RC-Monster Forums - View Single Post - Local hobby shop is closing.. another victim of the economy :(

01.24.2009, 11:58 AM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

	(#18)
billy gunn Guest Posts: n/a	01.24.2009, 11:58 AM As one who works at a "successful" hobby shop, I thought I would chime in on a few things that I think makes a hobby shop work. Think of these as suggestions for those of you who want to open a LHS. 1. Stock as many parts as physically possible. It doesn't matter how many kits you sell, (cars/trucks, planes, helis, boats, or whatever), if you don't keep stock parts, and hop-ups in stock. 2. This kind of works with 1. Diversify as much as possible. We sell, planes, helis, boats, cars/trucks, models, diecasts, rockets, trains, pinecars, slot cars. There are employees who are knowledgeable in all of them too. I'm mostly into cars, but we have a "plane/heli guy," and a "train/slot car guy," and a "model guy." 3. Cater to what your customer base is. In our case, there are not a lot of racers, mostly bashers, so stock what they want. Therefore we do not stock a lot of Mugen, Kyosho, etc. because we sit on inventory and that costs money. 4. You do not need a track to be successful. We do not have a track and it works out very well for us. Unless you have a well known track that can bring in big races, the owner is probably losing money on the track part, more than likely they have it because they really support the hobby. 5. You have to be competitive with online pricing, whether that means really low margins on kits/RTRs, or buying in major bulk and storing kits. If you look at all our kits, they are priced within $5 of Tower/Horizon, or any other major online seller. As you all know, replacement parts are where there is any margin anyways, Electronics and kits do not make a shop money. 6. Your employees have to be excited and knowledgeable about their job. They have to want to work there. I've been to plenty of other hobby shops where the employee didn't know what they were talking about, or didn't want to help customers. Minimizing turnover will help with that as well. I've been working at this LHS for 4 years and I was the newest employee until just a few months ago. Sorry for the long post, but as I think of more things I'll add it to the list. Right now I have to go to work at my LHS.