Opening a gun shop -- UPDATE: Two Years In!

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i wish more shops carried berettas. in my area they are a rare sight.

Also my favorite shop has a pistol range in the basement..
 
Five Most Wanted:

1) Varied inventory. Not just all AR-15s, not just all handguns, etc. Doesn't have to be huge, just a fair representation of the market.

2) Willingness to special order things not in inventory. No, I do not expect to pay less because "you don't have to carry it in inventory". But I also don't expect to pay more than your usual profit markup.

3) Staff that either know the answers or will go find the answer. B.S. is not acceptable. "I don't know but I'll find out" honesty makes me happy. Bull-crap makes me go to your competition.

4) Sizeable reloading component selection. No, you can't possibly have one of everything, there's too much variety. But what's common in your area should be stocked.

5) Some support of the local hunter education, 4-H shooting programs, etc. I'll pay another five bucks per gun, couple nickles per box of ammo, if I know you're dumping the money back into the kids coming up who will continue the sport.

Top Three Gripes:

1) Staff who are obviously too busy or important to actually wait on customers. If you're actually busy, I'll wait. If, however, you're on the phone with your sweetums, you're also on the clock.

2) Mall-Ninja clerks who press their favorite brand on everyone who comes in the door. These obviously do not understand gun fit and have no business interacting with customers unsupervised and should be considered "in training" or "on probation".

3) Upselling that does not meet the needs of the customer. If I need a 12 gauge for an upcoming hunt, you'll try to sell me a higher end field gun. Fine. I've either got the money or I don't, you'll either make a small profit or a large profit depending which gun I buy. Don't try to talk me into an over/under trap gun with extended choke tubes and a high rib just because it'll give you more profit per sale and it's been gathering dust since you bought it two years ago.
 
i wish more shops carried berettas. in my area they are a rare sight.
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I usually stock a Px4, which is a nice gun. I seldom stock 92s, and never new ones, because they dont sell. They are enormous and don't fit a lot of people's hands. And they're expensive.
If you want to know why some things dont get stocked the usual answer is, or ought to be, because it doesn't sell well.
 
You need a minimum of $1,000,000 in inventory to even begin thinking about opening a real gun shop.

A handful of guns and some miscellaneous junk isn't a gun shop.
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That's absolutely false. If you want a giant gun shop with lots of variety than yes, but many MANY gun shops thrive with just 20-30 guns at a time and doing transfers/ordering specific items for reasonable prices.

I agree prices labeled is good, but when you have good prices they fly off the shelves too fast so not always possible.
All depends on whether you want a giant retail type store or a smaller shop.

My LGS is 1/4 the size of Cabella's and other large stores but does more sales because his prices are unmatched.

Good luck with your endeavor.
 
Unless private FFL's band together in a confederation and refuse to act as drop-ship points for places like Bud's. Then place like that couldn't do business.
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As I said before, you may feel that this is a great way to punish people for hurting the local FFL. But to the buyer who's found a good deal it will seem mean spirited and unethical. And your plan to band together to put an end to cheap transfers is going to look like monopolistic price-fixing on the order of Standard Oil or the mafia. Protecting ourselves by making sure that no one can get a better deal than we're willing to give. That's been "evil" in the eyes of the American consumer for a about a century.

And as others have said well, this is the new way retail is done. The world of sales has changed, and the old models will not withstand the demands of the public to shop the way they want and to utilize less expensive methods of getting the products they want. Dealers will either figure out how to make their business work within the new forms, or will fail.

I always thought that one should be able to receive their gun at any USPO...
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That would be absolutely fantastic, and if that were the case the gun dealing business would be profoundly different than it is today -- to the customers' great benefit.
 
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Unless private FFL's band together in a confederation and refuse to act as drop-ship points for places like Bud's. Then place like that couldn't do business
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This is a great idea. Let me know when the meeting is and when it gets started. I PROMISE I will not get my FFL and work out of my house:)
 
I still say keep it simple hire the best people you can get, that care about what they do and do ita as career, "not a job",Stock the popular but be able to get the customer what he wants in a day if you don't have it, and cater to the need of the area you are in.
Do the transfers for $25 and be happy to get anyone to set foot in your store, it's a chance to make a good impression. Run weekly specials, and advertise on the web and in the local papers as well as the forums. Have events schedualed at local ranges , If you don't have one, and be prepared to wait a year before you hit your stride. It also dosen't hurt to be licensed to give the courses including cary permit, family protection, shotgun for HD etc, that is a way into your communitys base.
If you do a free training event once in a while people will remember you.
 
Sam1911 said:
As I said before, you may feel that this is a great way to punish people for hurting the local FFL. But to the buyer who's found a good deal it will seem mean spirited and unethical. And your plan to band together to put an end to cheap transfers is going to look like monopolistic price-fixing on the order of Standard Oil or the mafia. Protecting ourselves by making sure that no one can get a better deal than we're willing to give. That's been "evil" in the eyes of the American consumer for a about a century.

And as others have said well, this is the new way retail is done. The world of sales has changed, and the old models will not withstand the demands of the public to shop the way they want and to utilize less expensive methods of getting the products they want. Dealers will either figure out how to make their business work within the new forms, or will fail.

That would be absolutely fantastic, and if that were the case the gun dealing business would be profoundly different than it is today -- to the customers' great benefit.
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I didn't say it was a good thing, only that it was possible. Still if I was an LGS, there is no way I would act as a drop-off point for Bud's for $20.00. That's a great recipe for going out of business.

"This is the new way retail is done"? Oh? THIS model will put LGS's out of biz. People are free to pick-up their orders for 20 bucks from other shops (except around here) but not my LGS.
 
Bubba613 said:
Wow just as I predicted. All you need for a successful store is a million dollars worth of merchandise, lower prices than the lowest one on the internet, free gunsmithing, free transfers, clean and well lit, dont mind that people bring their lunch in and eat it, and free coffee.

Anyway, on transfers: when I started I charged $20, which was the lowest price in town. All I got were price customers. They were there because they only wanted to pay the lowest price for anything. Since I was 50 cents higher on Speer Lawman vs WalMarts White Box they wouldn't buy any. I never sold a single accessory, cleaning kit or supply or box of ammo to those customers.
I decided I felt like I was getting raped with every transfer and I wouldn't stand for it anymore. I raised prices to $40. I do many fewer transfers but the ones I do result also in sales of ammo and accessories, and often repeat business for guns. And I'm happy to do the transfer because the amount I make is almost as much as I would on a new gun.
The big advantage a place like Bud's has is that the customer can hike the sales tax in his home state. In TN that's 9.25%, which adds up quick on a $500 gun. I can easily beat Bud's prices and if they were required to collect sales tax, or I were required to collect it on the transfer, people would never buy from Bud's.
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Good posting. The $20.00 fee is not sustainable. After awhile that's all you would get.
 
Good luck with getting a kitchen-table FFL these days
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... .

Gunbroker lists several FFLs in my immediate area. 4 of them are shops that do gun repair but do not sell guns at all. 3 are pawn shops/gun stores. 7 are people who work out of their homes doing custom ARs and such. $25 is the lowest transfer price available to me.

I have only bought one gun online. One of the gun stores that I do a lot of business with looked it up and told me to buy it because it was way below what he could do. No problems, just good business on his end. Since this happened I have purchased two guns from him as well as a Red Dot scope, 3 extra mags, and several boxes of varying ammo. $750 or so? He could have been a jerk but he opted to be helpful and so he gets a lot of my business. He charges $35 for a transfer and I asked him if he could match the kitchen table guy. He did the transfer and he had the same gun sitting in his case. I don't think he lost money on the cheap transfer.
 
^
Now come on it's already been pointed out to me that this just doesn't happen, that a guy buys other things at his LGS. You must be mistaken.:confused::)
 
Ryanxia said:
but many MANY gun shops thrive with just 20-30 guns at a time and doing transfers/ordering specific items for reasonable prices.
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If you don't have 500 guns in stock AT A MINIMUM, you shouldn't call yourself a gun shop. Most of the GOOD gun shops I've been in had at least 2000 guns in stock, and people STILL complain that the selection isn't enough.

20-30 guns? You barely have a "collection", much less a gun shop. I'm not going to bother getting in the truck to pay you a visit.
 
I guess I am a gunstore then. You must have for the type of store you are considering, "not my idea", but you need every major manufacturer, and every model they sell. Like glocks, I garantee if you decide not to stock a modem 20, the next day someone is going to ask for one, it's Murphy's law. So if glock makes 25 models you need at least 3 of each, "thank god you don't have all the colore to stock also". So with glock alone you may have 75-100 guns, at 400 a pop 40 grand just in Glock pistols. Just keep going from there.
The same holds true for every gun you intend to carry. That is if you really want to be called a fully stocked gun store. So we easily see it is going to take 2-3 million just to get going aside from your buildout, "which you should be able to get free from your landlord" Ours did 100,000 for a ten year lease. And free rent for 6 months and half rent for a year. My parner is a deal maker, he pushes until something breaks and is prepared to walk away at the last minute, "he used to drive me nuts". But he gets deals on everything.. If you are going to sign a million dollar lease, get the buildout included.
Then you need to take all the suggestions and your own and sit down and decide wher you are going to put your money.Into what specific areas, and your advertising should start 3-6 months before you open.
Let folks know your coming. Get local radio and Tv stations down to cover blood drives and charity events. Donate the proceeds to cancer research animal shelters etc.
 
If you don't have 500 guns in stock AT A MINIMUM, you shouldn't call yourself a gun shop. Most of the GOOD gun shops I've been in had at least 2000 guns in stock, and people STILL complain that the selection isn't enough
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I never really thought about these numbers but this is probably pretty close. I know of some shops that only display 20-30 new guns but they generally have a lot of used guns and probably more than 1-2 of the guns they do display. Now if you live in DiddyWaDiddy Alabama then a shop with only 20-30 guns might be your best bet and they may order anything you want. If you are in or near a larger city then you better offer a lot of services if you only carry a few guns. I like to look and touch and I can easily touch 20-30 guns in a single trip.
 
Kynoch said:
I didn't say it was a good thing, only that it was possible. Still if I was an LGS, there is no way I would act as a drop-off point for Bud's for $20.00. That's a great recipe for going out of business.

"This is the new way retail is done"? Oh? THIS model will put LGS's out of biz. People are free to pick-up their orders for 20 bucks from other shops (except around here) but not my LGS.
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Why don't you invest in a website of your own and expand your market to the other 49 states? Before long you might qualify for those distributor discounts and be able to offer your local customers a viable alternative to Bud's.
 
"This is the new way retail is done"? Oh? THIS model will put LGS's out of biz. People are free to pick-up their orders for 20 bucks from other shops (except around here) but not my LGS.
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Look around. Look how Walmart has shut down all the stubborn mom and pop stores. They used to say "You can't sell XX for that price. No way! They'll go out of business selling at that price." Well, guess what. They did sell at that price and they did put the stubborn old timers who "knew" their loyal customers would keep coming back, out of business. Well, people like to save money too and they will go where they can get the best value for their money. To this day, people still complain how Walmart is putting everyone out of business and to this day they keep opening more stores. You're right and Walmart is wrong. Keep being stubborn and keep losing business to the guy who is very happy you are stubborn. I see every customer who walks into the door as someone I can make money on. Turn them away and pretty soon you won't have anyone to turn away.

Famous last words:
*I don't need a computer, I've done it this way for 30 years and I've done fine.
*I don't need a website. I never had one and I've been in business for 30 years.
*I don't need to price match anybody. People come here because I've done business with them and their family for 30 years.
*Transfers? Why would I do that? I never had to do them before and I've been in business for 30 years.
*Internet sales? That's a fad. People will be back because they can touch the guns before they buy them. You'll see. No one is dumb enough to buy a gun they never held.
*Staying open past 6 and be open on weekends? I have a family. Why would I want to be at work when they are at home. I've had these hours for 30 years and have done fine.
*Walmart? I don't worry about them. People will get tired of standing in line to buy their ammo which is always empty anyways. They'll come back and pay $5 a box more because I've been selling to them for 30 years.

Yeah, well guess what. Good luck getting to 31 years with such a short-sighted, close-minded attitude like that. That is the thinking that the mega-stores love because it means they'll have little resistance when they come to town. Shops like that are on their last breath and a mega-store is only too happy to take the customers you've abused and taken for granted for the last 30 years.
 
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If you don't have 500 guns in stock AT A MINIMUM, you shouldn't call yourself a gun shop. Most of the GOOD gun shops I've been in had at least 2000 guns in stock, and people STILL complain that the selection isn't enough.
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Of course having that much inventory is expensive. And someone has to pay for it. This is where people complain how high the prices are.
I have 500 guns in stock. Just not all at the same time.
I'm not going to bother getting in the truck to pay you a visit.
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Good.
 
Quote:
If you don't have 500 guns in stock AT A MINIMUM, you shouldn't call yourself a gun shop. Most of the GOOD gun shops I've been in had at least 2000 guns in stock, and people STILL complain that the selection isn't enough.

Of course having that much inventory is expensive. And someone has to pay for it. This is where people complain how high the prices are.
I have 500 guns in stock. Just not all at the same time.

Quote:
I'm not going to bother getting in the truck to pay you a visit.

Good
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.

Now you are being intentionally obtuse. Here is a scenario you describe as being realistic.

Customer: Hello Mr Smith.
Mr Smith: Oh crap, a customer.
Customer: I want to buy a S&W pistol with Crimson Trace laser grips. I found one online and wanted to see if you could get close on the price. The price on Gunbroker was $459. With shipping and a $25 transfer that would be around $505.
Mr Smith: I have one for $599 and that is as low as I can go.
Customer: With tax that will be $645. I would pay an extra $50 to buy locally but not an extra $140. If I buy it online will you do the transfer for me?
Mr Smith: I am not a drop off point for gunbroker. I charge $45 for a transfer.
Customer: Okay, I also need 5 boxes of 9mm ammo. Walmart has it for $9.97 and Academy is $10.59 but since I am here I may as well see what you have.
Mr Smith: Mine is $17.59 and that is the best I can do.
Customer: I also need a holster. Do you have one for this gun?
Mr Smith: Are you kidding? Inventory costs money.

So rather than the customer spending $650 in your store and you making maybe 10% he now goes to the huge box store and the kitchen table FFL and spends his money. Meanwhile you complain that people just have no loyalty as you pull into Kroger to buy groceries because that darned local guy is too high and does not carry you favorite brand of ice cream.

Here is one of my favorite percentage formulas for those who spout percentages:

$1,000 in sales at 25% is $250.
$1,000 in sales at 15% is $150. Why would I want to sell at 15%?
Because $0 in sales at 25% is $0.

I go to the bank pretty often to make deposits. Never once has the teller allowed me to deposit my profit percentage.
 
I just came back from Wallmart, they have a 22 rifle that is a clone of a 10/22 for $107.00, and a rem pump 870 pump I beleive for 370, the old gal there likes me, and she had one in the back she put aside for me,she said all the cops were buying them, also the 10/22's she said if I put them out, they will be gone by this afternoon, do you want me to stick one on the side for you? I declined, as my wife looked puzzled at me. But come on a rifle for a hundred bucks. It was a 10 shot something or other, and weighed about 4 lbs. How do you compete with that?
 
Quote:
Quote:
If you don't have 500 guns in stock AT A MINIMUM, you shouldn't call yourself a gun shop. Most of the GOOD gun shops I've been in had at least 2000 guns in stock, and people STILL complain that the selection isn't enough.

Of course having that much inventory is expensive. And someone has to pay for it. This is where people complain how high the prices are.
I have 500 guns in stock. Just not all at the same time.

Quote:
I'm not going to bother getting in the truck to pay you a visit.

Good
.

Now you are being intentionally obtuse. Here is a scenario you describe as being realistic.

Customer: Hello Mr Smith.
Mr Smith: Oh crap, a customer.
Customer: I want to buy a S&W pistol with Crimson Trace laser grips. I found one online and wanted to see if you could get close on the price. The price on Gunbroker was $459. With shipping and a $25 transfer that would be around $505.
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Actually it's more like this:
Hello, RealGunz Gun Shop.
Yes, I'm looking for a Kel Tec Sub 2000 9mm.
Yes sir I have one in stock.
I want the one with the Glock mags.
Yes sir, that's what I have.
How much is it?
The gun is $299.
299??! I see them on the internet all the time for 269. Would you come down on the price?
Sir these are hard to get and I couldnt replace this one. I could do 289 and a discount on some ammo.
OK. Look I get my tax refund in 2 months and I'll come see you then.

And people wonder why clerks get a bad attitude.
 
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