Hi, I’m Robbie the owner of Radio Control Headquarters (RCHQ).  If you have a minute, I’d like to tell a quick story, or editorial if you will. 

I got started in this hobby when my nephews talked me into buying a pair of Nitro Stampede monster trucks.  We took them home, read the directions, carefully broke them in, and then tuned ‘em up.  I knew I was hooked as soon as I squeezed the trigger for the first time, smelled the nitro, and watched that little sucker wheelie all the way up my driveway until the tires fell off (okay, maybe we didn't read all the directions ... what's tire glue?).

We stuck the wheels back on and played all weekend, that is, until a friend hit a rock with one of them and it wouldn’t move anymore.  Unsure what to do and convinced the truck was ruined, I loaded it up and took it back to the store where I purchased it hoping to get some help.  Luckily, the guy that sold it to me was there and he cheerfully explained that the engine had simply moved forward and wasn't touching the spur gear anymore.  "Oh, I see," I said completely clueless, but he promptly showed me how to fix it.  And he remembered my name.  At that very moment - he had a loyal customer.

Over the next couple of years I purchased more than a dozen RC vehicles and all my accessories from that same store.  I spent thousands of dollars.  At the time, I was in tech industry sales, so of course I knew money could be saved buying online, but I stayed loyal.  It was always worth it to buy from them because they were there every time I needed help.  Plus, it was a fun place to hang-out; I went by often to chat with the knowledgeable staff and with the people who shared similar interest.  I enjoyed watching the racing; you can learn more in a day of hanging out in the pits, than in a year of trying to figure it out on your own.

Nowadays I have my own hobby store and racetrack and have carried those lessons from the early days into
my business.

This is a hobby, we sell rather complex little machines - not video games or disposable toys. Hobbyists will always need help repairing, tuning, upgrading, and personalizing their cars.  RCHQ employs some of the best Pro’s in the business who have tuned, repaired, and serviced literally thousands of cars, boats, planes, choppers, buggies, trucks, and just about any other RC you can think of.

Our Store does more for the RC hobby and the RC community in a average day than the internet stores will do in their entire existence … but the internet stores are killing us.  Hobby Stores are closing at an alarming rate; I have personally witnessed dozens of them close in a very short amount of time.

We even have to compete against our own manufacturer's and distributor's websites as they continue to drive down prices while competing against each other, and don't get me started on all the ridiculously cheap stuff coming out of China … sigh … what a mess!

 
We all need to save money anyway we can, but our prices are competitive, online merchants cannot even come close to the value-added services we provide, and no matter how hard they try - they cannot make it FUN! 

Where will people go for help when the LHS is gone, or at best, forced to no longer specialize and become general stores catering to a wide variety of retail “high margin, low support” products?  What will happen when the places we go to hangout with our friends and fellow enthusiast are gone? 

Finally, there is an old saying that goes something like this, “no one ever retires, or gets rich from owning a hobby store.”  A few brick-and-mortar stores have proven this to be the exception, but for the most part it is accurate.  The only ones getting rich and retiring these days are the big internet dealers.  The same guys who do not even know who you are and don't really care either; to them it's all about low margin and huge volume.

I love this hobby and the people in it, and wouldn’t trade my experiences of the last decade for anything.  We’ll keep fighting the giants (even the ones that feed us), working our butts off to earn your business, and providing a service as long as we can.  All we can hope for is that you think about us, and the others like us, before you click the add to cart button of one of the mega-sites again.  

The people are the heart and soul of the hobby, and the Local Hobby Stores are the heart and soul of the hobby industry.  We need each other.

We'll do our best to remember your name. Thanks for visiting our humble website, God bless,

Robbie

 








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