit would be funny.

Now I know why I can't find Kobey. It's a pain trying to go up the BW PKWY weekday afternoons, and Saturday I end up at Dougs. They started running at the track out there last Saturday. I would say be sure to stock as many of the replacement parts for the most popular cars (XXXS, TC3, HPI everything, etc). I had to travel to rebuild my diff Sunday!

[RCCARTMAN]

I spoke to Adrien at Schumacher and he is going to set me up as soon as I get a location. He is pretty cool and helped set up shops in Florida that are pulling in over 1.4 million in profit a year. Oh yeah, that sounds nice. Atleast its a start.:D

[racer13]

OMG, spenzalii


Your saying you wouldn't come to My hobby SHOP DAMMIT! how would i get buissness then! gesh i thought it'd work dammit! :(

[RoadRunnerSpeed]

How about a Hardware/RC store?

[RCCARTMAN]

I am thinking of a Hobby/craft/? store. My mother is into crafts and I think that crafts, could bring some women in and I can get their money also. I want all the money.:D

[Nutter]

Hey, great idea! That'd be good for sales because if a husband goes in with his wife, rather than her dragging him out as fast as possible, she'll look around too (works other way too). Not only 2 people happy & looking around, but 2 people spending more time in there! :)


-Nutter

[racer13]

First rule.. DOn't Listen to Nutter :D My idea.. u want more people in there dammit! i'd say put ne thin and EVERYthing in there! a bakery, ice cream shop, candy shop, book store, Posters, SODA, pet shop, computer shop, Dirt bike store... ALL DONATIZNG MONEY TO RC CARS!! Hurray!! my idea r0x0rz nutters so get mine instead... :rolleyes:

[spenzalii]

There are some really sick dudes on this one. The joint store is a good idea. Twice the business clientele and easier to get a permit if worded correctly. It may even promote mutual respect across the board. Of course half naked women would attract a lot of attention too...

RCCARTMAN, I've gott go to the hospital off 100 (North Arundel, I think) and may stop in HobbyTown. Is it worth the trip or should I just wait 'till I come back and try to find Kobey?

[wlcohen]

Hi, I live in MD also. I would love to have a first class Hobby store with a track

Here are my ideas:

- Loacate off a major road (695, 83, 95), I got into R/c when i drove by Hunt Valley Hobbies and walked in to look around

- Have all kits, parts, etc accessible to customers to look at. Don't stock a ton of stuff behind the counter (like Hunt Valley Hobbies)

- well lit, modern looking store

- have test vehicles to try before you buy

- offer fair prices, i am willing to pay more at a LHS over mail order if i am given good service and the owner makes an effort to know who i am if i am in his store alot

- i would carry all r/c's - boats, cars, trucks, mricros, helicopters, planes, etc.


- slot cars would be very cool, i just got a "lifelike" set for my kid, i think if you carried HO cars and sets that would be enough


- a table top micro r/c track would be very cool

[RCCARTMAN]

Thanks for the input. Spenzalii, sorry it took so long for a reply, today was my fathers birthday and i took him out for dinner. Anyway, dont waste your time with hobbytown for help, go see KOBEY. He's the man with the skills. Hobbytown couldn't even tell the guy there that his TMAXX wouldn't engage because he forgot to put his clutch shoes on when he installed the 3 engine into his maxx. They didn't help him at all and he bought it there. I felt bad so i went out of my way to give some helpful info. He kept ruining his engines due to his beginning knowledge of nitro engine (broken con rods, pistons etc.) They sold him 2 engines and this being his 3rd should do it right? Atleast that is what some employees were thinking (third times a charm) nah! I solve his problem, showed him what he needed, and told him what he needs to do to break the engine in. Poor Man, he was me before I became aware of HOBBYTOWN. :D U R probably saying "if he doesn;t like them, Y does he shop there?", simple they are the closest to home to buy parts, but for help it is worth the drive to HobbyWorks in Laurel. Poor Kobey, I pester him too much:D but he doesn't care because he gets to run all of my vehicles and gets them ripping past the other guys rides.:p

[spenzalii]

Thanx for the heads-up. I rarely get the chance to go up there because
1. it's a pain to hit the parkway during the day
2. all the cars I own(ed) they don't stock the parts for (OB4 Int'l, Kyosho GP Spider MKII, both of which were stolen, and a XXX-S which nobody will get a finger on). It's kind of a drag to see every flavor Tamyia there but not what you run. And while they carry Dynamite and JR products, they carry nothing for Losi, even though they are all distributed by Horizon Hobbies. Strange! He did paint this killer 2001 Eclipse body for me though. I may have to get him to do another, since mine was stolen:mad:

You know, you may want to recruit Kobey when you make your move...

[RCCARTMAN]

Believe me I want to recruit Kobey, but I don't think he'll travel very far to work for me. I am working my way into asking him. If I had a definite spot, I might just try some negotiations. He knows his stuff and has a great personality for working with people. I may just have to genetically engineer a few clones of him:D

[Poolboy51]

OK If your going to open a hobby shop, then hire reasonable people and dont always focus on selling crap like a certain hobby shop near me *cough*redmondhobbies*cough*. The help is ok, not supurb, I can find better, closer, but they have tried to sell me an air filter for an 11mm air opening but I had a car with a 10mm and he told me to just zip-tie it on! Thats a great way to lose customers. I now go to a different LHS, which has about same/higher prices but greater service.

PS
Ive been to Hobbytown and been very impressed with service and been there and been disgusted. I went there like on a Monday night and the owner was there and I got plenty of help restoring a Kyosho Rampage I bought off e-bay. Then I came in there a few weeks later on a sunny Saturday about lunch time. There were about 10 people there and I was not helped very much/at all. I dont go there anymore.

[RCCARTMAN]

I dont care fro my local Hobbytown. Some of the other stores have ok customer service, and that will be a main focus at my shop.

[Racin Rev]

Make sure that your employees know that they are disposable if they don't engage the customers and provide good service. I walked into hobby horse in Madison WI several weeks ago. They are trying to branch out into internet and phone sales. I walked in, on a Saturday, there were two employees and one customer in the store. I walked up to the counter and waited. the one customer concluded his business and left. One employee, just wandered around the display counter area, right by me who was standing there, and never asked if he could help me or even looked in my direction (I was less than 10 feet away.). Ok I thought he must be a relative, so I went around the counter to the other side where the other employee was fiddling with a starter box. I was right next to him, close enough to grab him by the lapel and shake him (which I refrained from doing.). I stood there for another three min. (making a grand total of five after the other customer left). No one even bothered to look at me. I left and will take my business elsewhere. I wanted to call the owner and tell him why he lose a customer but I went out of town that next week and two weeks have passed now and I don't know if info that old will make a difference.

If I had employees like that I would fire them! They cost me money. I used to manage restaurants and if the employees didn't treat the customers with respect they would be written up and if they didn't amend their ways they were gone. In the speed shop /accessory store that I used to run no one would have considered treating a customer that way.

[Izzy]

A good idea for your store would be to try to make the isles plenty wide. The Hobby Town in my area is way too cramped. When it is crowded on the weekends, shopping is a real pain trying to walk around people. Another good idea would be to have a rental car of every car or truck you sell there. Then you could rent a car for a weekend to see if you like it or not before you buy it. You get to test drive real cars before you buy one, so why not at least be able to rent a R/C.

[MaxxThrasher]

I don't know about renting cars out for people to take home, but at least having one available for people to drive would be a nice touch.

"JMO"

[jmnjoeyd1]

i have a problem with my lhs and i figure if i tell u about it u can make shure u dont do it.my lhs forgets who supports them....( the customer) me and my friends only go to him when we have to.we have 2 other shops to go to but its a little hike my point is customers come first.i can go into his shop.3 people including the owner working behind the counter and stand there untill i have to literraly beg for help then after the give me what i need your litterally rushed out the door its like the shop is for him and his buddies and customers arent importent.ive orderd parts and never gotten them when i ask if the part is in the answer is it will be in the order next week after week after week.id order something and say arent u gonna write it down or do u need my name and number and they say no. i my self have gotten 5 people into the hobby and they all have bought cars and parts from him but he just dont care its to bad because hees loosing alot fo business now because were all sick of his lame service.this is a hobby im 30 years old married with 2 kids and a stressfull job.i do this for a release to forget about the world for a little bit.i dont need a shop adding more stress to my life.some times my cars will sit broke (i have 4 of them) for a week just because i dont want to patronize him.....well im rambeling i just felt as if i had 2 get this off my chest ....thanx 4 reading ..and good luck

[MaxxThrasher]

I think you nailed it when you said its like his shop is for him and his buddies. Thats probably it exactly. I would take my business elsewhere and not look back. Even if his shop IS closer to home.

"JMO"

[spenzalii]

Yeah, it seems like good customer service is a must have, cartman. That's why i hate going to GPA Hobbies out in Bowie. Even when I went there to but my XR3, I almost had to steal something to get some service. It shouldn't matter if you're buying a $700 MP 7.5 Kanni or a $3.75 pinion, you should get the same level of respect and service. But not as though you're pressuring the customer to buy something, like your local Foot Locker. Act more like a Saturn dealer, and give them no pressure. Or something like that....

Gotta run. My batteries just came from Tower 2day and I've gotta solder the astroflite plugs on them and change my servo in my XXX-S. Please stock Losi parts....

jmnjoey, we all feel your pain, brother...

[RCCARTMAN]

Thanks for the input. I have a good couple of prospects and I am praying to GOD that they pan out. Just in case, Spenzali have U seen any sites for sale? How far is Suitland from Baltimore? Would you travel to Baltimore for better service and care? Are hobbies big there in Suitland? Which ones? Thanks

[spenzalii]

Woah Cartman! Thought you gave up on us for a minute...

Suitland is about 35-45 from B-More (exit 7B off the beltway, or 495 for those unfamiliar). It's a shot up the BW parkway, but since I go that way if I go to HobbyWorks, it wouldn't be that bad. If the service was good and there was a track, sure I would go. It may be closer than Mimi at The Track in Gaithersburg. My girlfriend's parents are further north (Edgewood), and we go visit them from time to time, so I could make an excuse to get up there whenever. Besides, I'd have to come up there once just to meet you. I figure I may as well get to see the fruits of my laboring on this here keyboard :D LOL Hell, I may even volunteer up there from time to time...

By the way, what are you running? I've been thru 3 cars, though I only have the XXX-S for now.

[MaxxThrasher]

spenzalii, thats one of the most unselfish offerings i've heard so far and a great idea.(To offer to volenteer) As anyone whos been in business or has started a business knows, money doesn't come flooding in quickly. Good employees are hard to find and when you do, paying a good wage is even harder due to the fact that you usually don't have much to give at first.(Unless your loan could cover you for a couple of months after open). If everyone in the area could sign up to volunteer for a couple hours here and there, that would greatly reduce the burdon on RCCARTMAN'S overhead.

What a great idea!

:cool:

[-=ADA$=-]

dunno if that was written before, but you should have shipping outside of US and Canada, like to europe, and have given shipping prices, and all the stuff anyone need to their trucks, cars planes boats etc

[spenzalii]

What can I say Maxx, I'm just that kind of guy:D LOL

Actually, I just end up getting caught up when I'm in a store. I used to work at an auto parts store, and everytime I go in there now, I end up behind the counter helping someone. It's a bad habit. Besides, if I can help someone in the hobby I love, I can make a good case to my girl....:p

All I ask is an occasional part here or there for my ride. I'll still pay, because it's still a business. Besides, I have no idea how much time I'll have. But if I'm there, I'll sell parts, marshall a race or what have you. It's fun to be around people that do the same thing that you do, so it wouldn't be like work for me.

[MaxxThrasher]

Well thats more then anyone could ask.
A big atta boy for spenzalii, the world could use more people like you.
:cool:

"JMO"

[Killer87]

definatly stock a good amount of parts of the cars that you sell. my lhs sells storms and they only have like 3 different parts for it.

[Killer87]

and i own one too:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[racer13]

yeah. my lhs is very cool, i went in there needing some help. like 2 guys came and sat there looking at my car for an hour, NO CHARGE, only prob is they don't stock losi parts.. so i go to my other lhs and they stock every part for losi, associated, traxxas, etc.. all you need is to stock up on those kits/parts/ etc.. and have great customer service, i'd say an offroad track/onroad would be pretty cool

[Killer87]

i toatally agree.:cool:

[RCCARTMAN]

Yeah RCer's like spenzali are true stand up individuals. I am finding more and more offers. Like I said i only need the location and that is a very important factor. I want to make major bank and have fun. From what I have been hearing the mark up is immense on some products(chaching). But I wont overcharge. I will do my best to beat all comp. prices. To answer your question spenzalii, I have (2) EK4's, (2) TMAXXES, 1 Schumacher Desert Storm XTR21 (with 3speed tranny), 1 Traxxas Bandit, 1 Traxxas Emaxx, 1Kyosho USA1 nitro crusher, 1 Ofna Monster Pirate, 1 Duratrax Axis, 1 Duratrax Thunder Quake, 1 Megatech Nitro Razor, 1 Ofna Ultra MBX / GTP, a few parts vehicles, and several engines and vehicles on order (Collari XS2200 MC hand modified, (3) XTM.247 engines, (2) .90 TTR engines, 1 Schumacher Fusion, 1 Schumacher 1/5 scale) and much more to come.

[Jaket]

I've become very interested in opening up my own R/C / hobby store with R/C offroad (and hopefully onroad) tracks.

I believe that an R/C hobby shop with tracks will attract a good deal of customers wanting a place to run their cars - plus spend money buying replacement parts, etc...

I'm just starting to look into this, and I figured I'd ask what kind of profits one could expect from a hobby shop?

It would be located in Phoenix, Az -- All the way on the otherside of of the valley from the only current offroad/onroad track r/c store... It would be outside as I figure it'd be very expensive to indoors paying for A/C and all that during the summers..

It's kinda late, and I'm sure I'm not asking the right questions in the right way, nor providing the right information.. :) but any idea/guesstimate would be appreciated as I start looking.

Thanks again,

Jake

[Madmann135]

The easiest way to get buisness is to post your buisness on the internet, and sell stuff over the internet and E-bay that brings buisness to small stores (you are selling to the entire world instead of one small area.

Have great deal sales every once in a while (that is the only reason I go to towerhobbies.com is because they have sales that you can redeme over the internet, also they don't recharge for shipping out of stock items)


The best place to list your shop is here
www.rcyellowpages.com

Hope this helped

[Jamedup]

Cartman,
Have you looked into opening something in the Elkton, Md area?

Most of the people here no nothing about rc except for the Radio Shack and Tyco commercials they see on TV. We seem to be an hours drive from any other hobby shop and 1 1/2 hours from any type of rc track. There's about 20 people within a 20 minute drive that I know of that is seriously into rc and racing.

Anyway, a couple of us were talking about opening a small shop and killer off road track right outside Northeast, Md but I don't think it's going to happen. Where we were looking was near an intersection 10 minutes from I 95 and on Route 40. It had a motel next door and a McDonalds and a Wawa store within walking distance. The shop would have been on site. The land and building is not for sale that I know of but I believe you could find something in this area if you looked into it.

One thing I like about the only shop that I frequent is they take care of the people that takes care of them, and they still make a profit. They just don't rely on us to pay the morgage if you get my drift.
The thing that turns me off is they don't restock the parts we need. I've handed them a list to stock 3 times but they never have what we need. They sell the stuff but rarely restock the stuff. (That my friend, is frustrating) It all boils down to poor management and not listening to the needs of the customer. It's alway's... make me a list, make me a list.... soon it's going to a list of stuff I'm going to buy from Tower.

Sorry for the rant, I feel much better now!!! ;)
btw.... any of you guys from Md race at the Pasadena track?
www.PasadenaOffroad.com

[spenzalii]

Jamedup,
Where exactly IS Elkton, in relation to Edgewood or Joppa? This is really going to make my drive farther...

[Jamedup]

Elkton is in the upper right of Maryland.

[larrison2002]

I have a kyosho mega force and no one carries the parts for it so it would be nice to find them:( :(

[RCCARTMAN]

I bought a place in Hagerstown. $140,000. 9,000 square feet of building. Will have indoor and Outdoor racing. I am looking for some land close by there for offroad races. There are 2 offroad tracks there already. Only has .68 acres though. But thats a start. I have about 30 customers waiting for me to open. Sweet. Hey folks, If you want to travel this winter to run to Hagerstown, I will have indoor:D and work shops, and a milling machine;) Buy from me. Come on. Buy from me. This is gonna be sweet.

[spenzalii]

Congrats Cartman! Only catch, you're farther than EVERYONE! You'll get more business from Penn. customers than anything LOL. But don't worry/ I'll make the journey at least once a month if I can. Now, what are you planning to stock?

[onroadrider1]

Well when you get ready I will set you up as a dealer for my Micro RS4 foam donuts. Check it out when you get a chance @ www.hypertechracing.com

[onroadrider1]

Well I went and got a milling machine with a kind of dreams and relized very quickly it ain't all its cracked up to be. If you got the bucks check into a laser machine. Yes I can do some neat stuff with my machine but it very labor intensive and not very productive. There isn't much you can do that will justify the time you will stand at it other than just the fun of it. I also anodize aluminum so if you want like a red serpent chassis or a pink supermaxx chassis or whatever let me know.

[spenzalii]

Sounds like a good service. How 'bout some red Losi shocks? Everybody has seen them in that Dynamite ad, but nobody can find them...

[Need2Speed]

how far is Haagerstown from Lancaster PA isnt Haagerstown right near the PA MD line?...........If so when I move back up to Lancaster you'll be getting all my buisness.....

[larrison2002]

If you stock up on kyosho mega force truck parts you will have 10 people just from me getting parts they are very hard to find so if you get them i'll put the word out for that and all the nitro cars to deal with you and you only:D :D :D :D

[onroadrider1]

I could anodize the shocks, but the smaller the part the harder it is. I have to make an electrical connection to the shock and wherever I make this connection it wont anodize. So it makes it kinda hard to do this sort of thing.

[RCCARTMAN]

I am not certain the exact distance from lancaster but i can find out if U have a specific address. I am about 20 minutes from PA. i am planning on some internet sales. I am the president of a Corporation: Gar-land's R/C Car Land & Hobbies, Inc. Like the sound of that. onroadrider1 who did u buy the milling machine? price?

[onroadrider1]

I bought it from a local supplier. It ran about 3k without any tooling. It has digital x axis and y axis readout and power feed on the x. Without a cnc system hooked up to it you can't really make any parts for R/C repetitively. It's not easy to manipulate the x and y together to get curves and what not. A milling machine really doesn't have a place in a hobby shop. A lathe on the other hand may prove usefull.

[RCCARTMAN]

I can make it happen. I can get a complete CNC from microkinetics for about $5K.

[onroadrider1]

Hmmmm. Sounds interesting what kind of work area on the mill? Is there a link for them?

[RCCARTMAN]

Check this one out! http://www.microkinetics.com/4axis.htm :D