# Survival, of an HO slot car speedway...



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Over the years we have seen many slot car tracks come and go. So many fond memories. So many good times. It's hard to believe that these kinds of experiences can be abandoned over time. Eventually, inevitably, not enough people darken the doors to keep them open. Yes, it's sad to watch all the assets divided up. All the fun go away.

It is natural in business and in life that things come and go, but, I have noticed a few things that these places seem to have in common. Could it be that the generally accepted basic business model of an HO speedway is wrong? These tracks are typically fashioned after the larger scale speedways(which also come and go). My observations have led me to conclude that an HO speedway MUST be different than a 24th scale speedway.

Now, Texas, is by no means a hub of slot car racing. I am sure you northern guys have seen every version of a slot car business that can be imagined. Surely, the savvy of many a slot car owner has led him to experiment with numerous implementations of slot car entertainment. But that is all water under the bridge now that the doors are closed. Perhaps, something has been missing all along...

It has been glaringly obvious to me over the years that HO racing has to contend with something that the larger scale tracks simply don't have to deal with. With HO, you can take your cars home and race on your own track... for free. You can take your cars to your friends house and race on his track... for free. You can get to together with people you barely know, who share the same love for slot car racing, and race with them on their track... for free. Indeed, in this era of modern technology and communication these types of encounters have been much more the norm. Networking is what keeps the slot car racing alive around here. What could a commercial HO speedway possibly have to offer? What could a commercial HO speedway possibly have to better the experience of the modern HO racer?

1. In this age of GoPro cameras, big screen TVs, camera phones and internet, there has to be an attractive package of goods an HO speedway would be able to offer, some sort of multi media extravaganza that would enhance the experience of the racer, the spectator, and the track owner.

2. Rent is a killer. Slot car racing takes room, lots of it. You almost need a small warehouse to make it the playhouse you want it to be. I can't tell you how many slot car/hobby shops I have seen go out because the terms of their lease changed, i.e. their rent went through the roof. Who can help it? How can you get around it? If you know a trick to obtaining large spaces for lease or to own, I'm sure someone reading this right now would like to know.

3. As a track owner, you count on a few revenue streams to pay the rent, lights, and hopefully have a little left over for your efforts. If you have been successful with the current accepted system, bravo! This is no rant against you, or anyone who makes the slot car world go around. But please, bear with me, and entertain a few thoughts... If you're a kid, wouldn't you like to have a place where you could grab your cars and go run for a few hours?... without the deterrent of having to pay for track time every 30 minutes, or running up a tab to the point you cant pay it, and cant go back? Race entree fee is one thing, controllers and car rentals is another, but track time? Where slot car racing is established, it is the acceptable custom, but where HO slot car racing is not, track time is never going to happen. Kids these days dont pay for the music they download, much less for a hobby they are trying out. I've seen newbies rent track for 15 minutes, crash crash crash crash crash, cant quite get the hang of it. "Okay, that'll be $5." Then the kid decides he doesnt like it, and walks away, forever. That's one way there are less tracks open today than 20 years ago. My suggestion, is to somehow make a new track successful, without track time.

Now is the greatest time to own slot cars. There are more cars and more products for HO cars than ever before. Shouldn't speedways be booming? Isn't there a way to have the freedom to run all these cars a products in more places than ever before?

Of course, every track is different, every one has their own way of making things work. It's what makes us Americans. Let us now experiment politely with ideas, and opinions. Maybe we can discover a new theory of operation, a dawn of a new slot car age...

That's your cue...

What are your thoughts?


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Actually Dan, this is precisely what I want to hear. Thank you for a superb write up of your experiences. It's the best I've seen on either site. This is invaluable insite from someone who actually succeeded maintaining a track facility for a number of years. It's the kind of information anyone wanting to start a track needs to know.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

I do not disagree with SlotcarDan's reply, but a hobby shop can work. But you can't do hobby alone, let alone a slot track, anymore and have a successful business model. I've been in the hobby business for decades, from retail, advertising, manufacturing, wholesale, etc. So I've seen all of the angle the business has. In today's market, and I'm not trying to get political here, our economy is not generating "disposable" income like we had prior to 1990. That means competition for how we spend that those funds are fiercer than ever. I ran a "hobby shop" for 13 years and had to change the model 3 times. Originally it was a hobby and bicycle shop. We added sporting goods and fishing supplies for a while. That was changed to toys and games, hobby and bikes. But toys have a horrible profit margin and when Toys R Us moved into town, the market in toys collapsed. So we added cards and gifts and college fan wear. In the end, the store was hobbies, toys, gifts, cards and college wear. That gave us a busy wave every month with no slow times. We also sold fireworks in July, costumes in October. We kept the customers coming back to the familiar sales team. In the end, the business grew 1200% in 5 years and stayed level through 1993. The absent owners (a retired couple) then sold the store to other interests who changed the model and the store closed 14 months later. Hobbies were always (except in May-Mother's Day) the biggest money maker. Plastic models and slot cars were the biggest movers. But a model car was $7 then. Now they are $20-25 and you still need tools, glue and paint. Why bother building it? A diets ready to sit on the shelf is right there for the same price as the kit with no glue or paint. I think the market out priced itself and the manufacturers don't care as long as they see the Keynesian margins. No one wants to generate more, only just enough. 

Anyway, it can work, but it takes far more than it used to and most would not want that adventure. I may retire back to that world, but only if the economies improve and I see people with some extra in the pockets again. Things are still too tight I think. After all, hobbies are not some we "have to have" but that we like to have.

-Paul


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

One way I thought a commercial race track could survive here in the northeast would be to combine a summer and winter facility.

As I was driving past a golf range one day the thought occurred to me. This place was idled during the winter, which would be the exact time slot car racing would be at it's peak. So combining the two would allow the facility to remain open all year. During the summer the slot track would probably be idle while the driving range was active. In the winter, the track (and possibly other indoor type activities) would allow the facility to remain open. And most golf ranges are simply a small building with a lot of land.

Just a thought.

Joe


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

I used to participate in the Buzz-a-Rama auctions in the 80's and used to race in the HOMIR (HO Mail In Racing) events in the 70's. You would think with the Internet posting, one could get something like that going. I mean we did it on a monthly basis, waiting on the mail to get updates. So you sent in a car, waited 3-4 weeks and got your car and race results back and maybe a prize if you placed. I run the education program Racing to the Future™ using slot cars to promote learning physics, engineering and math. We have about 90 schools in KY with drag strips in the classroom, participating in the program. We had over 100 3-12th grade students building and racing their cars this year at our state championship. And we have groups in 15 other states doing this in youth clubs and other venues like 4H. But that's not a business model. But it does show you can get kids interested and keep them involved. I have students that have raced in our program all 9 years it has run so far. I've written reference letters for their college applications showing their involvement in the racing program. So you can get the kids to race and build. But it takes heroic effort to overcome the other things out there that can distract them. That's what I used to do in the hobby shop years ago. There are no "hobby-shop" experts in the stores today. If you go in and ask about how to do "x" you get a blank stare. I think that has hurt the hobby business as well.  And Dan you are correct, All Things Pass. It's sad, but very accurate.


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## pshoe64 (Jun 10, 2008)

I keep thinking about going back into thee business at the retail level. But I would have to combine Interent sales with brick and mortar. I don't think a hobby oriented business could survive any other way. And it would have to be diversified to cover the off season for hobbies (May through August). Maybe in the next couple of years after my youngest is out of school and I can assume a little risk. I can see me b being the "old man behind the counter".

-Paul


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## slotcardan (Jun 9, 2012)

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## v8vega (Apr 18, 2017)

I am a long time on model railroad forums and there is frequently a post of another hobby shop closing.
I have been watching a lot of You Tube vidios of slot cars and many are old guys like me, few kids, the same with model railroading. But thats OK model railroading is doing well with old guys and they spend. I wish slot cars would become more popular with home tracks like model railroading.
I agree with NTx above about HO cars. I am not a businessman but it looks like to me the future of slot cars is home tracks but it sure would be nice to have a hobby shop nearby to buy parts, cars, track, and so on.
I live in the high population southern Calif. and the biggest hobby shop I know of in the area has a couple of slot car sets and thats all.


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I race with two clubs and it has been very difficult to recruit new members. Most of our new members have been people that were in the hobby as kids and were not aware that slot racing still existed. At one time there were many hobby shops in my area, there is now only one left and they have mostly gotten out of slots to focus on trains and R/C. I believe that the shop is still open because the owner owns the building and a small strip mall nearby. Last year Elmsford Raceway closed up, they had been in business for 50 years and had been a major Parma distributor. Consider that the NYC area has at least 10 million people living within a 30-40 minute drive. When I last visited Elmsford Raceways it was still in the basement of a large amusement arcade, which must have gotten them a lot of new customers. The place moved to a second location nearby that got flooded out, which may have prompted another move. My understanding is that at the end the store was only kept open by hosting birthday parties.


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