Hotrod Hobbies brings RC fun to Hamiltonians of all ages
- Jody Aberdeen
- 25 Jul 2022
Great business ideas are sometimes born out of tragedy. Such is the case with Hotrod Hobbies.
“A few years ago, a family member had been involved in an industrial accident and was hospitalized long term to help him regain his fine motor skills,” says co-owner Andrea Collins-Poliquin. “He wasn’t happy with his rehab process. They had him doing pre-school puzzles to help get his hand movements back. We thought we needed to find something else for him to do that would make him happy.”
With limited resources in the area, Andrea and her husband Joe decided that designing a track for remote control cars would be one way to go. They realized quickly that they couldn’t have the track without a space for it. That’s how Hotrod Hobbies was born.
Neither Andrea nor Joe had set out to become entrepreneurs before. “I was working in the veterinary field and my husband was a heavy industrial mechanic,” says Andrea. “Luckily, we managed to get the support of many of our friends, family, and our injured relative on board with the idea.” However, both of them had a background in racing and so there was plenty of passion fuelling the new endeavour. Deciding to commit themselves fully to the business, Andrea and Joe left their respective careers to focus on the business.
The next few years would see the opening of an indoor and outdoor track, which were almost immediately popular with locals and visitors alike.
When the lease for the original shop in central Hamilton ended in 2019, Andrea and Joe decided to relocate to 44 King Street East in Stoney Creek. “It was just prior to COVID,” says Andrea, “and though it was a hard decision to give up the original tracks, and though we still miss the sounds of children laughing and playing, in hindsight it was the best move we could have made. Once we moved, a month later, COVID hit, so that was a silver lining because we didn’t have the same overhead as we would have had, so that pushed us to get our store online.”
THE BENEFITS OF RC (REMOTE CONTROL) TOYS
“RC has a lot of benefits,” says Andrea. “Parents tend to love it because it gets the kids to put down the video game controller or the phone and get outside, and it encourages people to be social as well. It invokes the ability to work on it themselves, so you can learn mechanics in that way. Kids even learn physics without realizing it when they’re building jumps and ramps and seeing how far they can go. It’s small, but it’s there. Anybody can do it.”
Drawing on their experiences helping their injured family member, Andrea notes that many of their customers, too, are recovering from traumatic injuries and that RC has benefitted them as well.
“We have a number of customers who have mental illness, who have social anxiety, and there are many facets to the hobby, so whether it’s surface vehicles, boats, or planes, whether it’s fast cars or crawler trucks, there’s something for everyone.”
ABOUT HOTROD HOBBIES
Hotrod Hobbies boasts a wide variety of remote-control cars, trucks, boats, and even airplanes, along with all the accessories customers need to enjoy them. Their e-commerce store, their newest feature, proved to be a daunting task to get up and running, but has been online since March of this year. Andrea and Joe are proud of the online store and though it requires constant work, they hope it adds to their customers’ experience.
Andrea also cites very strong involvement with the local Hamilton community. “We have been heavily involved with a group called ‘Fast Times RC Drag Racing’, and we host weekly drag races for people from the ages of 6 to 65. We have a large group of families and individuals from all walks of life who get together, laugh together, and have fun.”
With most of the province opening up this summer after two years of restrictions, Andrea acknowledges that there has been a bit of a sluggish start to the season, business-wise, but remains optimistic. “We’re still blessed,” she says, noting that Hotrod Hobbies was more or less pandemic proof during the lockdowns because people were looking for something to do. “Well-made hobby cars aren’t inexpensive, and with prices going up everywhere lately, people have stopped making large purchases, but there are many sizes and price ranges available. RC remains something the whole family can do.”
Andrea also notes that entering the online market and being able to ship products across Canada has greatly helped the business remain open. “Anything worth having is never easy, but I’m looking forward to a bright future.”
To see Hotrod Hobbies in action, visitors can drop by the storefront at 44 King Street East in downtown Stoney Creek. Better yet, they can also check out the weekly drag races that take place at Eastgate Square.
Follow Hotrod Hobbies on Facebook and Instagram to learn more.
Comments 0
There are no comments
Add comment