Hi all, being in business myself I should say it is getting hard to compete with the internet in parts sales. The running cost of my business before I moved location was $12,000.00 per month. You are expected to keep a good stock of even the most obscure items.(We stock in excess of 5,000 parts) Contrast that with the internet site that cherry picks a few dozen fast moving items. Yesterday I had a call from an individual on how to install MGB exhaust mounts (purchased on the net) I was nice enough to tell him against my inner feelings. A lot of Net sites are run out of basements & garages with no overhead, no city taxes, no insurance & none of the day to day costs of running a regular business. We will continue to lose regular type hobby shops mainly through lack of support, it is easy to sit at our computers,( guilty) make a list of items that we want & email it off in a matter of seconds, in the meantime the shop down the road is empty of customers. Generally when I go to my local hobby shop I buy a little more than I intended in the first place which is good for their business. Mick B.
