119 replies to this topic

[Mayberryman]

I answered your question about why people do not attend local racing and travel to enough slot car races. I was wondering if you or anybody else could answer a question for me.
 
There are exceptions but it seems the average life of a slots-only shop is between 2.5 and 3 years, with some shops moving while there is still enough money in the account to pay for the move and other shops that hang on mostly as meeting places for five to seven customers sitting at former pit table which have now become the center of attention where the store owner and these hard core customers throw out ideas of how to bring back the glory years of the business. 

Since you have been in the parts and now raceway business for a decent period do you still feel that my timelines are correct or have they changed? What do you think that a standalone slot shop should do to have a reasonable chance of being a successful business for a longer time than stated above? 

My idea has for many tracks is to have an oval that can be from 50 to 75' in length with an 1/8 mile drag strip. This would keep the variety of parts down depending on the classes you run and decrease the square footage needed to decrease overhead. I know many Retro and flexi racers would not agree, but I see the average age of slot racers on the increase and the oval would also allow that person with the hand eye and reflexes that are less than those more youthful racers to compete on a semi-level playing field.

[John Streisguth]

From what I have seen, it is nearly impossible for a store that is only slot cars to survive in most markets, where rent may be upwards of $4,000/month. I think you have to diversify to survive. 

 

A good example of this is Zeppelin Hobbies in Wayne NJ. Although they are not what they used to be regarding slot cars, that's more of a decision by the owners not to stay up to date with the tracks. They have been around for over 25 years, so that says something about their business model.

 

On the ovals, a 65-70' oval is not very easy for older folks (like me  LOL), as most cars probaby lap a track like that in the 2 second range or under. Kind of strange that you would say that flexi racers would not agree, since there are probably more people racing that type of car than any other....

[Tim Wilkins]

One factor often overlooked is when the lease needs to be renewed. Sometimes a new business is offered a discount rate to get them started. A big jump in the lease rate has taken out more than a few tracks I would imagine. 

[Fast Freddie]

Being a former track owner I regret a couple of things. I should have never moved my track from it's original location. I succumbed to the wishes of the racers who patronized my facility and gave them a bigger track in a bigger building. I should never have set up a challenging road course in NASCAR tri-oval country. I was going to change my road course track into a 150 ft tri oval and I didn't do it. BIG MISTAKE. 

 

I should have waited to close shop. Money wasn't an issue and I had a substantial rainy day fund so I didn't have to close. The problem was I had asked my racers to give me their word that if I moved to a bigger building and gave them a much better track, infact two tracks, that they would fully support my raceway as their home track and purchase all their parts through me. They unanimously agreed to fully support my track. I told them if that didn't happen I'd close up shop. Within six months over a third of my original racers quit coming to my new track and were racing at other tracks in the area. In the next year I lost another third so I closed. 

 

I had thought about buying a building or having an extension put on my detached two-car garage and getting another track but my wife's threat of divorce changed my mind. 

 

If I had to do it all over again I'd buy a building so I wouldn't have to pay rent and do just what your doing, a tri-oval and a dragstrip.

 

By the way I was only open for two years but that was by choice not necessity.

[PCH Parts Express]

If a raceway was to open now a birthday party based raceway that has races and rentals would be a good way to go.  Yes, hold races and do repairs. Carry some parts.  All kids have birthdays. Most kids like slot cars. Most kids like to play. Advertising for kids parties is a general message. A small to medium shop in a good location that has tracks that are good for parties, rentals and races are good. All tracks look big to kids. They will be happy on a 90' Orange. They will be fine on a 115" Grandstand. No deaths will occur on a drag strip. Drag racing parties could be a hit. Half the time on the Oval, half on the drag strip. A standard raceway is great. That is the kind I like best.  Racers first. Cool parts. Helpful staff to teach and guide slot car folks to better race results and better fun.    

 

www.e-slotcar.com

800 258-7441

805 988-8044

Est. 1995

info@e-slotcar.com

[Mike K]

A better question for Mr. PCH is what percentage of his revenue comes from walk-in sales versus internet and mail order?

[parocket]

I know about pleasing your racers then you piss off some and then they don't come. If you adjust your rules to actually save your racers money they don't like the change and they don't come. Our the people who promise to help you then disappear. Or if you try and do what we are doing with the charity and promoting slots that doesn't work either. Until the racers race and run for the fun of it. It will continue to keep on going down hill. Oh ye most of the racing is on home based tracks that I hope they don't have a issue with their stat/county/township like we did. Its very expensive to have a hearing and actually win.

[Mayberryman]

Rodney, I know all about meetings with city and state officials who know nothing about what either you and in some cases they are doing. I remember when FasTrax first came to Mechanicsville from the Tidewater area and took a lease on a building in a small strip mall about five miles from Richmond International Speedway. We got a letter from the county people demanding that before we could open and hold racing events we had to submit a traffic flow chart so that we could get racers and spectators to and from the track with the least amount of traffic back-up. 

Well, for about four weeks nobody from the county would come and look at the fact that we were just a fairly small hobby shop running 8" cars on a 185' wooden track and still demanded the traffic flow chart. A little over four weeks later a member from the commissioner of revenue's office came by and asked where the speedway was, when we pointed to the road course and oval he looked amazed and said why did you not say that in the first place. We assured we had in writing, via phone calls and during trips to the various county offices but nobody seemed to understand and care.
 
I also get what both Rodney and Fred have said about a customer base.  In my experience most of the regular customers get to be friends complete with the occasional cookout in the back of the building on a Sunday afternoon.  When these customer/friends get upset and stop coming without explanation and you only find out why from other racers they have been calling to say how they had been mistreated it is more like you lost two people, the customer and the "Friend".  I guess my last straw was attempting to work through all of the day to day problems and disappointments and then one day about year two you look at how many hours you spend both at the shop and at home calling suppliers, you come to a couple of conclusions.  (1) By the very nature of the business you are keeping hours more like a vampire than a family man and (2) when you add up all of the hours you put in and look at actual income you are most likely making about the same as flipping burgers.

[Cheater]

Most raceways are a labor of love, but as we all know, sometimes love turns to hate.
 
There's definitely no career patch in the commercial raceway industry...

[Cheater]

... when we pointed to the road course and oval he looked amazed and said why did you not say that in the first place. We assured we had in writing, via phone calls and during trips to the various county offices but nobody seemed to understand and care.

As I said elsewhere, the invisible hobby. The general public doesn't know it exists...

[DPmax]

It's not just the hobby that is invisible.

 

At BPR there was a kid's party and after I showed them some of the guys that were running on the drag strip, the kids had never seen or heard of drag racing and I don't mean slots! Pomona isn't that far away and they have had lots of kid's under "whatever" age for free for various races forever, and these kids had no idea. Guess the parents just let them see life through video games.

 

At least a couple of the kids have been back with others a few times, I'm sorta recognizable and one kid comes over and says hi.

[Cheater]

I find that rather amazing, as there's a fair amount of drag racing on cable TV.

 

But if you don't have cable...

[CoastalAngler1]

Dinosaur bones are valuable - don't sell off your slot stuff yet - we got some races left to run...

[parocket]

Spencer,

 

You are so correct on racers talking behind your back. If there is a problem be a man or woman and bring it up to the owner. It is usually a minor problem that gets made into a big deal.

 

ASSCC is reevaluating our racing fundraiser program. Our special needs end is going awesome, just not our racing program.

 

I'm done ranting.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

This might be an unpopular opinion but if I was starting from scratch today I would find a small tri-oval or simple road course and a building in the 3,000 sq ft range and run it as an amusement, NOT a raceway. At least for the first several months if not years. Reach out to every youth group or organization I could find including schools. Approach car dealerships and other automotive businesses and offer "friendly" competitions between, for example, Goodyear and Firestone employees. Something like league bowling.

 

Unfortunately as soon as "serious" competition starts you start alienating customers. Not everyone wants to spend the time and money to go fast. They all want to go fast just not "pay the piper" to do so. Kept on something close to an amusement level, IMO, will keep the cash register ringing more often than not as long as you market properly. Practically everyone wants to be "amused" but not everybody wants to race.

 

Toss in pizza, subs, or whatever for extra $$$. 

[Cheater]

I've been meaning to post about one of the growth trends in slot racing - dirt oval "bullring" slot racing.

 

Over the last few years this slot racing genre has really taken off for obvious reasons: low square footage requirements (many of these tracks will fit in a two-car garage, maybe even a one-car garage) and very scale-looking cars, perhaps even more so than in the slot drag racing genre.

 

Dozens of these tracks have opened around the country, and not surprisingly most of them are in areas where 1:1 sprint and dirt track racing is popular.

 

One very interesting development is that there's starting to be some more formal overlap between 1:1 racing and slot racing. I believe there is a 1:1 sprint car sanctioning body that added a bullring slot car event to their annual racing calendar during a month when weather prevents them from racing their full-size cars.

 

A second aspect is that some of the better bullring ovals are attracting sponsorship money for their races from companies that usually sponsor 1:1 dirt racing. Outback Motor Speedway in Winchester, VA, is one poster child for this genre and approach.

[DPmax]

And have great-running rental cars!!!

[Cheater]

Max,

 

You've posted something my buddy Jay Guard has been saying for years.

 

I won't attempt to quote him, but he basically has said that if raceway owners truly wish to attract new patronage, why have as rental cars the most evil-handling cars on the planet (Whisperjets... sorry, Parma) with .040" bodies, recycled braid, rock-hard tires, etc., etc.?

 

I know if that's where I had started, I doubt I'd have gotten so addicted to the hobby.

 

Ray Gardner had the right rental car idea 25 or so years ago: indestructible spring steel chassis with Plafit Cheetah motors and wing car bodies.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

In my scenario most, if not all, cars on the track are "house" cars. Think Putt-Putt golf. And right now the absolute best rental solution is the JK rental cars and the Difalco rental controller system. The Difalco controllers are PERFECT, just the right sensitivity and maintenance free. The JK cars are GREAT right out of the box but add a little ShoeGoo to the bodies and they become almost indestructible. Put a 100 watt 80 ohm resistor (I use Dale Alum cased) in line with either lead wire in the car and even energetic five-year olds can run without destroying the cars. Fast enough to have fun but not fast enough to hit walls.

 

We recouped our investment in less than four months on the rental equipment. Since there is very little upkeep the rest is gravy!!

[Cheater]

... if I was starting from scratch today I would find a small tri-oval or simple road course and a building in the 3,000 sq ft range and run it as an amusement, NOT a raceway.

That is exactly the approach being taken by Slingshot Raceway in the Sugarloaf Mills Mall in Lawrenceville, GA.

 

I believe they have had some organized racing, but the facility is run primarily as an arcade; participants needs to have nothing except a few US bills. I forget the rates, but at one time $5 got you five minutes and you could buy more time. Their cars, their controllers.

 

Slingshot is on its second or third owners, so it must be profitable at some level.

[JimF]

Congrats to most for realizing that real racers (like me I guess) are not the answer to financial success. Rather, rentals, parties, groups, and other "non-racer" activities can make or break the deal. Most of this stuff is not "cool" for the racer that wants to open a retirement business, etc. But, overhead can kill you when you don't have the base level cash flow. Racers... won't help you stay afloat. They are mostly too cool to really care until their local track closes down.

 

Also..."big" tracks are not an answer to anything. Smaller tracks, with slower cars can be just as exciting to the beginner racer or casual rental customer. "Big" races... can create lots of publicity within the core racer group and can create enthusiasm for a few but it's not a long term business model.

 

I'd say a drag strip and one or two smallish 110-130' tracks are all it takes. When the cool guys start agitating for a King track or whatever... ignore them (or) invite them to pool their own money to buy one for you.

[Tom Thumb Hobbies]

Good point!! I forgot completely about drag racing. I'm not a fan BUT slot drag racing is a BIG draw for most raceways that have them. A drag strip needs to be added to your store.

[Cheater]

Only a few raceways I've ever patronized had big drag programs, but Flashbacks in Snellville, GA, is one of them.

 

Based on reports from multiple industry sources, slot drag racing is another one of the growth segments of slot cars.

[MSwiss]

In my scenario most, if not all, cars on the track are "house" cars. Think Putt-Putt golf. And right now the absolute best rental solution is the JK rental cars and the Difalco rental controller system. The Difalco controllers are PERFECT, just the right sensitivity and maintenance free. The JK cars are GREAT right out of the box but add a little ShoeGoo to the bodies and they become almost indestructible. Put a 100 watt 80 ohm resistor (I use Dale Alum cased) in line with either lead wire in the car and even energetic five-year olds can run without destroying the cars. Fast enough to have fun but not fast enough to hit walls.
 
We recouped our investment in less than four months on the rental equipment. Since there is very little upkeep the rest is gravy!!

 

Where do you get your resistors?

Do you let them rattle around in the car or attach them to the chassis?

The rating you quoted seems a bit off. I typically use a 10 watt, 1 or 1.5 ohm.

100 watt is what typically hangs down on an old external resistor controller.

A car barely moves with a 5 ohm.

[mcrracer]

Does any one have any more info on the...JK rental cars and the Difalco rental controller system.? Stock numbers prices.