BETHEL, Connecticut USA — In an online announcement yesterday, Bruce Novicky, the current owner of Countdown Hobbies, has announced that the company is for sale and that he is seeking someone to purchase the business from him.  The business plans to remain open.

Countdown's Bethel, Connecticut storefront.

Purchased in September of 2004 from Kevin Nolan, Countdown's founder, Novicky entered the hobby rocketry marketplace fresh with new ideas and the dream of building a successful rocketry business.  Adding an online web store to the companies web site, they experienced great success initially, which enabled them to completely renovate the physical hobby shop itself.  It appeared they had the makings of a true success story.

Fast forward a couple of years and Novicky found himself with a struggling business and saw his dreams beginning to lose their luster.  Novicky cited personal hardship in a statement in February of this year, stating that family and medical problems were the source of unusual delays in customer service for orders placed on their web site.

Further delays over 2007 added to Novicky's problems and appeared to be the handwriting on the wall.  In his announcement, Novicky said, "Sadly many events in and around 2006 started our recent downfall. Our customer service has slipped a lot as a result and we no longer feel like we can provide the customer service that you our customers deserve."

While personal and medical difficulties may have led to the demise of Countdown, anyone involved in the hobby would be remiss to discount the fact that the ever-tightening regulatory noose has decimated the hobby industry's businesses nationwide.  The ongoing lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives brought by the Tripoli Rocketry Association and the National Association of Rocketry has documented in the public record the potential impact of the ATF's repressive regulatory oversight, predicting wide-sweeping economic disaster for the hobby's manufacturers and vendors.  ATF widely disputes the notion, brushing it off as nonsensical.

Whatever the reason, the failure of any hobby rocketry business can't bode well for the industry.  As it appears now, without some relief the circumstances behind Countdown's woes could be felt at other hobby businesses nationally.

09-08-2007 07:22 AM  #1
Blkbart46 Builder of tube& ring fin   Joined: Oct 2006 Posts: 10	Countdown selling Is there no one out to speak up for such a great hobby.I feel like I am being sqeezed right out of it just like countdown is.

09-08-2007 10:29 AM  #2
Steve_Shannon Growing more clueless...   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 2287	We must not wait for others to speak for us. Each one of us has a voice. If we raise them together they will be noticed. (I kind of sound like a union organizer there, huh?)

09-08-2007 12:17 PM  #3
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 4157	Who are those two big thug looking guys with you?

09-20-2007 11:48 PM  #4
LeeR Builder 1st, Flyer 2nd   Joined: Sep 2007 Posts: 14	Buy as much as you can from all the independents like Semroc, BMS, Fliskits, etc. (and all the others that I did not mention, sorry!). Resist the Estes stuff as much as possible -- it is basically all Chinese made. Maybe engines are still made in Penrose, but for how long? OK, China has been making fireworks for a boatload of centuries, but is nothing sacred? (Unfortunately, I wanted Interceptors, so I bought those, and I'm a hypocrite for it, but I'll buy from the little USA companies whenever I can. There is nothing special about most of the Estes line, other than their re-issues of old classics.) It is getting hard to find "Made in America" products. Remember when Walmart advertised "Made in America? Sadly, once China gets ALL of our manufacturing, they control everything, and they can set prices at whatever they want. But just consider the fact that the have poisoned our pets with bad dog food (with brand names like Alpo!), poisoned our kids (lead in Mattel toys), and who knows how much human food we get is from China, and is slowly poisoning us now ... Sorry, I'll get down off my soapbox.

09-21-2007 12:31 AM  #5
ddmobley Administrator   Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 4157	Quote: Sadly, once China gets ALL of our manufacturing, they control everything, and they can set prices at whatever they want. But just consider the fact that the have poisoned our pets with bad dog food (with brand names like Alpo!), poisoned our kids (lead in Mattel toys), and who knows how much human food we get is from China, and is slowly poisoning us now ... I saw a news story the other day where the Chinese government had shut down a chop stick factory because they were recycling chopsticks. The kicker was that they weren't even washing them, just bagging them up and shipping them out for resale.

09-21-2007 07:29 PM  #6
tbrogan Sniper Kitty = Dead Dogs   Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 106	This story almost made me puke! If you want to see A*% Kissing at the highest level here it is! The story was broken on the news the same time as the kid killing crib story was breaking! How much long you gonna shop at Wal-mart for this cheap crap?? First they kill the cats and dogs, then give lead poisoning to the kids, now they are killing the babies! When is it going to end! These companies are making record breaking profits and we pay for it with our lives! Oil in the middle-east, toys (and just about everything else) in China, next someone will get anthrax from cheap clothing made in India or Pakistan. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20903731 Peter Navarro, a business professor at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of "The Coming China Wars," also suggested Mattel was trying to avoid punitive measures. "Mattel is worried that the Chinese government is going to make it difficult for them to produce, put their costs up and hurt their stock price," Navarro said. They have no shame! Thank goodness for American Rocket Companies (we can even sneak some Canadians in here too, eh?). Tom - Flying Can/AM Sorry Estes, Quest.

09-21-2007 08:17 PM  #7
Steve_Shannon Growing more clueless...   Joined: Aug 2006 Posts: 2287	Quote: I saw a news story the other day where the Chinese government had shut down a chop stick factory because they were recycling chopsticks. The kicker was that they weren't even washing them, just bagging them up and shipping them out for resale. An important thing to acknowledge is that they were shut down. I worked in Taiwan for a couple of months about 15 years ago. The people there were some of the best people I have ever met and I loved my time there (despite the heat and humidity). Naturally, I had to learn to eat with chopsticks! That was the first time I ever saw chopsticks that were joined together as a single piece of wood that the user had to split. The people I worked for told me it was so they could not be reused. So, the problem existed even then. It's important to realize that mindset is not because they are Chinese. There are greedy people of every persuasion who would look for similar ways to "improve the bottom line".

09-21-2007 09:19 PM  #8
tbrogan Sniper Kitty = Dead Dogs   Joined: Apr 2007 Posts: 106	Quote: Quote: It's important to realize that mindset is not because they are Chinese. There are greedy people of every persuasion who would look for similar ways to "improve the bottom line". Steve, I agree with you on this point, but in trying to type after just having read the article, I did not make a whole lot of sense. Got to try and remember to count to 10 before posting! Anyways, I think the problem lies like you said with the greedy people, in this case the corporations that have turned a knowing blind eye and both gov'ts that allow it. These people are playing with other peoples lives ours as well as their own workers. I am reasonably sure that the Chinese workers were not given proper protection in the use of lead paint. What are the odds they had all the MSDS sheets available for each worker to read and react to? Slim to none and I betting none is on vacation week. Again, I apologize if I offended anybody with my rash and broadstroke statement. No excuses here. Tom