MOMENT WITH MIKE: A view from the other side of the hobby shop counter

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Mike Garrison

0 June 5, 2017, 9:37 a.m.

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Over the past ten years I have been able to play a multitude of roles throughout the R/C car industry, including racer, news editor, race director, broadcast announcer, race promoter, team manager, sales director, test dummy, and the list goes on. One job in our industry that I had never held, until recently, was that of a hobby shop employee.

For many people, working at their local hobby shop and/or track is their first employment in R/C, and from there they either move up the ladder to management (or even ownership) or move on to other things in the industry. Somehow, along my own journey in R/C car racing, I missed out on this opportunity in my early years. Recently, my good friend Chuck Kleinhagen - the owner of Fastlane Raceway and Hobby in Blue Springs, Missouri - called to see if my wife and I would be interested in helping to run the shop and track while he went out of town for the weekend. Naturally, I was excited for the opportunity anxious to learn the ropes of running a hobby shop.

As we arrived, we learned that the day's schedule included indoor off-road racing during the afternoon, and a birthday party using shop Traxxas Slashes in the evening. Working alongside the weekly race director, Brock Witmer, I took the mic to organize and run the races. My wife, Britani, joined hobby shop gurus Arlynn Simon and Jason Burge to help customers and clean the shop in the downtime.

The day went off without a hitch; however, I learned a valuable lesson that I had overlooked for all these years. As a racer, your attention is solely focused on you, your racing, and your needs. Paying attention to anyone else isn’t really a priority, let alone the hobby shop employees. The only time hobby shop employees cross your mind when you are impatiently waiting in line for parts behind the counter.

The hobby shop employees are also solely focused on you, your racing, and your needs. This past weekend was an “easy day at the track” with a lighter turnout of racers, and not too many customers, and yet each and every employee was working full-tilt the entire time. I quickly learned that it is often underappreciated how hard and how dedicated hobby shop employees work to make sure your day at the track is a good one (most of them, anyway).

I also learned that the job description of a hobby shop employee is far too long to ever be written out. Working at a hobby shop is not just punching buttons on the cash register. When the counter isn’t lined with racers asking questions and buying parts, there is inventory management and stocking to be done. Once the latest shipments are put away, the trash needs to be dumped. After the fifteen overflowing trash cans are emptied, it’s time to fix the off-brand monster truck that the RC newbie has dropped on the counter with absolutely no knowledge of what it is or where it came from. Now that the monster truck is fixed, grab the plunger because there is an overflowing toilet courtesy of the nearby Chipotle, but first the kids in the parking lot found a snake you need to re-locate to its home in the woods. About that time racing finishes up for the day, and it’s time to take a breather…no wait…here comes a van full of 10-year old kids ready to party and bash the Slashes. Everyone survives the birthday party, grabs a shovel and starts scooping the dirt racers leave behind off the pit tables and returning it to the track where it belongs. Before you know it, the 15-hour work day is over. The alarm is set, the doors are locked, and all is calm – for a few hours at least, before you return to work and it all begins again.

The gist of my story is that hobby shop workers work hard, very hard. It’s often easy to get frustrated or criticize hobby shop employees for not having the right parts, not understanding what you are looking for, being a little short from time to time, forgetting to mist the track before your race, or “not doing their job” to your expectations. While I spent only a few hours on the other side of the counter, I have a newfound respect for hobby shop owners and employees. I loved every minute of working at Fastlane - and I certainly hope to do it again soon - but in the meantime, I hope that this can be a reminder to us all that the individuals behind the scenes, who dedicate their time to our local hobby shops and tracks, are true warriors and without them, our hobby would be lost.

My hat is off to hobby shop and track owners, employees, and R/C volunteers around the globe. I sincerely thank you all.