07/19/2021
Race Room Update
Hello all, hope things are well for you and your families, hopefully, many of you are still employed.
So here are the challenges The Race Room face when considering a reopening;
1. Should we reopen, we want to go to 8 sims, there is a worldwide shortage of Video Cards at the moment. Many say 3 months, many say 6 months. Regardless a person has to pay upfront when you place your order and that's a bit daunting at this time for the following reasons;
a. A lease has to be signed and Personally Guaranteed. That's not the daunting part, what's daunting is that there is widespread talk that a 4th covid wave could arrive this September/ October. That for sure has us questioning reopening. Or when could we reopen? When do we order the cards?
b. With the shortage of video cards and computer chips, it's very hard to pin down a date we could open, I don't need leased space to build sims in anticipation of component availability, we just need the components.
c. D-Box motion systems are also behind in the delivery of actuators as a result of them getting the same component shortage as others mentioned above.
2. A large part of The Race Rooms revenue was coming from Corporate Team Building. This landscape has changed quite a bit and we are unsure if that will ever resume back to the levels we once enjoyed.
3. Unnerving to say the least, that a person must personally guarantee a lease, and typically it comes back to one's Personal Residence as security. Not knowing IF we can get the components we need to build sims, it is very difficult to contemplate an Opening Date let alone doing a Personal Guarantee with an Opening Date to be determined.
4. Paying a lease for empty space is simply not financially feasible or a good business decision for us at this time, when waiting for a date when sims can be built based on component availability.
So, we want to be back open, we are financially able to reopen but with all the uncertainty, I doubt it will be before year-end... if ever!
Sad but that's our world...
On a more positive note, outdoor racing is back, and if you have some spare time on the weekend of July 24 / 25. The Calgary Kart Racing Club (located at the southeast side of Strathmore) is putting on a race called North of the 49th. They are expecting over 200 entries. The racing is fast, close, and very entertaining to watch.
Great racing, great at Track food (ha, it's like it always is at the track but after a while, a person craves it!)
So hopefully we'll see you at the Kart Track.
And hopefully, our next Race Room update is a tad more positive. We're hoping it to be.
Have a great summer everyone!
