"Permanently Closed"

TarDevil said:

fondle the latest wonder-gun.

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I think this may be the key. A lot of people go to a brick and mortar then order online for less.

I’ve noticed the shops with good service and strong business acumen have survived but the ones that were basically a coffee shop with props have closed.

This is a real bummer, and it's one of the reasons I tend to buy from my LGS, even if their prices are a little high. Typically they are spot on, but I just want to help keep them in business.

I used to when the stores were family owned. Now they are all chain business in the city. I have three friends that are FFL’s out of their homes and don’t do it as a main income. No one running a business to make a living wage can compete with their prices. With the exception of some of the sales where the large outlets likely negotiated prices based on a very large quantity buy, like the large chain “Black Friday” deals.

Three in my area going strong but mostly there for the indoor range, ammo and accessory sales not for counter selection, which; in my opinion, is somewhat minimal. Two have brisk online sales themselves with package being price of gun, sales tax and $10 ship fee. No transfer fee. Lots and lots of classes and seminars. The same two are doing well. To this I can attest. The other one is older to the area and somewhat dated. I shop the newer two.

One of the above gave me a free machine-gun rental for my birthday with 25 rounds on the house - my choice of the full auto H&K MP5 or the CZ Scorpion Evo. I think that they have their head on straight and are there to stay. I buy from both. Shoot (unlimited year contract membership) and take classes at one.

I think that we pretty much know what we want before we open the door of any store when it comes to guns and ammo. Knives and sticks; maybe not so much.

Sometimes, the closure of a business has nothing to with the revenue numbers.

Several other threads discussing this around here. Consensus IIRC is that

1. Lots of new shops opened, even still opening, because of the various gun-ban-fear rushes.
2. Also related: plenty of people buying existing shops, then changing things.
3. Many shops are not understanding the economics, sell guns and don't do enough accessories, ammo, other higher margin, immediate-need things. And especially, the importance of being open to all customers, not condesending, etc.

Too many of them have drifted into gun sales only/mostly, have too many zombie-apocalypse/prepper nerds, spend too much time smoking and joking with a handful of regulars over internet conspiracies, so: turn off walk in traffic, make little profit off the sales they do make. Not sustainable, internet or not.

And for the OP, don't forget that businesses just close and not all are the result of industry trends. Sometimes profitable ones, they never set up a plan for getting old, injured, sick, or they specifically refuse to sell out so close down instead.

I agree with .455 Hunter.
Running a small business is difficult and it can be more difficult in a cyclical industry such as firearms.

But, from the O/P, there is a lack of details--so it is difficult to assume what is going on here. Could be family issues like a divorce, could be excessive debt load or personal spending by the owners, excessive labor costs, could be losing a lease on the property, and so on.

It's tough to make a profit in the retail gun business. Not surprising that a lot of shops go out of business.

I was about to add Virginia Arms in Manassas, VA to that list (my cousin told me last Fall[?] that they had closed) but decided to check online, just in case ...

... and saw that they RE-opened under the original ownership on January 4th.

The three I use most seem to be doing fine, though one is the only indoor public range in a good long ways and the other two do most of their business in Archery, so that helps I guess.

The gun industry has lost their best national sales team. Also known as the Obama, biden hillery crue.
In Virginia they have Governor black face keeping all the gun shops going good.

748 said:

The gun industry has lost their best national sales team. Also known as the Obama, biden hillery sales team.
In Virginia they have Governor black face keeping all the gun shops going good.

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If Bloomberg gets the Dem nomination they'll get a boost, that's for sure.

Brick and mortar retail is in trouble in a lot of sectors, not just gun stores.

JR24 said:

If Bloomberg gets the Dem nomination they'll get a boost, that's for sure.

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Sadly, at this point, all the remaining Democratic candidates have committed pretty firmly to a big gun control push. As someone whose political views are heterodox and not universally-aligned with any party, this is a gigantic bummer.

Hi...
There has been one local gun shop close in my area recently. They had some issues with legal violations.
A couple of others are still there but have scaled back on inventory to the point that it isn't worthwhile to stop in any more than occasionally. They have stopped selling reloading supplies and have focused on tactical firearms.

There has been a steady increase in gun and sporting goods stores in my area, both big chains and family-owned shops.
Of course, I live ten minutes from Tamaulipas, Mexico... .

Locally I don’t keep up. The ones I go to only serve as transferors for me as they only stock tactical stuff which is of little interest to me. Where I grew up though, one shop with a small range has to battle periodically to stay open as the permitting is a nightmare to have an indoor range in the city limits even though the property was given a permanent exemption when the city annexed that area. It was owned by guys in law enforcement and politics then, and since it has been sold to the son of the cop, things have changed. The shop is great, but knowing the owner I get a bit more of the back story than most and it’s not pretty. A lesser person would have already moved the shop by now.

HB said:

I think this may be the key. A lot of people go to a brick and mortar then order online for less.

I’ve noticed the shops with good service and strong business acumen have survived but the ones that were basically a coffee shop with props have closed.

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How’s that possible, it’s seems the expense of shipping and transfer fees would greatly add to a firearms purchase price. Are LGS prices that askew.

We support a small LGS being ran by a young married couple. Their merchandise inventory is mainly for AR’s. I try to buy from them first even though they usually charge full retail. They only charge me $15.00 for firearm transfers.

The husband does gunsmith work and judging from their facebook site they sell a lot of guns. I suspect most of them over the Internet.

whughett said:

How’s that possible, it’s seems the expense of shipping and transfer fees would greatly add to a firearms purchase price. Are LGS prices that askew.

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I always give the small LGS we support a phone call or stop in when I am new gun shopping and give them the opportunity to match the Internet price. Most of the time they cannot and tell me to order it through the other dealer. However they do get $15.00 from me for the transfer fee when it comes in.

North of Dallas, we've shuttered more than a few gun shops in the last couple of years. Truth be told, there are still more gun shops / more indoor ranges (but fewer outdoor ranges) in the area than existed, say, fifteen years ago. The ones that shuttered were the ones that didn't control their debt-to-income and eventually their cashflow could not sustain payroll or pay the bills. In many cases, they were aiming to operate in a niche market (e.g. specializing in selling cans and ARs) and didn't have a Plan B when the market dynamics changed on them.

I am friends with the folk that own a couple of these ranges or storefronts. In a few cases, I mentor them (as best that I can) on the business side. We've long chatted about how online sales are often cannibalizing the storefront business channel, and conversely how the Federally-mandated face-to-face nature of a gun purchase and the strong need in folk to fondle product before purchase will help keep a well-run storefront's doors open for the foreseeable future.

From my perspective: transfers and consignment sales for folk that don't want to manage their own face-to-face sales will continue to be an enduring revenue stream. Gunsmithing will continue to be an enduring revenue stream. Giving folk a place to shoot will continue to be an enduring revenue stream. And yes - a mom-n-pop storefront can often compete with Cabelas and online sales on pricing if the inventory is managed well. It just takes work and an understanding of who's buying what, and what motivates the purchase, and being willing to pay attention to wholesale discount bargains when offered.