
If radio-controlled cars, planes, and helicopters are your thing, then Superstition Hobbies is the place for you!
Superstition Hobbies is your Valley location for all things RC (radio-controlled). From RC cars and trucks to planes and helicopters, this hobbyist website and Queen Creek, AZ storefront retailer has got it all.
RC hobbyists are a big audience, and number in the thousands in the Valley, meeting up for homegrown events for races and demonstrations of RC cars, boats, helicopters, trucks, off-road buggies, monster trucks and more. And that’s the audience that Superstition Hobbies owner Michael Stevenson clearly identifies with.
“I know this world,” says Stevenson. “When I was a boy, my father was interested in model aviation and got me interested too. As a result, we spent many of our weekends flying RC airplanes up in North Phoenix where I grew up. It’s in my gene pool, I guess.”
Starting a business from his hobby is a ‘dream job’ for Stevenson, a direct result of all that radio-controlled fun he had with his brother and father when he was growing up. “I love that I’m doing something that I dreamed of doing when I was a kid. My brother and I used to talk about owning a hobby shop,” says Stevenson, who earlier worked for 20 years in the jewelry business. “I just wanted to go do something on my own.
“It’s gratifying to be able to build a business based on something that I love, and share that with older retirees, younger kids and everyone in between,” he continues.
RC Cars as a Hobby
Stevenson notes that his top-selling products are the RC cars. These range from the types of remote controlled cars you see in toy stores for the youngsters, and the DIY kit types of cars for the older hobbyist that companies like Traxxas offers. R/C cars can be off-road buggies, trucks, monster trucks, cars, street trucks and much more.
And with the visiting snowbird season upon us in the Valley, there are more outdoor opportunities for RC racing events in Queen Creek, says Stevenson. “Retirees are a big part of the RC community. In fact, I often have war veterans who visit the store want to share stories about flying a certain plane in a previous war, and we have that model in our store. Those interactions are wonderful.”
“Plus, Queen Creek has a lot of open fields, which are great for these racing events,” says Stevenson. “We’re also seeing more interest in model aviation and RC airplanes. There are many RC aviation fields in the East Valley, and that is a very popular thing with our winter visitors.”
Customer success
Customer reviews have been an accurate reflection of how Stevenson runs his business – with care and trust. Peggy from Apache Junction wrote about one of his store employees:
“Jeremy helped us and spent a lot of time with us going over batteries and chargers and showing us all the latest cars available. He was very knowledgeable and familiar with our old cars and accessories, and was able to help us make the right choices to get our cars running again without having to spend a lot of money.”
Another customer wrote: “Great experience here. They were helpful & friendly. Prices are reasonable and they are knowledgeable.”
This success hasn’t come about without some bumps in the road, though, says Stevenson. Superstition Hobbies has been the victim of multiple burglaries in the past seven years. In one of the burglaries, the perpetrators drove a vehicle through the front of the store, completely demolishing the whole storefront, and grabbed all the inventory as well. Those setbacks have been difficult to come back from, he says, but he has persisted with strong will and devotion.
“It’s great to work at something you love, but like other small businesses, understand that this will not be a 40-hr. work week,” says Stevenson. “If you’re looking to start a small business of your own, find something that you love to do, and take every bit of money, time and devotion to grow your business into something that can support you, your family and your employees.”
Look for Superstition Hobbies to start up in the New Year with more outdoor parking lot races and a few other community-minded events.
Superstition Hobbies
18395 S 186th Way #100
Queen Creek, AZ 85142
https://superstitionhobbies.com/
480-892-2271
Editor’s Note: This Article was written as My Local News Sponsored Content.