Gotta vent - local hobby shops

[JKRacing37]

Ok, I'll probably get beat up pretty bad on this one (especially from the guys that work in the hobby shops...LOL) but please feel free to hammer me if I deserve it...

I've been trying hard to keep business local. My two nearest hobby shops are 45 minutes northeast or 50 minutes southeast. I'll leave names and towns out of this but I'm sure for some of you based on my location it won't be hard to figure out what shops I'm talking about.

The shop 45 minutes north east I've totally given up hope on. Each time I stop in there they never have what I'm looking for. Ever. That is because I'm not buying Traxxas parts or anything nitro. Or whatever the flavor of the month in 1/8th buggy is. But I digress...

So today the fam loaded up and we headed out for the day, making the shop 50 minutes southeast one of our stops. This hobby shop is a nationally recognized name and a fairly large shop. Normally they have a pretty good stock of parts and accessories. I figured with the shopping list I had I couldn't strike out. It consisted of:

4mm male and female bullet connectors
60 - 64T, 32P spur gears
20 - 22T, 32P pinion gears
50wt shock oil
60wt shock oil
HPI Wheely King Axle stubs

Pretty much resigned to the fact that I would most like strike out on the axle stubs but I knew for sure the other stuff - mostly general use items - would be there.

Wow was I surprised. Not a single item. Not even one. They had two bottles of shock oil - 10wt and 80wt. No 4mm bullet connectors unless I wanted to buy and disassemble a $12.99 adapter that only had two connectors and I needed three. 32P pinions ran from 13T to 19T. Spur gears were found in 59T - then jumped to 68T and went up.

Now I understand overhead. I understand not being able to stock every item under the sun. But two bottles of shock oil? Really? I suppose I could have mixed them and got 45wt. :laugh

On one hand I want to support local businesses, but it's hard to when I drive 50 minutes to hear "yeah I can order that shock oil for ya." Sure - I'll go ahead and drive 50 minutes home, then back and home again when my order comes in so that $3.99 bottle of shock oil will now cost $25 when gas is figured in.

I'm sure it's probably frustrating for shop owners too, but then again I'm not sure this shop really cared much that it lost my business today. There was a guy in there buying a 3.3 T-Maxx, another buying a 4X4 Slash, they had a card tournament going on, and the shop was packed. Losing my $30 sale today doesn't mean much in the big picture. Now I'm regulated to trying to find all those items from one place online.

Sorry - had to vent about this. Not sure if anyone else feels my frustration or not. Had I walked in there looking for a set of tires for a Marui Big Bear, a RC10 6 gear transmission, and a set of dogbones for an original Blackfoot then I could understand. I'm still just stunned over the shock oil. 2 bottles...:bang:laugh:bang

 

[Mo']

Its pretty inexcusable to not have shock oil, pinions and bullet connectors in stock. Thats just sloppy management of their RC department.


This time of year is the busiest time of the year for products like that though. Everyone pulling their toys back out to play and needing the general wear and tear equipment like that so for some of it to be out of stock isn't that uncommon, but all of it no way.


I would also never recommend heading to any hobby store without calling first. Even for general use parts the few minutes spent on the phone first can save you alot of wasted time on a trip to buy items that arent in stock. Most hobby shops without really dedicated RC departments don't stock enough multiples of even high traffic items to account for a few busy days in a week so all it takes is a few busy days to wipe out entire rows of inventory. Im not excusing it as its a really poor way to do business but still, most of the hobby shop gripe threads I read seem to involve long drives for parts that end up not being in stock. Everyone should put a call before hand into their hobby shop trip planning.

 

[JKRacing37]

Everything you said makes sense, Mo. The guys there were really cool - one guy apologized several times and said they had been wiped out of a lot of stuff over the past week. We were headed that way anyway so it wasn't totally a trip just to go there. I was just stunned that I couldn't even get shock oil. Lunch at Waffle House helped me shake off the blues though. :laugh

I understand that shops can't have a stock like a huge online enterprise like Tower. I understand that overhead would kill a small shop like that.

It seems that if you know this is a busy time of year, perhaps a little extra stock of high traffic items might not hurt. It sounds like your shop might have a good handle on things like that.

 

[Mo']

It seems that if you know this is a busy time of year, perhaps a little extra stock of high traffic items might not hurt.

You would think it would be an easy connection to make, sell more order more but I guess not haha.

 

[CPH extreme]

JKRacing37, i totally agree althought i dont have to drive those distances, but still hear ya...

 

[Savage03]

Mine are not any better, the hobbytown is horrible first problem is they hire these worthless kids that are so lazy its not even funny, walk in they are just sitting around and wont even get up to ask if you need help! you have to goto them and then get the rolling eyes cause you interupted them....then to boot they never have a thing I ask for either, here is a kicker I ask for really common stuff most of the time and they give you a dumb stare and say whats that? Trying to recall a incident think one was a mod pinion but theirs many things. So I pretty much am stuck to ebay since I know I can get what I need, other thing is they want to order if they dont have it and I have let them a few times but I swear everytime they say it will be there in a couple days it turns into a week or so or even tehy never get it so I gave up:ack

 

[carcrusher]

I'm kind of in the same situation - the closest store to me is about 25 miles from me, and it's mostly all inventory that they bought from the closest shop (15 miles) when it closed about 5 years ago.

Mo's store is a rarity in this area in that they generally have inventory that most people would be looking for. However - being that it's 50 miles from me, I only get to swing by when I'm in the area.

It's a shame that there's nothing closer for me - I've dumped about $500 on Amain in the past 3 weeks to get ready for the outdoor season.

 

[ReaperGN]

Usually what I want form my lhs is never in stock. But 98% of it is special order stuff due to color or brand. The last 2% is usually in stock. Luckily its a great shop that knows what they are doing. I just wish their distributors would stop discontinuing everything I want.

Also I feel hobby shop employees are not there to solve every little problem or fix every little thing. Especially when they are dealing with multiple customers. Its best to just step back and wait for free moment. And if its something simple like bolt it on do it your self.

 

[th67ss]

Have you guy's tried RPP Hobbies? Cory has a quick turn around for getting orders out. I don't use Tower unless I have to because I get charged tax and shipping. My lhs has changed hands and the last time I was in there they were still working on a place to order other parts besides Traxxas from.

 

[dirt20]

My local HobbytownUsa(15 miles) just closed down. Was sad but I kind of expected it considerig half the store was BEADS..... so now the have to travel 27 miles but its a down home place. Very friendly service.

 

[JKRacing37]

I want to add to this too that if you have a good local shop...SUPPORT THEM!!! All too often I talk to people that say, "This one shop was great...until they closed." If I had a good shop locally, that had good service and a reasonable stock I wouldn't hesitate to take my business there even if it cost a little more than a place like Tower or from Ebay. I would also order all my stuff through there if they were closer...I just can't justify driving 25+ miles one way and doing that.

 

[rccrawler1]

ok isee all your complaints and think about my lhs....everyone that works there are good people..hell i was even in good with one of the original owners b4 he passed...been dealing with this shop for better than 15 years the only flaw i have is they have to order 90% of the stuff i need....like i saw someone post they are more interested in nitro stuff ,traxxas stuff,trains,models,etc..dont get me wrong i still deal with them but it kills me when i order something and it takes 2 months 2 get it....that kinds of stuff just get under my skin thats why i started useing rpp hobby..corey is the bomb....just got my tires and wheels from him for a project i am workin on took 4 days tops to get my stuff in florida no doubt

 

[dirt20]

The way shipping is getting at times your better off to buy from the lhs might be a little more with taxes but still.

 

[ReaperGN]

The longest I have had to wait for a part that was in stock at the distributor was a week. If the distributor was out then I found a alternative.

 

[theYman]

My complaint with hobby stores is that all of the parts for rc trucks and cars are protected from customers looking at them. There always behind a counter in "secure" area. Is theft really that big of a problem. Many times I have seen a part that gave me inspiration or an idea for some mod. They are losing alot of sales by hiding the parts.

 

[Savage03]

Like any store they will steal anything, shoot the internet is full of em. The hobbytown here when it first opened they chucked a rock through the glass doors and grabbed a truck full of kits :-(

 

[AirForceOne]

I have to drive to Pensacola to the Hobbytown there, but they go the extra mile, and I was a first customer. Bobe's was the same way. My one local to me in my county, they aren't will to help unless it's a Traxxas. And even when I broke my Slash they were reluctant to help.

 

[william g]

I have to drive to Pensacola to the Hobbytown there, but they go the extra mile, and I was a first customer. Bobe's was the same way. My one local to me in my county, they aren't will to help unless it's a Traxxas. And even when I broke my Slash they were reluctant to help.

Jevin they have a hobbytown over in k'stan land ? :wnk Stay safe.