ORIGINAL: raptureboy
I always find it interesting that people will pride themselves in being an American, and in the free enterprise system that we enjoy here, and has allowed a company like Tower Hobbies, or Walmart, or any other big company to go from being someones dream of having their own business, to being a huge success.Then when they get successful through risk taking,hard work and being competitive, the same people want to slam them for being big and competitive and under selling everybody else. I work for the largest home improvment company in the world but in 1987 when the two unemployed founders opened their first store,they would put the empty boxes from their displays up in the overhead racks to make it look like they had lots of goods and they did whatever it took to make their customers happy, and their employees as well. The point is you can't have it both ways ! Tower,Walmart, Home Depot and others gave people what they wanted, good product and good service at a good price and that is why they are successful. I have had nothing but great service from Tower and I've had some really bad service from smaller outfits. I don't think anybody decides to buy something no matter what their budget and says'' you know I think I want to pay more for this today'' I have a small hardware store in my town that is doing well because the owner got competitive and niched himself into the market by providing great service and knowing what his market is. I buy from him when I can and when it makes sense. I will most likely buy my DLE from Jody rather than Tower because he's competitive his shipping is fair and I just like to spread the wealth around. Who knows maybe some day he will be the next Tower Hobbies hopefully we won't be here bashing him for being successful.Think about it.[8D]
I agree completely. I was a college student in the late '70s, and Tower Hobbies had a 24-HOUR Customer Service number, toll-free! They would send you a catalogue just for asking, and it held an unbelieveable number of products, as well as some great reference material - like dimensions for nearly every glow motor available. You could call at 3 AM and get a human who either knew the answer or would call you back quickly. Had a Sailaire in my dorm room, thanks to Tower.
Tower is a business, and it got big by taking care of customers. They still offer customer service that is head and shoulders above most independent hobby shops. On top of that, they drive the prices down. I wouldn't want to compete against them!
Niche marketing is the only way to survive against Tower/Walmart/Best Buy/Home Depot/Lowe's/Costco. Jodi is one heck of a nice, helpful guy on this forum - and he's darn smart to be here. He's promoting his products, gaining valuable exposure for his business, building a client base, establishing trust, and gaining an understanding of what customers want - all at the same time! If Tower manages to "own" DLE as an exclusive distributor, Jodi will no doubt find another manufacturer to provide him with a competitive/superior product at a marketable price - and his customers will embrace it because of the relationship with Jodi. He will continue to offer unique products - and as long as he specializes in products that Tower doesn't think they can sell hundreds of, he can maintain better margins. If he's too successful, Tower will be carrying carbon-fiber-look props....