flying_silverad
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 23, 2002
- Messages
- 3,168
- Reaction score
- 5
I am sorry to say that after some long and hard thought, I have decided to close thrustaero.com until further notice.
As most of you know, I have had my hands full since my wife was diagnosed with cancer back in December. What you might not know is that for the past 4 years I was the sole owner and operator of a lawn service company that gave me the flexibility of continuing thrustaero.com by leaving time during the weekends and time in the winter. But, in the fall of 2006, I took a job as a sales manager with a Chevrolet dealership to make up for some of the lost income during the winter. As luck would have it, it was a smart move because my wife has pretty much been out of work since the end of December and without the extra income it would be a little to tight financially.
But our frequent trips (200 mile round trip) to Boston, and a 60 hour work week at the dealership, does not leave much time for anything else. As a result, orders have been backing up. Im not whining just presenting the facts.
Ive had great support from the rocketry community. It is probably the most understanding community of a non-religious nature that Ive ever come across. So when my orders start backing up because I can get to them, but theyve already given me money fro their purchases, it pains me to just watch things grind so slowly. As weeks progressed, the backorder time increased. So, what do I do? Do I close it down altogether? Sell it?
As of now, this is what I have decided to do. Effective immediately, I will close the web store re-moving the shopping carts page by page until they are all gone. The site will remain as a way of keeping customers aware of whats going on both now and in the future. If orders are placed before I can get them all removed, I will refund any money within 24hrs with a note that I am closing. Any orders that have been placed before today, I will fill if I already have parts on hand, if not those too will get a refund. There will be a link to EBay for some of the items that I want to move or overstock.
Will I ever open again? Yes, just try and keep me away! If money wasnt an issue, Id rent a space, hire two or three guys and let her rip. But as someone once said, If you want to make a million dollars in the model rocketry business, be prepared to spend 2 million getting there.
To those of you that have waited patiently for your orders lately, I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. And for all of you, thank you for your support and encouragement. It was you, the TRF community that gave me the support to grow where Thrustline is today.
More to come
As most of you know, I have had my hands full since my wife was diagnosed with cancer back in December. What you might not know is that for the past 4 years I was the sole owner and operator of a lawn service company that gave me the flexibility of continuing thrustaero.com by leaving time during the weekends and time in the winter. But, in the fall of 2006, I took a job as a sales manager with a Chevrolet dealership to make up for some of the lost income during the winter. As luck would have it, it was a smart move because my wife has pretty much been out of work since the end of December and without the extra income it would be a little to tight financially.
But our frequent trips (200 mile round trip) to Boston, and a 60 hour work week at the dealership, does not leave much time for anything else. As a result, orders have been backing up. Im not whining just presenting the facts.
Ive had great support from the rocketry community. It is probably the most understanding community of a non-religious nature that Ive ever come across. So when my orders start backing up because I can get to them, but theyve already given me money fro their purchases, it pains me to just watch things grind so slowly. As weeks progressed, the backorder time increased. So, what do I do? Do I close it down altogether? Sell it?
As of now, this is what I have decided to do. Effective immediately, I will close the web store re-moving the shopping carts page by page until they are all gone. The site will remain as a way of keeping customers aware of whats going on both now and in the future. If orders are placed before I can get them all removed, I will refund any money within 24hrs with a note that I am closing. Any orders that have been placed before today, I will fill if I already have parts on hand, if not those too will get a refund. There will be a link to EBay for some of the items that I want to move or overstock.
Will I ever open again? Yes, just try and keep me away! If money wasnt an issue, Id rent a space, hire two or three guys and let her rip. But as someone once said, If you want to make a million dollars in the model rocketry business, be prepared to spend 2 million getting there.
To those of you that have waited patiently for your orders lately, I apologize for any inconvenience this might have caused. And for all of you, thank you for your support and encouragement. It was you, the TRF community that gave me the support to grow where Thrustline is today.
More to come
