Can you believe it? It's been a year since we opened the track! In that year we have taken a basement space and turned it into an Astro track. Building the jumps, drivers stand, putting in all the lights, and getting a pit area set up. Next we moved the RD area into the pits.
I had said that I never wanted to have a hobby shop area, and now we have that too!
We also went from Astro to carpet, and everyone pitched in to make that happen. I think it was for the better. We now have a premier RC track in the heart of downtown PDX! All thanks to you!
With the new year comes a new set of small issues. We lost our parking at the bank, but just gained parking behind the First American Title building. I had to do a trade out with them. I will be shooting their business portraits for them this year. Small price to pay to have close parking.
Since we have opened, I have been eating the costs that have been steadily increasing. When we moved in, not sure if you remember, we had to take our own garbage out with us. Well, we added garbage service a few months in. Electricity has gone from around $35 a month to $140 a month. I am signing a new lease in November, and it has gone up too. I am also going to add wireless internet for us. I have been using my phone, and grabbing the internet from upstairs to keep my costs under control.
I'm trying hard to build a track that is sustainable for the future of this amazing hobby. We have a track space the same size as RC Plus, but we do not have the hobby shop to support it. The source of income to keep the place open is memberships, and race fees. The parts and tires are a small part of it also. I appreciate everyone that buys from our small shop. It honestly helps keep the doors open.
Most of you don't know the hours that go into keeping this place clean and building out the tracks, and keeping the place stocked. I'm thankful for the help I get, and also don't mind putting in the extra hours.
So the costs have gone up, and I needed to find a simple way to make up for those costs, and still keep it reasonable. The first thing I thought of is practice on Sunday. I have decided to raise it to $15 for the 5 hour session. I think it's a fair price. I looked at TRCR pricing for a guide. They charge the same.
Next is Novice class. It costs the same amount for trophies and such at the series races as everyone else. It actually takes longer to run a novice race too, and most times we have to hand count. So raising the price to $10 seemed like a fair price and still not making it out of reach for the new guy. Still cheaper than a movie.
Now what to do with the normal racing pricing. I spent about a week trying to decide what to do. Do I raise both the first and second classes a few dollars? Make the second class the same as the first? I honestly was up nights trying to figure out what to do. Then one of the racers said "keep it simple, and just raise the first class price 5 bucks" So that's what I have decided to do. $20 bucks for the first class is what the new price going forward will be. I honestly didn't want to do it, but once I looked at the books, it is needed to keep this place rolling. I look at it like this, just don't get that latte' from Starbucks in the morning, and it will take care of the extra cost. The second class is still 10 bucks and the third is 5.
To try and make up for the extra cost, I will be running 2 quals and double mains on all Saturday club race days. We will also have wireless internet here too.
I will be starting the new pricing November 1. I hope you all understand why. If you have any questions, please feel free to come talk to me. I'm open to ideas.
November 1 the new pricing structure will be:
Novice $10
Race fee $20 first class, $10 for the second and $5 for the third
Sunday Practice 10-3pm $15
Thanks,
Kevin