1930wl

My Feedback: (1)

Does anyone know what happened to NHS? Their web page is down and all phones are disconnected.

Sport_Pilot

Closed their doors Sept 30.

big man

Supposedly they are relocating, but they don't know where yet. They said when they reopen they won't be selling aircraft stuff at all. Something about the manufacturers dictating prices and then opening stores and selling their own stuff for less. "Cornering the Market" so to speak.

They had a pretty good sale before they closed. I got 5 5925MG Hitec digital servos for $26 each. I was happy!

Sport_Pilot

Supposedly they are relocating, but they don't know where yet.

The attitude I got from the employee's who repeated this was a rolling up of the eye's and with a sarcastic tone. I don't think the employee's believe this, and from the volume in the store this summer of both train and planes they would be masochistic to reopen.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

Explains why when I called them early September looking for a particular OS engine, the guy said the only blue box they had on the shelves was something with a 32SX-H on it......he had no idea!

Now I know why they didn't have stock items!

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

It is a shame that a great store went out of business!

PR38

I have worked with Mike (mgr RC side) several times in the past with getting supplies for our UAV research at ASDL. I wish I could say something redeeming about the way he runs that store, but I can't. Every time I went there I heard people complaining about orders not being shipped, things out of stock, etc... I quit going there about a year ago because he never had what we needed, and when we asked him to order something, he would give us a line like"Oh yea, I have a new shipment on the way, check with us next week..." yada yada yada ---still no delivery.
I asked him two years ago if he was going out of business because his selection was so poor (bare shelves and whatnot) and he looked at me like I had two heads.
The local hobby shops blame the mail order houses, and the mail order houses blame the suppliers, etc....
Bottom line is, if you don't have the stuff, people will go elsewhere.
NHS never had the stuff.

PS-I did get some pretty sweet deals on what is left. Seems the other guys there at the shop don't really care too much for him either and are selling RC junk below inventory.

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Yea, I got a NIB Slimline pitts muffler for a brison 2.4 for $60. THe price on the net is over $100!

PR38

You're kidding? I ordered a Brison (sp?) muffler for the G-45 in my Staudacher and I think it was over $200 by the time it got to my door. I really like those mufflers. They're beautiful---run great, look great, lightweight, etc...
Anyway...off topic....

EASYTIGER

My Feedback: (119)

Sad. Amazing how many hobby businesses run themselves out of business!
They always blame Tower, Horizon, the Internet, the customers...but it NEVER has anything to do with the way they run their business, kinda funny that way!
One of the last two hobby stores in Manhattan just closed. Lousy service, lousy prices, lousy stock. But it was not his fault, right?
I notice that Bruckner Hobbies in the Bronx is doing VERY well. Just opened up their third or fourth store. Cheap prices, good help, good stock. And they are thriving. Go figure.

1930wl

My Feedback: (1)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by EASYTIGER
[B]Sad. Amazing how many hobby businesses run themselves out of business!
They always blame Tower, Horizon, the Internet, the customers...but it NEVER has anything to do with the way they run their business, kinda funny that way!

By contrast, go visit http://www.kchobby.net

Kirby has a growing business, good stock, friendly attitude, competes with Tower in pricing. The down side - THEY DON'T DO JETS. Maybe on special order basis if their distributor handles it.

Sport_Pilot

They never had capital or room to keep a large inventory in stock. They would occasionally keep a large inventory of items for specials on hand, the latest being flight boxes made by Lanier. But they just were not large enough to keep all of the items they had in their ads. Basically if you mail ordered through them they would order it right away. I know many times I have ordered right from the store and the distributors would take forever to deliver, though they would send it through the mail right away. Yep slow their competitors down with slow deliveries, hope that customers would cancel their orders and order right from them. In the last year or so many times if I asked for something they would tell me that they don't do business with that distributer any more. Toward the end I don't think they could get anything from Horizon, and very little from Hobbico.

maverick

My Feedback: (12)

I have purchased from Bruckners a few times and would definitely do so again.

Bruckners was where I called after speaking with National and having the guy on the other end of the phone have no idea what I was talking about. When I asked if they had any OS .91VR-DF engines in stock he came back and said the only blue box they had has 32SX-H on the side and was this the engine I was after!

So I called Bruckners and spoke with a guy (sorry can't remember his name now) but he absolutely knew what I was talking about. This was at the time when it looked like the OS 91VR-DF was being discontinued and I was trying to purchase one quickly before I missed out.

Well he did have one in stock and he knew about the discontinuation and still sold it to me for $289.99 which is an excellent price. He didn't try to gouge me for extra money due to the shortage. Also this price included free ground shipping.

I got talking with the guy about jets and it turns out he had just purchased a Jetcat P-80 for himself and his son. He was real excited about it too, so maybe we will have another retailer into jets soon.

All in all Bruckners has the right combination to stay alive.

Good amount of in stock items, good prices, knowledgeable sales staff and free shipping included on orders over $100.

Can't ask for more than that!

PR38

Well there is proof that the hobby industry is no different than any other in adhereing to the laws of business--other than being a little more cut-throat. I think the Atlanta area is ripe for a new hobby shop (catering to RC), but it will have to be run well in order to compete with people like Bruckner's, who seem to have their act together enough to draw in business from outside their area. And I don't think that is too hard! Good inventory, friendly/knowledgeable service, and reasonable prices....whats the problem? I don't understand why that is so hard.

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Bruckner Hobbies rocks....Been there a few times and have mail-ordered....Always have what you need, knowledgeable staff and good pricing!
Todd

Geistware

My Feedback: (16)

Bruckner is in the Bronx right?
Graves Hobbies down your way is a great place. Every time I go to Orlando, I spend a couple of hours just looking.

lov2flyrc

My Feedback: (24)

Yea,
Graves is in a class of it's own. You could spend hours stairing at the ceiling and still not see everything thats there. Bill Graves is a character too....Flies every sunday at apolpka, wears the same shirt, pants and shoes and sits in a chair while he flies....Funny thing is...With all the planes he has to choose from on his ceiling, he spends his sunday shooting touch-and-go's with an ugly stick. He must have 700 flights on this one plane . IF your ever in orlando, Graves is the one place you must make time to stop at...
Todd

wsmalley

My Feedback: (6)

Used to live in the Atlanta Metro area and bought a lot of stuff from them-and they would order anything I needed. They bought radios and broke them down, so you could by receivers, or servos at a great price. Granted, Mike, Jr. (?) always seemed preocccupied with something, or was yakking on the phone. Several hobby shops have come and gone in the N.W. metro area over the years. Since moving to TN, I found a place in Nashville called Danielle's. Called and said I wanted a used ST.61,"Got one in the box, bench run once"-sent a personal check Mon. afternoon and had the engine in my hands Wed. afternoon, now that's service!

RBardin

My Feedback: (27)

It bothers me to see anyone bash what was a great hobby shop. Sport_Pilot, you are right - Mike and his dad have run one of the best shops around for many years. It is true that in the last year, their shelf stock on airplane items was limited – even bare at times. This was a condition that was caused by several factors and I think that after talking to Mike about the situation personally, they have done the right thing for themselves by closing up shop. They are (were) located in a shopping center that has seen better days. That location had more people likely to stop in and purchase hobby items many years ago. They moved to a nearby and newer location 2 or 3 years ago which was somewhat better, but not much. They occupied one of the two largest spaces in a small center along with a Salvation Army thrift store – this was (and still is) not a high-traffic area. According to Mike, the economic slowdown (which does exist, and has affected the hobby industry) as well as the fact that their landlord attempted to raise their monthly rent to that equal what retailers pay for a prime location across from the largest shopping mall in the area led to the store’s closure. In short, times got tough and they got the shaft. The landlord took most of what was their parking lot and erected a few new, very small, commercial spaces (which are now and probably will remain largely unoccupied). Then announced to National that the rent would be going up. They would have been nuts to have stayed and be losing money to what appears to be a greedy landlord. Retail space in the newer Atlanta suburbs comes at a high premium and of course, this is passed on to consumers. I’ll bet most anyone who has done business with National for any length of time knows that they didn’t do that, though. They stayed in a lower-rent, less traveled area to keep prices low and used mail order to keep volume high, much to our collective delight – and they did it for a long time, too. They didn’t compete with “Tower Prices”; they clobbered Tower’s prices. There is nothing wrong with liking a hobby shop that keeps a hefty stock of everything, but remember that you’ll almost always pay a higher price for the stuff when they do.


Until this past year, they had more stock and better prices than most. They always ordered what was asked for if it was not in stock or a regularly stocked item and never charged shipping to do so - plus you paid a lower price when the stuff came in. Their radios, engines, kits and ARF prices were the lowest to be had anywhere. They did not jack up the price of the small stuff by $2.00 per item like some other shops have to do to pay their rent plus make a living. They have donated heavily to our club and other area clubs as well by offering merchandise at cost for club and charity events. We will sorely miss all of these things – I for one hope that when the economy heals and if they can find some reasonably priced retail space, they’ll be willing give it another go. I think this would be a good time and place for us to say thanks to them for having supported our hobby and sticking it out ‘till the end – not kicking them when they’re down…