HAMKITT store is going out of business

out of business

Large or small...it's always sad to see an independent business go under.

 

At least I got to see the store...

Glad myself and fellow ham friend Dan/KB0TDW got the chance to make it out there. Sad to hear about the store closing its doors and it stood the chance to grow had the economy been a little better...

Guess it's back to internet sales then...

 

Be kind of cool to see AES or HRO have a store here in either Omaha or Kansas City. I realize HRO has a store in Denver, but that is 8+ hours away. Same for AES with a store in Milwaukee. It would be nice to see a store in almost the center part of the US that I could travel to in less than 3 hours.

 

To become a reseller with Yaesu, Icom, Kenwood, etc, you have to make a significant investment with them. So just to get one of each radio for demo and one to sell would be upwards of $200,000, and there's only about 4%margin, if that, on a radio. You make money on accessories.. i.e. MFJ. MFJ can floorplan a business but many of the others don't.

But I disagree with you, a small office was a start and that's how you start in any business, small. But it takes 90% from the date of you doing something to START to make things happen. You need at least 1-2 years of revenue in the bank to live on, to see if the business will work.

This is a tough economic time for all businesses. Ive been in business 22 years and having a business means you're unemployed until your next sale. The next sale means you have some money to continue, but you're unemployed until your next sale! LOL

I do see the economy getting better, slowly. Hams need to support their own. I mean doesnt it make sense to support a fellow ham, rather than Wal-Mart or Best Buy.

With this business, local hams could have bought little things from him, and he could have MAYBE made a decent living. Books are the big money makers in ham stores! That's a 50% margin. 3 books bought and he could have taken his wife to a nice dinner.

So guys, spend some money! C'mon, this isnt a hamfest, this is real life.

Just because you're a ham doesn't entitle you to a discount with other hams, since we are hams too.

So go buy stuff! Sell some of your older stuff and buy some new stuff. Sell it at a fair price to a newer ham, get the $$$ and upgrade.


Rick - W4PC

 

What about Associated Radio? Dan is closer to you.

 

A lot of good ham type businesses are run from the ham's home. Internet sales are a must, but the "local" ham population can still come by and pick up items, and attending area hamfests with a display helps. The "but" is that that type of business takes discipline... shipping on time, allowing local pickups only at certain hours.

Good luck to the gentlemen going out of business.

de NA4IT

 

I hate to see a small business fold up, but it's what happens in business. The deck is stacked against you the day you open your door. I don't have any connection to Hammkit, and quite frankly I never heard of them. Did they ever do any advertising?

My friend and I wanted to start a pizza restaurant...our advisors told us they knew of one SURE way to make a million bucks in the food business. They said, first, start with three million bucks. HAHAHA.

 

store front

Store fronts are expensive to maintain; I could put together a web site for a cost of almost nothing and not bother to have any staff that would demo or explain equipment. Why? Because the Ham is a guy that will shop at the store and then go online to buy as cheap as possible.

 

Local/Regional Stores

I have always tried to support my local or regional store. I'm about one hours drive (due to heavy traffic) to AES in Orlando.

If I want to buy a new big ticket item like a new rig I drive over to see it and play with it and then buy it and other accessories and dodads. I don't mind paying sales tax.

If it's a smaller item I call them and give them my credit card number and it arrives by UPS ground the next day. One thing that I usually do not do is to buy something from a web page with a shopping cart. Most of them are setup in a non user friendly manner and just create delays in shipping the said item.

When I lived in Atlanta, Denver and Cupertino, CA I did the same thing in supporting the local store. At those locations it was HRO.

Comparing ham radio to other expensive hobbies such as say astronomy and guns, in my personal observation ham's are always the biggest cheapscates. Many ham's cry poor all the time on the air but have a ton of money in the bank. But then again maybe that's the secret to having lot's of money, don't spend it!

Having said that though I do work and/or hear a surprisingly large number of hams that do spend mega bucks on IC-7800's, etc.

 

Capital -
Get a business or loan or other source of funding to start the business and run it for up to 1 year without a single cent of profit during that year.

Place of Business -
Some neighborhood associations do NOT allow you to conduct business from your home. Check your HOA convenants first. If that is indeed the case, consider leasing a building that is already complete, but find out if/why businesses have/have not done well in that location.

Marketing and Promotion -
You would have to do some marketing and promotion of an actual HAM store. Radio, TV, website, internet, visit all of the clubs in your target area, have a booth at several hamfests in your area, advertise on ARRL website, print business cards, etc. This means you would need staff that can attend these club meetings, check-in to local Nets, attend hamfests, cost of booth and setup fees for hamfests, etc.

Classes/Seminars -
IF your store is large enough, you could have some 30-minute classes/seminars on soldering, making various cables (power, feedline etc), building antennas, troubleshooting, computer programs, etc.)

Just some things to consider...

 

the key to success . . .

I've NEVER seen a business that catered exclusively to hams succeed -- there always had to be another (bigger) part that paid the freight for the owner.

Look at Allied Radio and Lafayette -- they were major electronics parts houses, and sold CB's, stereo components, test equipment, even cameras, to pay the bills.

Heathkit's amateur radio line was a big factor in their bottom line, but they also sold stereos, televisions, test equipment, and even a Thomas electronic organ could be had, in a kit.

Radio Shack tried the ham market, and quietly exited. More money in cell phones and satellite television. Even their skimpy parts selection has atrophied over the last 30 years . . . unless you order off the website.

I lived 130 miles from Des Moines and attended a couple of their 'ham fests' -- the turnout was marginal, and in the end, they weren't the time and effort (or gas money) to attend.

Let's face it -- the ham market shops with 800 numbers and plastic. A walk-in storefront is just a waste of time, except for those coffee drinkers and knob spinners who just want another place to meet on Saturday mornings, before doing those honeydew projects for the XYL.

Gary WA7KKP

 

Marketing Etc.

I agree. It usually will take two years to really get entrenched into any

market . Dedication to the endeavor is paramount . It is NOT easy .

I supported a local Ham store in St. Louis . I paid more for rigs because

it WAS local . A ham on QRZ stated that I was stupid for paying $ 749.00

for a rig he could have purchased from a bigger store for almost

$ 100.00 cheaper . Well ...... I supported the local enterprise . I had

local support . A local store in Detroit ' Michigan Radio ' went south

because the owner never was OPEN . He had regular posted hours .

He just was not there . I wasted time . I stopped even trying to

guess what hours he really wanted to be ' OPEN ' . Detroit is now

devoid of any Ham stores . Detroit is not a really small Iowa town .

He just alienated too many people . The business went under .

I am saddened that HAMKITT went under . I guess, there are many

hams who just do not have money . Maybe he should have applied

for the wonderful ' stimulus package ' . No politics here guys .

There had to be a way . I am saddened . It is not like the

good old daze . " SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL HAM STORE "



JB


NNNN

 

I guess I'm REAL lucky. I have R&L Electronics just 3 hours away and I can go over any time I want. Best yet when I buy off them I can have them ship it UPS ground and have it in less than 24 hours due to there being a large UPS hub between them and me. Sometimes there are benefits to being in south central Indiana!

 

I never managed to be there when he was open. I was tempted to stop in yesterday, but I was too late. I knew it had to be a small place from the outside.

I also don't think this was the first ham store to fold in Des Moines. As I recall, another one bit the dust around the time I moved there in '86.

Up here, we've had two stores fold in the Rochester area in recent times. Radio City up in Mounds View near Minneapolis is still going, but they are half ham, half telescopes. They do have a nice consignment area and carry a nice set of products. I stop there whenever I can and buy SOMETHING.

I'm afraid the U.S. radio stores may be endangered, though. I just bought one of those Wouxuns out of curiosity. It turns out to be an excellent rig. If the U.S. stores lose all of their HT business, I don't think they can survive long. I need to go to Radio City and spend money to assuage my guilt. I'll never be able to make things right with AES or HRO, though - just not enough money in the kitty. OH, the race to the bottom continues...

 

OH! That's right, I forgot about that store, shame on me! Thanks for reminding me about that because AR completely slipped my mind when I was posting this vs having tunnel vision with HRO and AES.

The group I hang out with has mentioned taking another road trip to Des Moines, but with this news, we may have to divert ourselves and take a trip to KC.