BaldEagel

bwalker

Does this jerk own the store if not tell the owner what you have just said on here, afterall its their buisness and they are there to make mony, if they are disinfranchising there customers they need to know. Unless you tell them nothing will change.

Rick

Where are the photo's I rearly do wish to see them and your web site when up and running, you will get an honest and frank opinion on your web site from me as I am an itinerate silver surfer.

Mike

jjglennon

I think bwal;ker has hit upon the harsh truth of retailing, especially hobby retailing. First impressions are extremely important and service is most important. All customers want to be treated decently and the majority (not all) deserve to be treated decently. But if there's a service problem at the LHS, it's not incumbent on bwalker or any other customer to straighten out the problem. As an owner, I appreciate hearing complaints even when they're unpleasant to listen to, because customers who complain are often giving me the opportunity to do things better. I don't want the customer to simply disappear forever taking his complaint with him and never giving me the opportunity to fix the problem.

Another excellent point by BaldEagel is that employees can ruin a business right under the owner's nose by being rude or unhelpful. There's really not much impact to them if the business fails and that knowledge is crucial to the owner who must try to keep his level of service high and have others maintain his standards of customer service.

John

bwalker25

i'll give another chance, because I need a pinion gear! and if its still bad in there then i'll say something...I dont really wanna be a jerk of a customer or anything like that, I just dont wanna be ignored and told my stuff sucks or something like that. I also dont wanna be told that Nitro is the way to go, because I dont like nitro! but hey everyone deserves a second chance....

BaldEagel

bwalker

Good on you, try again, just stay calm ask to see the owner/manager don't get into it if the jerk is the owner just tell him what you think and that you will not be back unless they demonstrate how they will improve the service enough to ensure your continued custom.

Let us know what happens, I am sure Rick will be interested.

Mike

nrichardz

Mike Sorry I have not posted pictures yet but I promise I will get some taken and posted by this weekend I am running the shop and the household for a couple of weeks while laurie is on vacation visiting her sister the store is doing well and things are great it is just extremely busy my days have turned into 12 hours at least I am sorry I havent posted pictures but promise will get them posted this week otherwise things are great and bwalker I am very interested what happens with your local hobbyshop it is still going to be a little while on my web site because a buddy is designing it for me and can only work on it on his days off but I will be happy to send you guys things you need please though email me at [email protected] and either include an email address or a phone number for me to respond to I do not want to step on anyones toes here at RCU so please just email me the information and I will be happy to help you guys out

Proud Hobbyshop Owner

Rick

JLIN26

Rick,
What is the name of your LHS?
Some things to also remember when becoming a business owner in this industry:
1. Keep up with the times i.e. maintaining a website, selling popular new & older more reliable merchandise.
2. I like what several other people have mentioned about a friendly, helpful & knowledgeable staff.
3. Make sure to merchandise your products frequently; especially in your store front windows & endcaps & if you decide to branch out from R/C cars to air as well getting in on the arts & craft side of hobbies. This is very effective. When a consumer drives past your shop one week & you are featuring a new rc car or truck, then a couple of days later you have a couple of airplanes hanging in the windows or an arts & crafts display; consumers will drive by & will be like "I didn't know they carried that stuff" and then they go in & refer your shop to their friends. This is something an employee can do every few days or week.
4. Advertise, advertise, advertise. You don't want to go overboard on this & end up paying a ton of money, but you have to do it. Some distributors have programs for saving you money on advertising based on your purchases. You need to check into that. A cut-out coupon or flyer in your local newspaper in Sunday's edition can go a long way & get people in your shop. Many hobby shop owners don't think like owners & expect the products to fly off of the shelves & not have to do anything to sell it, but you & several other people who have responded to your thread seem to have a good business sense.
5. Get invloved in your community. Take a new plane or radio out to the flying field. You being there showing off your new products will get people asking you questions & in turn will come to your shop & refer others. Get involved in schools. They especially like to do projects like rockets, science kits, arts & crafts. They more your get involved in your community, the more you'll be recognized, which will in turn, turn you a profit.

These are just a few helpful hints that not a lot of hobby shop owners do, that can make you more successful than them.
JLIN26

nrichardz

Let me start this by saying sorry guys I have not posted in a while I have been so busy with the shop and everything that there are not enough hours in a day anymore I am sorry I have not posted pictures yet but I will soon I promise I just have to get the time which is slim right now the shop has taken off to apoint now that I have 2 employees now because I can not take care of everything on my own one is a nitro airplane expert and the other is a car and boat expert and things are working out great here goes with my update because I have not done one in a while the airplane club is up and running and seems to be going well we do meetings once a month at the shop the flying field is established and up and running and everyone seems to love it and I am doing model building classes with the local kids here with the help of some of the guys in the club we are teaching them everything from plastic model building to R/C building and Flying this program also seems to be working out very well we just finished up a R/C flying summer camp with 20 kids it was a week long and we started with the aerobird planes and all the kids were flying pretty well by the third day and we all had a great time everyone was extremely happy with how it went and now I get calls on a daily basis on when we are going to have another camp our first club funfly is going to be in 2 weeks and we are trying to have enough time to have nitro and electrics all flying during the weekend it has been a lot of fun getting all of these things in place and getting them running smoothly but it has also been a lot of work airplane sales since we have done the camp have gone through the roof I am leaving the store in the hands of my car guy the weekend of our funfly because everyone wants me there to attend and fly in it so I promised them that I will be there and it is I think going to be a lot of fun anyway I have probably rambled on enough for now and I will try to post more often I have just been so busy I will talk to you guys soon

Proud HobbyShop Owner

Rick

(Mike everything is fine I am just extremely busy)

Adam G

My Feedback: (17)

Sounds like things are going very well for you. Conrats on the success! Keep up the good work and get us some pictures!

Adam

BaldEagel

Rick

Where are the pictures I can't hold my breath for much longer.

Have you got your web site up and running yet? I need a friendly US shop to buy obscure things from.

MIke

Dannn

im only 14 and i would like to open a hobbyshop when im older... it sounds like a crapload of fun compared to working at an office or wrenching on cars. My dad owns an auto repair and its boring working on car motors compared to a nitro motor.

BaldEagel

UnderOath

You will find that some people will take offence at profanity, especially if you are dealing with members of the public in your day to day endevours.

Mike

nrichardz

Let me tell you this UNDEROATH it is a lot of fun but also a lot of work here you guyys go enjoy especially you mike will have the website up soon just working out a few bugs

Proud Hobbyshop Owner

Rick

Sorry if some of the pictures are bad I need to get a new camera but most should be O.K.

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Looks like you have something to be real proud of there. Keep up the good work. I just wish I lived closer so that I could shop there.

Ken

Adam G

My Feedback: (17)

Rick,

Thanks for posting the pictures. I really like the way you have everything painted white, and the white shelves. It really makes the planes on the ceiling stand out. Looks like you have a nice variety of Parkzone and Hanger 9 stuff along with other brands. I spotted the Twist right way, I love that little plane.

The store front looks nice and clean, and you can't really tell from the picture, but I bet you have that big window loaded with stuff for people to see from the street or walking by. Everything looks neat and orderly, and it is not overcrowded. You are off to a geat start. No wonder you are so busy.

Keep up the good work. I think there is a little part of all of us in this hobby that dream about having a hobby shop. Please keep us posted on how everything is going. I am looking forward to your website.

Adam

BaldEagel

Rick

What can I say it all looks wonderful, congratulations and my best wishes for your continues success with this endeouvre, I also whished I lived closer so I could come and see for myself and obviously buy lots of good kit from you.

Will keep looking if you keep reporting.

Mike

nrichardz

I will mike thanks for all the support and all of the kind words website should be up soon guys but still if you guys need anything I can help with please email me direct at my website with the information or your guys phone number and I will be happy to contact you and get you guys what you need

Proud Hobbyshop Owner

Rick

email address is [email protected]

nrichardz

Well guys have a little time so I figured I would give you guys an update this week has gone very well and things are selling in the shop at an alarming rate which is good a lot of guys now are comming to my shop instead of the hobbytown U.S.A here and they are all saying because of the customer service they get in my shop I get a long weekend this weekend and am leaving the shop in my employees hands because we are holding a fun fly contest this weekend at the club field I am debuting a couple of my new airplanes I have recently built a cessna skymaster like the one in one of the pictures above and I have just finished a brio 10 by eflite and it came out really good it is a precision pattern airplane and will also fly 3D I will try to get some pictures of the flying field and of the contest this weekend to post for you guys Mike (wait till you see the flying fied it is 40 acres and we have a huge pit area with a cross runway so yo can take off and land in any direction each runway is asphalt and line striped like a real airport and they are 60 ft long and 14 ft wide as I said I will try and get pictures to post things are going great at this time though it has been a lot of work but it is getting a little easier now that I am now on a routine with tasks each week I am already starting to get my orders ready for Christmas now and it is only August I just want to make shure I am going to have what everyone wants because it will be really hard to get things right at that time of year well guys I have to get ready for tomorrow so I will get online this weekend and let you know how the contest went and hopefully will have some pictures for you (Mike you may have to plan a trip to the states)

Proud Hobbyshop Owner

Rick

BaldEagel

Rick

So glad you are enjoying all this, new vertures are such fun, but you have to keep developing to ensure you don't get stale.

As to planning a trip, you should be carefull I might just arrive on your doorstep one day and say Hi I'm Mike nee BaldEagel I am here to stay for a month where is my room, and these are my childred and my two wives, only kidding only have one wife now.

My latest is an Avicraft Panic see pic below, it usually only has two servo's one in each wing, but you know me can't leave anything as standard, it sports four servos and works with all as ailerons and just the top wing as flapperons they go down when the elevator goes up and visa versa, I have also just aquired a 78" span Edge 540 that I am going petrol on as well as the 85" QQ Yak.

Sorry it looks as though I have hijaked your thread, but you don't seem to appeare anymore on the others so hear is as good as anywhere.

Mike

Adam G

My Feedback: (17)

Rick,

Thank you for the update. It is exciting to follow your progress, particularly when you are doing so well. I am glad that you are still able to build planes with as busy as you are. The fun fly should be a good time for you this weekend. Nice that you have employees that you can trust to watch the shop for you while you are gone. You better use some of the profits from the new shop to add a room on over your garage for Mike and his family!

Adam

nrichardz

Thanks again for all the kind words guys I feel lucky that things are going so well at this point I know that there will be some slow times ahead but hopefully they are far and few between Mike that biplane looks great and I bet it is extremely responsive with 4 servos in the wing about the 540 what are you going to put in it for a motor let me know The first day of the fun fly was great we had close to 100 people there and got plenty of flying time I flew that brio 10 yesterday quite a bit and love it it is a precision pattern/3D plane and flies extremely well it has a pull pull system in it for the controls and it is the fist plane I have built like this and I like how responsive it is well I better get going now I have to go pretty soon for another day of flying and I will try and post some pictures and some info on the contest tomorrow as the shop is closed on Mondays so I will have some time (by the way mike we have plenty of room if you do show up laurie and I have 2 extra rooms in our house since the kid is now living on his own)

Proud Hobbyshop Owner

Rick

straitnate14

My Feedback: (2)

our good local hobby store just closed and now all we have is one that doesnt have anything in stock and sell's every thing at retail price unlike our other store that sells stuff for list and he's not the nicest guy you'll ever meet either sorry to say i bought somthing off tower for the first time ever.

BaldEagel

Rick

Belated good luck with the week end contest, its so nice to know someone who is having succes with an enterprise, it almost feels as though we all had somthing to do with its success, just because we have been following along, I am sure Adam feels the same way.

Looking forward to the report of the week-end events.

The Edge is going to have a MVVS 45cc petrol engine in it, as soon as it arives from CZ, it seems they have a problem getting the pistons from Italy where they are coated in Alusil as a slip finnish, I will keep you posted on the build when I install the engine.

MIke

BoiseRC

Rick I wish you the best of luck and hope we can work on some joint ventures. Contact me about some free advertising on my main site.
You are always welcome to come and fly with us www.BoisEFlyers.com. I also host the only R/C racing group here in Boise and also sit on the board of directors.
I am sure you are familiar with my local website which was first established in 2003. I will have to stop by the shop and meet you in person.

Mark

DiamondMox

Wow, isn't the internet great. It's great how everyone comes together to help others succeed. It's just too bad how some people take advantage of the anonymity it provides, though. Being a rather good customer of Boise Hobby (as seen in the pictures above) I found myself at a loss as to how I could have missed the changing of ownership, the addition of a meeting room and coffee shop, and the start of a new club with field. I know it is true that the current owner has had his business for sale since the first of the year, but as of 10 minutes ago when I was there, it was still for sale. I don't intend this post as a flame or anything, but I can't stand seeing people being led on like this. I have shown this thread to the current owner of the shop and can't wait to see what he says about it once he finishes reading it. He did say he knows nrichardz, but I won't repeat what he said as I just mentioned I don't intend this as a flame.

BaldEagel

If you did not intend this as a flame as you put it, why did you post?

Mike