Oklahoma Hobbies and Radio Control Closing after 30 Years

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Mike Garrison

0 Jan. 27, 2020, 12:44 p.m.

By Mike Garrison
LiveRC.com

Announcement from Oklahoma Hobbies and RC:
www.facebook.com

30 Years of Excellence
1990-2020
The End of an Era

When Mike Southard opened Hobbies and RC back in 1990, He became one of the very few hobby shops in the Oklahoma City metro area. He mainly carried helicopter and airplanes and very little cars. The RC industry was booming. Jerry Church came along and befriended Mike and offered his expertise. In the early 2000’s, Jerry purchased the hobby shop from Mike. Jerry carried the Hobbies and RC name into a new industry, RC Cars. Skip to circa 2005, the hobby shop moved from its I-240 and May location to I-240 and Penn, just a mile up the road. The space was slightly bigger and was packed full of inventory. We picked up new brands like Axial and Hobbywing. We carried everything from beginner airplanes to professional RC car kits. In the process Jerry’s son, Jordan, caught onto the hobby and took off with it. Jordan and a couple of friends helped kick off the drone racing craze in Oklahoma.

Jump into the 2010’s. In 2014, the wheels started moving to build a world class hobby shop in Oklahoma. The plan was to make a building that can hold a race track and plenty of room for inventory. In 2017, the building was completed and the big move began. In the beginning, the track was successful. Many big events were held at the track and the sport of RC racing was growing. In 2018 and 2019, the hobby shop had many ups and downs. Online ordering was getting harder to compete with and there were not very many racers during the summer time.

With Jerry turning 51 and wanting to spend more time with his grandkids, and Jordan turning 22 in a few short weeks and starting his new family. In February 2020, we will officially close the doors one last time. While this may come as a shock to most people. We feel like we are making the best choice for our family business. It has been a very long and tiring journey. We want to thank our customers who have been supporting us through the years.

Our final day in the hobby shop will be February 5th. All orders that have been prepaid for and fulfilled before 1/23/2020 will be delivered to the hobby shop like normal. If you have a repair in the shop, we please ask that those be picked up by 2/5/2020. If you have consignments in the shop, we please ask that those be picked up by 2/5/2020. The stop date to bring quick same day repairs in will be 1/29/2020. The final Friday and Saturday race will be 1/31 and 2/1. We will be posting up fire sales to thin out some inventory. If any of the local shop are interested in our inventory, please contact us.

While one door closes, another one will open. There is an on road track opening in Norman, OK and there is an off road track on the north side of the city. While we may be closing our doors, we will still be around and active in the RC community. You’ll probably see us hanging out at the local tracks. Thank you for 30 years of support. Please keep an eye on our Facebook for more updates.