Ridemakerz chooses to offer a unique experience

Ridemakerz general
manager Matt Patton helps Katie McCrady and Kevin Walker, of
St. Louis, put together their one-of-a-kind model car at
the Branson Landing on Saturday.

BDN photo
by Kia Stacy

By Kia Stacy
BDN Staff Writer
kstacy@bransondailynews.com

While Ridemakerz specializes in giving its customers a completely unique, customized model car or truck, it also strives to give a little bit of something else.

Ridemakerz Chief Marketing Officer Lee Nadler said each of the company’s 12 stores, including the Ridemakerz at Branson Landing, has the five “Cs” of Ridemakerz.

“The first “C” is choice,” Nadler said. “We make sure each child knows how to make different choices.”

The second “C” is creativity, which Nadler said “is one of the great positives we offer” by allowing children the opportunity to use their imagination and be original.

Another “C” on the list is collaboration.

“Whether it’s father and son, mother and daughter or a customer with one of our crew members, there’s something very powerful about collaboration,” Nadler said. “Part of our motto is ‘do it yourself together.’”

The fourth “C” in the Ridemakerz mission is confidence, which Nadler said is a “powerful area for Ridemakerz to contribute.”

The final “C” is community. Each time a Ridemakerz store has opened, the company has donated to a local Big Brothers, Big Sisters organization.

“Our company mission is to have great fun making rides, but we understand the importance of giving back to the community,” Nadler said.

The appeal of Ridemakerz is the unique process customers go through before taking their car or truck home. Much like its investor Build-A-Bear, Ridemakerz customers, both children and adults alike, get to choose the body style and color of their vehicle as well as the sounds, remote control or freewheel chassis and parts, accessories and decals before putting the ride together on their own.

Matt Patton, general manager of the Branson Landing Ridemakerz, said the store doesn’t just sell model cars and trucks but “we’re selling an experience here.”

“At Build-A-Bear you got a lot of stuffing,” Patton said. “Here, you get a lot of cool stuff.”