Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
12-02-2005, 09:23 AM
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Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has been sold to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
http://www.towerhobbies.com/rcwnews/...bico-esop.html
http://www.towerhobbies.com/rcwnews/...bico-esop.html
12-02-2005, 10:52 AM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
It is good to see the employees take over ownership of the company. It shows that the original owners thought enough of their employees to help set this up. I commend companies that look out for their employees, and I commend employees who decide that to be an entrepreneur is the best way to ensure a sound future.
12-02-2005, 12:27 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
The service I have received from Tower of late has been exceptional. When a delivery date is give on an order I usually receive the order up to three days before the promised date. I only hope the good service continues.
12-02-2005, 12:51 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
Not to be negative.. but I read that article as "let's cash out now while the gettin's good". Noble effort, but any good business person knows there is a motive behind this move.. people don't sell successful companies unless there is a lot of money to be made (or lost as a result of not selling in time)....
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
12-02-2005, 05:34 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: ballgunner
The service I have received from Tower of late has been exceptional. When a delivery date is give on an order I usually receive the order up to three days before the promised date. I only hope the good service continues.
The service I have received from Tower of late has been exceptional. When a delivery date is give on an order I usually receive the order up to three days before the promised date. I only hope the good service continues.
12-02-2005, 07:54 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: desertpig
Not to be negative.. but I read that article as "let's cash out now while the gettin's good". Noble effort, but any good business person knows there is a motive behind this move.. people don't sell successful companies unless there is a lot of money to be made (or lost as a result of not selling in time)....
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
Not to be negative.. but I read that article as "let's cash out now while the gettin's good". Noble effort, but any good business person knows there is a motive behind this move.. people don't sell successful companies unless there is a lot of money to be made (or lost as a result of not selling in time)....
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
12-02-2005, 10:23 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: Red Scholefield
On the positive side, looking at the dates involved it seems that the principles are retirement age. They built the company with the help of employees, now they get their due and the employees get theirs rather than being sold out to some marketing *****s that would move the operation off shore and dump the employees.
On the positive side, looking at the dates involved it seems that the principles are retirement age. They built the company with the help of employees, now they get their due and the employees get theirs rather than being sold out to some marketing *****s that would move the operation off shore and dump the employees.
12-03-2005, 08:16 AM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
It will be very interesting to see where the company is in a few years. The employee's just bought themselves their jobs. I hope the best for them, most ESOP ventures fail.
Sorry, I don't mean to sound pessimistic here, but I can tell you tales first hand. I'm a shareholder of the company I work for that has been structured through the ESOP program. We've been at it for 14 years. As far as I know we're the only company in British Columbia (if not Canada ) that has survived this long. Very successful operation. Long story short thou... we got BIG problems!
As employees retire, some how the shares have to be absorbed, either by the company itself if it's solvent enough or by new money. My advise to the shareholders, especially minor shareholders if it's structured in a 51% - 49% scenario. Put X amount of $$ each month into a legal fund, because your going to need it in the future, thats a given. You might even want to consider a CO-OP, where say, 5%- 10% of the pay check of each employee goes into a pot to purchase shares as shareholders retire?
My father use to say, " A company's greatest assets are it's employee's." To bad the current management where I work doesn't see it that way!
Sorry, I don't mean to sound pessimistic here, but I can tell you tales first hand. I'm a shareholder of the company I work for that has been structured through the ESOP program. We've been at it for 14 years. As far as I know we're the only company in British Columbia (if not Canada ) that has survived this long. Very successful operation. Long story short thou... we got BIG problems!
As employees retire, some how the shares have to be absorbed, either by the company itself if it's solvent enough or by new money. My advise to the shareholders, especially minor shareholders if it's structured in a 51% - 49% scenario. Put X amount of $$ each month into a legal fund, because your going to need it in the future, thats a given. You might even want to consider a CO-OP, where say, 5%- 10% of the pay check of each employee goes into a pot to purchase shares as shareholders retire?
My father use to say, " A company's greatest assets are it's employee's." To bad the current management where I work doesn't see it that way!
12-04-2005, 01:50 AM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
[/quote]
Yep! I last ting we as the USA want to do is give more work for india, Japan, etc. Keep it here in the US![8D]
[/quote]
The problem is, most of the items sold by Hobbico DO originate offshore. Very few RC products are still manufactured in the USA.
Safe Flying!
Yep! I last ting we as the USA want to do is give more work for india, Japan, etc. Keep it here in the US![8D]
[/quote]
The problem is, most of the items sold by Hobbico DO originate offshore. Very few RC products are still manufactured in the USA.
Safe Flying!
12-04-2005, 08:41 AM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: blikseme300
The problem is, most of the items sold by Hobbico DO originate offshore. Very few RC products are still manufactured in the USA.
The problem is, most of the items sold by Hobbico DO originate offshore. Very few RC products are still manufactured in the USA.
You can parrot the global economy/politically correct line all you want. Personally, its my money to spend, and while I would not deliberately hurt someone's feelings, the hard truth is that Hadji over in India is NOT the best person to solve my customer service problem with a product purchased in the US.
I can visualize that conversation now... never mind. Don't want to offend the sensibilities of any globalists...
12-06-2005, 03:38 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
True; but when you call Tower, you get a polite person who speaks ENGLISH. This "out-sourcing of resources" has gone way too far. I don't care if the person you're speaking with has a master's degree in advanced astrophysics; if you CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE SAYING (and vice versa), your time and theirs is wasted. I have experienced this several times with consumer electronics, and refuse to further patronize those manufacturers because of it.
You can parrot the global economy/politically correct line all you want. Personally, its my money to spend, and while I would not deliberately hurt someone's feelings, the hard truth is that Hadji over in India is NOT the best person to solve my customer service problem with a product purchased in the US.
I can visualize that conversation now... never mind. Don't want to offend the sensibilities of any globalists...
[/quote]
Things have a way of balancing out. If listening to good English is more important to you than pricing, eventually, there'll be a company that offers just that. Right now, pricing and trying to survive in a competitive market place is tops....who knows, a few more years and certain things discussed today wouldn't be an issue
12-06-2005, 09:16 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
<<If listening to good English is more important to you than pricing...>>
Oh, please.
But as a matter of fact, being able to communicate with the vendor IS more important to me than saving a few bucks.
Things have a way of balancing out how? When my daughter's new computer took a dump, the "service tech" in India was less than useless to me. I genuinely could not comprehend what the guy was saying to me, and I doubt he fully understood what I was telling him. The only balance in that transaction was in the negative column for me; I was able to cancel the credit card payment, but had to pay over $30 to ship the whole thing back to the on-line vendor; who was equally of no help.
I'm told that this firm (Dell) has since scrapped the overseas customer service idea because of tremendous complaints and lost business. Perhaps; they certainly lost me forever as a potential customer.
And pardon my slowness, but I really have no clue what you're trying to say. There are companies here that offer "just that", right now. I made an $800+ order with Chief Aircraft back in September. UPS managed to destroy much of it; on top of what they didn't lose. It was a complete disaster. And it took a few weeks to straighten out; but I never felt that I wasn't going to be taken care of.
The few problems I've had with orders from The Empire over the years have always been expeditiously handled. And from what I've read on these boards over the years, just about every major US hobby vendor (with one glaring exception) usually is good about taking care of problems.
Yes, pricing is important. But there are still plenty of modelers who don't mind paying more for a known level of quality. If everyone was demanding DP quality at VMAR prices, then who knows. But the success of guys like Tom Fawcett (WildHare Models) is clear proof that plenty of us are willing to pay a bit more to ensure things are right.
There will always be the Wal-Mart mentality among many modelers. But you rarely see it among experienced modelers who have been in the hobby for a while. Such people either wise up or go on to something less demanding.
Oh, please.
But as a matter of fact, being able to communicate with the vendor IS more important to me than saving a few bucks.
Things have a way of balancing out how? When my daughter's new computer took a dump, the "service tech" in India was less than useless to me. I genuinely could not comprehend what the guy was saying to me, and I doubt he fully understood what I was telling him. The only balance in that transaction was in the negative column for me; I was able to cancel the credit card payment, but had to pay over $30 to ship the whole thing back to the on-line vendor; who was equally of no help.
I'm told that this firm (Dell) has since scrapped the overseas customer service idea because of tremendous complaints and lost business. Perhaps; they certainly lost me forever as a potential customer.
And pardon my slowness, but I really have no clue what you're trying to say. There are companies here that offer "just that", right now. I made an $800+ order with Chief Aircraft back in September. UPS managed to destroy much of it; on top of what they didn't lose. It was a complete disaster. And it took a few weeks to straighten out; but I never felt that I wasn't going to be taken care of.
The few problems I've had with orders from The Empire over the years have always been expeditiously handled. And from what I've read on these boards over the years, just about every major US hobby vendor (with one glaring exception) usually is good about taking care of problems.
Yes, pricing is important. But there are still plenty of modelers who don't mind paying more for a known level of quality. If everyone was demanding DP quality at VMAR prices, then who knows. But the success of guys like Tom Fawcett (WildHare Models) is clear proof that plenty of us are willing to pay a bit more to ensure things are right.
There will always be the Wal-Mart mentality among many modelers. But you rarely see it among experienced modelers who have been in the hobby for a while. Such people either wise up or go on to something less demanding.
12-07-2005, 09:13 PM
#17
RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: desertpig
Not to be negative.. but I read that article as "let's cash out now while the gettin's good". Noble effort, but any good business person knows there is a motive behind this move.. people don't sell successful companies unless there is a lot of money to be made (or lost as a result of not selling in time)....
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
Not to be negative.. but I read that article as "let's cash out now while the gettin's good". Noble effort, but any good business person knows there is a motive behind this move.. people don't sell successful companies unless there is a lot of money to be made (or lost as a result of not selling in time)....
It was the right time for the founders to do this.. competition has never been stiffer, and price pressure is intense. Perfect time to cash out. The execs get their cash share instantly and the employees who buy in take all the risk!
DP
Totally agree with you DP.. As a retired United Airlines pilot, and a victim of an ESOP that resulted in a 25% pay reduction, destroyed many retirement $$ 18 months before my retirement 10 years ago, finally resulting in UAL's bankruptcy where the CEO received 10 million $$ "bonus".
Finally right now, all employees and retirees are losing those fixed benefit pensions that the employees had negotiated in good faith. I simply feel very sorry for the future of the Hobbico and its subsidiaries' employees. Mine too! [:@]My experience causes me to predict the current "sellers'' will just take the cash and come back into the current mass importation of hobby products as prime competitors of the old Hobbico. Hobbico employee-management will flounder the parent company away into a number of smaller institutions which will also dry up as they will be unable to service their debt.
While ESOPs may appear to be a pie-in-the-sky for many, and while a few do very well, with the mass changes now happening in the aeromodeling sport/hobby, I do not see a pleasant future for the Hobbico organization.
12-08-2005, 09:35 AM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
Are we forgetting OmniModels here ?... They are part of the Empire also... I wonder if they were in the deal or if they are now going to compete with Tower... Right now they are offering a better deal on orders then Tower is.. Free shipping on orders over 100 dollars with no club to join etc.. Also 20 dollars off on orders of 200 or more.. Interesting
12-08-2005, 04:46 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
historically, most ESOP's do fail, foxes in charge of the henhouse thing.
12-09-2005, 02:01 AM
#20
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
ORIGINAL: mscic-RCU
historically, most ESOP's do fail, foxes in charge of the henhouse thing.
historically, most ESOP's do fail, foxes in charge of the henhouse thing.
12-10-2005, 06:17 PM
#22
RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
I'd rather see Horizon go under than Tower.
The reasons?
I get what I want from Tower because the "SEARCH" funciton actually works.
Tower actually HAS stuff in their Scratch & Dent section.
Horizon is just wasting bandwidth even having an Attic on their pages. There's never anything in there. The ONLY thing I buy from Horizon is something thats JR related--and then ONLY when I can't get it somewhere else first.
I hate Horizons website. It's useless.
I wouldn't quit the hobby if ARFs went away--I like to build. But, I just might quit if Tower goes out of business. I love them guys/gals. Never had a problem.
The reasons?
I get what I want from Tower because the "SEARCH" funciton actually works.
Tower actually HAS stuff in their Scratch & Dent section.
Horizon is just wasting bandwidth even having an Attic on their pages. There's never anything in there. The ONLY thing I buy from Horizon is something thats JR related--and then ONLY when I can't get it somewhere else first.
I hate Horizons website. It's useless.
I wouldn't quit the hobby if ARFs went away--I like to build. But, I just might quit if Tower goes out of business. I love them guys/gals. Never had a problem.
12-10-2005, 07:22 PM
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
Try Omni.. Same address as Tower, same stock, same prices, same nice people.. No club to join. Free shipping on over 100.00 etc.. Basicaly it is two names for the same place.. Tower and Omni... Wonder what's up with that.
12-10-2005, 11:56 PM
#24
RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
That's funny Rcpilet, " I get what I want from Tower because the "SEARCH" funciton actually works. Tower actually HAS stuff in their Scratch & Dent section. "
I never go to the scratch & dent sale at Tower because I'm not a 'Member' nor do I intend to become one. I like to think the products from JR are as good, if not better, than what Tower offers. But that's just my opinion.....
Jerry
I never go to the scratch & dent sale at Tower because I'm not a 'Member' nor do I intend to become one. I like to think the products from JR are as good, if not better, than what Tower offers. But that's just my opinion.....
Jerry
12-11-2005, 10:32 AM
#25
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RE: Hobbico, the parent company of Great Planes and Tower Hobbies, announced today that the company has
Rcpilet,
I know it is antiquated, etc.; but there is this thing known as a telephone, that calls tool-free numbers....
Actually, I know where you're coming from. Trying to find something that just popped into your head at 2200 hours is usually a waste of time on the Horizon site.
I know it is antiquated, etc.; but there is this thing known as a telephone, that calls tool-free numbers....
Actually, I know where you're coming from. Trying to find something that just popped into your head at 2200 hours is usually a waste of time on the Horizon site.