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Hobby for the holidays
Fast & Loud opens in time for shopping for Christmas gifts
Herald Staff Writer
Photo by JERRY McBRIDE/Herald photos
Fast & Loud owners Scot Davis, left, and Eric Thornton, stand in their new business Thursday. The two started the store “to fill a little bit of a void in leisure activities, specifically for dads,” Davis said. They’re hoping the holidays will bring increased traffic to their business.
Click image to enlarge
Davis demonstrates a flight simulator available for use at his new business Fast & Loud.
A new hobby shop has opened on Main Avenue, and the owners hope to cash in on Christmas shoppers.
Fast & Loud opened Oct. 10 at 1120 Main Ave., Suite Two, behind Durango Dance. The hobby store offers rockets and radio-control airplanes, helicopters, cars and boats.
"The reason Eric and I started this store was to fill a little bit of a void in leisure activities, specifically for dads," said Scot Davis, who owns the business with Eric Thornton.
Davis said his experience shooting off rockets with his daughter when she was a toddler made him want to spread the hobby. "We wanted to open that experience up for the community," he said.
Fast & Loud sells rockets for as little as $7, but the radio-control cars retail for anywhere from $75 to more than $300.
Davis and Thornton look to cash in on the holiday shopping season.
"We're definitely hoping to get the word out before the holidays," Davis said. "We're hoping that's going to be enough income to get us through the winter and into spring." Fast & Loud isn't just a retail store. It also has a track on which customers can race their cars, as well as an electronic flight simulator. Customers can rent radio-controlled vehicles from the business. Davis said he also plans to make presentations to groups such as Boy Scouts.
With the motto "Durango's hobby experience," Fast & Loud looks to attract hobbyists to share their excitement.
"We really want to promote this as a place to come and hang out," Davis said.
Davis also owns Sage Technology, a video production business. Thornton is a state employee.
Fast & Loud opens amid retail weakness. Retail has been among the economic sectors hit hardest during the slowdown. In September, sales-tax revenue from miscellaneous retail outlets in Durango fell 37 percent compared to the same month last year. For the year through September, sales-tax revenue showed an 18 percent decline.
"I'm a little nervous about it with the economy, because it's a nonessential consumer thing," Thornton said.
The hobby shop is in a good position to overcome weak retail activity, especially as the economy turns around, said Jack Llewellyn, executive director of the Durango Chamber of Commerce.
"They're hitting a niche market, because there is no other hobby store like that in the community," Llewellyn said.
Opening in time for the holiday shopping period also helps, Llewellyn said.
Fast & Loud has no local competition, aside from Internet sales. Hobby Lobby Creative Center in Farmington referred questions to the chain's corporate office in Oklahoma City.
Fast & Loud's storefront was last inhabited by Eco Home Center, an environmentally friendly building supply store that closed amid the construction slump.
"The economy is starting to rebound," Llewellyn said. "I think people will begin to feel like they can loosen up with their discretionary income." chuck@durangoherald.com
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