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

[Finnster]

Sucks. Went by today (to buy glow plugs ironically) and the owner told me he's closing up. Sales just died lately and he can't risk burning his remaining savings trying to weather the storm.

It was a nice shop too and he just moved and expanded last year. Literally across the street from work, so very convenient too. That's about the last LHS in my area. There is another by my house, but its small, expensive, poorly stocked, and open strange hours. Stopped there recently and it looked on its last legs too.

The economy is a murder right now, and its depressing about the RC hobby shops. They seem to be on a decline for a while now. I've talked to him about how he basically has to compete against his own suppliers online (horizon hobby, great planes (tower), etc.) and they don't charge tax. The margins suck and you get to deal w/ some real idiots in the store. However, if all the LHS shut down, how is that good for the hobby? I love some of the online places like RCM, but you have to have the locals as well. Out bashing and break or lose one little part, do you really want to have to go online and roder it and then wait for days? The LHS has saved me tons of times.

Really sucks for nitro as its very expensive to order online. That will kill nitro and move people to BL faster than anything else.

Oh well, sad day. Know quite a few people who have been laid off out of the blue, and now stuff like this. :(

[E-Revonut]

Glad my LHS is alive and thriving! They still did their yearly special sale and give aways. Yes that's right, give away! In November they do a secret santa sale, that's just their name for an early Christmas sale. Everything in the store was 20% off and they gave away at least $7500 worth of merchandise! Granted they got most of it donated by their suppliers but they wouldn't be able to do that if they didn't do enough business with them. On top of that Great Planes gave the owner a fully built and equipped plane, a HUGE one. It has 2 nitro motors, 14 digital servos, about an 8' wing span, and weighs about 40Lbs. It was a surprise to him that I got to have a "small" hand in! When they carried it over to the demonstration area I got to help hand it over the barrier ( Like I said "small" hand). They also did a sale from the week before Christmas until New years that was 15% off everything. I do plenty of business with them and everyone knows my name. I called one day to see if they had something in stock and asked them to hold it, he said "ok, we'll see you later Joe" and I had never said who I was. If it wasn't for having a lhs I prolly wouldn't be into the hobby. It's also really nice that they are 10 minutes from me. It's really nice to be able to go pick up an axle carrier, arm, hinge pin, or whatever the same day I break it and be up running again as soon as I put it back together.

[kulangflow]

Two of the four hobby shops relatively local to me are closing as well. It's pretty depressing.

[lincpimp]

My LHS recently changed hands... That sucked as I had a sweet deal with the previous owner. If only she could have balanced her books correctly the IRS may not have audited her... Nice lady but a crappy business woman. I had all of her dealer logins, and kept a close eye on her business. It made good money, just needed some more dedication. Her husband opened it and they have 2 younfger kids, so it was just too much on her plate. I almost bought the place, but glad I did not as it would have stretched me a bit thin...

I would have made some serious money though, and my buddy would be the perfect guy to manage it, as he is very knowledgeable about rc... I am still thinking about opening a hobby shop... Not sure if i want to drop 50k on inventory and build another building...

[FG101C]

Originally Posted by lincpimp

My LHS recently changed hands... That sucked as I had a sweet deal with the previous owner. If only she could have balanced her books correctly the IRS may not have audited her... Nice lady but a crappy business woman. I had all of her dealer logins, and kept a close eye on her business. It made good money, just needed some more dedication. Her husband opened it and they have 2 younfger kids, so it was just too much on her plate. I almost bought the place, but glad I did not as it would have stretched me a bit thin...

I would have made some serious money though, and my buddy would be the perfect guy to manage it, as he is very knowledgeable about rc... I am still thinking about opening a hobby shop... Not sure if i want to drop 50k on inventory and build another building...

Come on up here to Dallas and buy the only outdoor 1/8th track. It's for sale, maybe you could make it what it could be.

[Finnster]

Glad to hear some shops are still doing well. There was actually another LHS/indoor track that was close that closed last Feb or so.

Out of curiosity, how do the prices in the thriving stores compare to what you can get online? At this lhs, parts tended to be maybe 10% higher than online, but it was hard to ever buy vehs there as they were quite a bit more, and creative searching online could find deals better than what he could nearly buy it at. Its really hard to match the prices of ebay chopshops on large sets of parts. Admittedly I get some things online, and some at the lhs. Its hard to support everybody. I do what I can but i'm not a charity.

Also, the store was much more heli/plane oriented. The owner said that was most of his base, else RTR truck guys. So mostly TRX, HPI and Losi parts. Never OFNA or mugen or higher end stuff like that ( do love my savvy XL, don't get me wrong.)
I was the only BL guy ever there. My trucks were the only BL they've really ever seen. It started changing a bit lately, but he never really had any good BL deals, and what was there was 1/10 scale. Batts were always high, and the only lipos he ever had were small thunderpower packs for helis. He said he did sell a ton of emaxxes, but always suprized he didn't catch the BL earlier. I tried to educate him, but they were more nitro heads or only into small BLs for helis.
Tires were always way expensive, and almost never bought them there. I can't see paying an extra $20-30 for a set of tires. I'm sure being in Jersey where taxes, rents etc were high does not help either. He tried to make up service for higher prices, but I'm not so sure how well it worked out.

So what makes a good & successful LHS that people have seen?

[BrianG]

To get a good car/truck client base, I think a store should have some type of race events, perferably physically at the track. It would bring people to the store and sales are bound to go up. Not to mention the sales it would get from the broken parts practicing before a race, parts broken during a race, and broken parts on non-race days when people are just there playing around. This assumes that there are enough people in the area to make it worthwhile.

I too buy online mostly unless the part I need happens to be in stock at the store, which is kinda rare. Gotta face it, the parts/supplies most of the people need here are specialty, especially with all the custom stuff we do. I don't know how many times I ask the LHS if they have something (aluminum, plastic, etc) just to get a blank look.

[mkrusedc]

The LHSs on the southshore are good to. There was 3 here one closed, but he had recently opened and was doing mostly boats. The other two are banging. Just more of that magic New Orleans economy that is at least for now bucking the national trends.

[lincpimp]

Originally Posted by mkrusedc

The LHSs on the southshore are good to. There was 3 here one closed, but he had recently opened and was doing mostly boats. The other two are banging. Just more of that magic New Orleans economy that is at least for now bucking the national trends.

I have not been to hobby hut recently, but those guys seem to know how to run a hobby shop. Is blackhawk still open, who is the other shop? I may have to take a ride over there one saturday with my rc buds. I have been to springfield (near hammond) a few times. His track is ok, and his tiny store is stuffed with parts. He does sell alot of buggies and truggies, I am sure the track helps with that.

[pedeboi364]

:( my lhs is closing in 3 months. Killer deals (got $270 worth of stuff for $150) but it's the only one near me, the next is like a hour away... maybe I'll get to have a tower supersavers account tho

[mkrusedc]

I have not been to hobby hut recently, but those guys seem to know how to run a hobby shop. They are rolling. The kids are running Metairie and Mike opend another one in Hammond near the track.

Is blackhawk still open, who is the other shop?Blackhawk is closed. The new one is on West Esplande just west of Causeway.

I may have to take a ride over there one saturday with my rc buds. I have been to springfield (near hammond) a few times. His track is ok, and his tiny store is stuffed with parts. He does sell alot of buggies and truggies, I am sure the track helps with that.[/QUOTE]

[suicideneil]

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

[magman]

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

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

[JERRY2KONE]

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

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

[plettenbergs]

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