Published: Tuesday, December 27, 2011, 8:35 AM
Wheels and tires for radio controlled vehicles at R/C Hobbies. (The Huntsville Times / Robin Conn)
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- For our uncertain economic times, here is a lesson in persistence in small business:
In 1974, Rick Chambers, then 22 and newly married, decided to start a hobby shop in a small block building on Meridian Street in northeast Huntsville.
It was a bold move, by virtually any measure. Being young and having little money at the time, he found no one to lend him money for his new business.
"I learned a lot of things the hard way," Chambers said. "I learned starting with nothing is real hard. There was no help, no financing. It was scratch for years and years."
Today, Chambers considers his hobby shop, R/C Hobbies, to be "the largest hobby shop is the Southeast."
He now owns the land at 3303 Meridian St., where he runs his business in a 6,000-square-foot building, built in 2005.
For the first 25 years or so in business, Chambers rented the land where the old block building stood. In 2005, five years after buying the land, he built the new building, shaped like a barn.
"We always had trouble in a small old building," he said. "You get 10 people in there, and you cannot move. I had the foresight I'd get (a new) building one way or another."
How did he do it?
"I was hard-headed," he said. "I felt I could do anything at 22. I made it work."
Chambers and his wife, Pat, made it work, in his estimation, by living on a minimal amount of money.
With two children, a lot of financial discipline was required.
"You learn to live without much," he said. "You always have hope that it will get better."
He started in 1974 in radio controlled planes and motorcycles. By 1980 or so, he was out of motorcycles and more into radio controlled cars.
Airplanes became more and more popular in the early 1990s, as well as helicopters. Today, Chambers said, "r/c planes, helicopters and cars are equal" in popularity.
He also dabbles in rockets, trains and models.
"It's an adult thing," he said of his business.
Most years, he said, he doesn't see a lot of children until the Christmas holidays.
"Actually, most of my kids are adults," Chambers said. "We've got a range of adults from 20s-60s and older. We have some who are 80 who still fly.
"And when the women come in, they say they have their kid, and it's their 40- to 50-year-old husband."
Business doubled in 2005, his first year in the new building. It has remained good, as evidenced by the sizable crowds days before Christmas.
He attributes his success, in part, to taking care of his customers. Another reason, he said, is his wife, a full-time employee since 2002, whom he calls "the backbone" of the business.
"We are not in a retail location," he said, "so we have to work harder to stay in business."
He's a mile or so north of the intersection of Oakwood Avenue and Meridian Street, near Alabama A&M University.
For 37 years here, he's lived off "the dream to make it some day," as he puts it.
In his view, he's made it.
"It's not multimillion (dollar), but it's a nice business," he said. "And I've raised two children, and I have three grandchildren.
"To me, that's part of making it, the family."
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