It's not often that a business gets derailed and it's a good thing.
But that's what happened to Anthony Young's West Valley Hobbies. When it started in 1986, Young planned on making it a place for model train enthusiasts. Now the shop, 1765 W. 5400 South, Taylorsville, still carries some trains but specializes in remote-controlled vehicles.
"I was interested in having some kind of business so my kids would have money for their education," Young said. "I was pretty interested in doing model trains. But it seemed that as I got into the business, there was a real lack of anybody supporting the RC cars."
Now, two decades later, Young can look back on a venture that has grown from a 600-square-foot store to one of about 4,000 square feet, has been a growing business and has resulted in some deep relationships with many longtime, loyal customers.
His shop sells RC cars, planes and boats; plastic models of cars and military aircraft and vehicles; and model rockets. Some plastic models can be had for about $15, while RC cars typically start at about $100 and go as high as $500 or $600 for nitro-powered vehicles that can top out at 60 mph. A new trend is "crawler" monster trucks that sport two- or three-speed gearboxes. The built-from-scratch vehicles compete in rock-crawling contests.
"What we've done differently from a lot of hobby shops is we stock tons of parts," Young said. "The worst thing is to have a car break and have to wait two weeks to be able play with it when you've got time you want to go out and play.
"Another key thing is we have really good employees that work here. They're really knowledgeable. They're into the hobby, so they are really able to help people. That's what customers are looking for. We have a lot of competition from the Web and specialty stores, but what's missing from a lot of stores is they don't have variety and selection and the support. That's the thing that has set us apart and why the business has done well."
Plus, West Valley Hobbies has found that the activity is popular with young and old. Young's son Ben Crowther is an enthusiast and works as one of the store managers.
"This involves a lot of things you do with your hands, and you're repairing and fixing or if you're building the models or rockets, it gives kids confidence. It gives them a sense of accomplishment. Then it goes up to the next group. The bulk of our audience is men, and there are a couple of different kinds. There are the 'bashers,' who like to just go anywhere and play in the dirt, although some do on-road stuff. Then there are the people who do competitive racing."
The latter group includes folks who race year-round at indoor tracks or spend summers in parking lots trying to show their vehicles' mettle. One club races F-1 cars, matching their parking lot track to that week's real F-1 race.
"This is a specialty business, and, yes, it's a small part of the overall economy. But it's funny how loyal and dedicated these people are to doing what they enjoy. It's another option for people who have all kinds of hobbies. There are the people who like to golf and those who like radio-controlled cars. Some people will say, 'I can't believe how expensive that is,' but when you compare with what some people spend on their hobbies, it's probably in line with it," Young said.
"And," he noted with an enthusiastic voice, "it's a lot of fun jumping and crashing and breaking a vehicle — to be able to do that, something you know you could never do in a real car, slam this thing into a hill."
And while his model-train venture never materialized, Young has found a lot of repeat customers making scheduled stops to his shop over the years. The same people often meet every day to contemplate their vehicles, solve problems, look at new products or poke fun at each other.
"It's a business," he said, "that promotes having fun."
And that promotes relationships, making friends as well as money.
"Some of the friendships I have that I've been able to make from regular customers and now friends from this situation in the store, you've got to really value that. At the store, there are pictures of a couple of customers who have passed away that were regular, good customers that we really miss. It's things in those relationships you build that in a lot of businesses you never see."
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com