Another Wal-Mart Thread--Opinions Please

[Mainsail]

You should look at this as an opportunity. If they sell two guns a week, and I suppose plenty of ammunition for them, ask the manager is you can lease some space inside the store and sell guns independently. They have banks in the supermarket right?

 

[ArmedBear]

Selling a couple of guns a week might not be worth it to them.

They have to have an FFL, pay the tax, train people to fill out forms, and pay fines when they don't. They have to store paperwork and assume liability.

Some people are gun collectors, even if they don't think of themselves as such. Others are hunters -- Wal-Mart sells hunting guns, primarily -- and in some parts, that means they buy one gun and shoot it for 20 years or more. More profit and less hassle to let them buy the gun elsewhere, but sell them ammo, Hoppes, and orange vests.

 

[CajunBass]

You shouldn't be buying guns or ammo at walmart anyway.

You should be buying them from your local gun shop. You should be supporting local businesses.

Wal-Mart is just down the street here. They bought land here. Their employees are all local people from here. They pay taxes here. They buy goods and services here. They ARE a local gun shop as much so as anybody.

Frankly Wal-Mart carries at best a couple dozen different types of shotguns and rifles. They carry a limited selection of ammo. Around here, you could take all the shooting and hunting related stock in a Wal-Mart, and put it in the back of a pick-up truck and have room left over. If your "local" gun shop can't compete with Wal-Mart, they're not trying very hard.

 

[joab]

I haven't read all oof the posts here, actually any of them.
So if this has already been said I apologize.

I spoke to the manager of our local WalMart last week
he told me that Wal-Mart was not going out of the gun business just simply scaling back on the number of stores that sale firearms.

The WalMart in Ocoee will still sale guns but others in the area will not.
He was not sure if they will ship a gun to a store closer to you if you purchase on line or request that it be sent to a closer store.

 

[MDG1976]

Walmart is trying to change their image to become more upscale. Hunting does not equal upscale.

 

[silliman89]

I know this may be boring to Justin, but I'm going to say it anyway.

Average Jane Soccer Mom never walks into the local gun shop. She walks into Wal-Mart all the time. Maybe I'm just sick and twisted, but it brings me pleasure every time Average Jane has to see the big rotating glass display case full of GUNS while she's shopping for pampers and groceries. Hopefully she'll come to realize that GUNS don't mean the world is coming to an end. After all, they're all just sitting there not hurting a soul day after day...

 

[aguyindallas]

I was in my local wal-mart today and they said that around the second week of August, they will no longer sell firearms.

Kinda pisses me off in one sense, but then again, I have never bought a gun from them anyway. I have bought a lot of ammo though.

Walmart is trying to change their image to become more upscale. Hunting does not equal upscale.

On the contrary, I know that there are SEVERAL high dollar gun clubs in the Dallas area and some very high profile shooters.

Guns dont mean redneck hillbilly.

 

[XDKingslayer]

I honestly don't know how much weight to put into this whole Wal-Mart ceasing the selling of guns. My local Wally World, which has never had guns nor ammo, just put a gun and ammo section in...

 

[Avenger29]

I try to support my local gun shops whenever possible- except .22LR ammo at WW costs about $1 per 50, while at the local gunstores cost about $2.50-$2.99 per 50. 'Nuff said.

By the way, before you scream internet, I am only 18 and do not have a credit card nor the patience to wait for an ammo shipment.

 

[fiVe]

I honestly don't know how much weight to put into this whole Wal-Mart ceasing the selling of guns. My local Wally World, which has never had guns nor ammo, just put a gun and ammo section in...

Shucks, this is confusing. It just seems to me that if they have sold them in the past, then they should keep selling--especially in the South. If a person is ever interested in purchasing a rifle/shotgun from Wal-Mart, they'll have to keep track of which stores have something to sell. But I'm not in retail and there's nothing to gain in trying to figure it all out.

P.S. I didn't mean to start a boring thread.

 

[spooney]

Let's say WM sells 1 to 2 guns/week @ $300 apiece (I have always found employee's sales estimates inflated). $600 in sales is probably $200 or so in margin dollars (33%),

No problem with the rest of your post, I know for a fact though we don't have one gun that has over a 10% profit margin on it.

 

[redneck2]

I want to find the area that will let me sell guns for a 30% margin.

FWIW...a dealer may make 15% mark-up (not profit). Out of that they have to pay for the building, employees, taxes, utilities, etc. Where their real money comes in are trades and used guns. That's where Wally World can't compete and why local shops could do well if they're run right (depending on the locality)

I've got a friend that has owned a shop here for maybe a couple of years. He hasn't taken a nickle out since he's owned it. Fortunately for him, he owns another business that does quite well. The gun store is a sideline.

 

[jaxenro]

"No problem with the rest of your post, I know for a fact though we don't have one gun that has over a 10% profit margin on it."

"FWIW...a dealer may make 15% mark-up (not profit). Out of that they have to pay for the building, employees, taxes, utilities, etc."

As I said, I don't know the firearms business. I do know retail clothing and the IMU (initial mark-up) on a average womens top is in the 60 to 65% range. By the time you get through marking it down (based on a limited product lifestyle) you are probably turning around 50% for the entire run of the style (in other words, a $10 cost sweater that sells for $35 but ends up marked down to $9.99 averages $20 over it's life)

Those of you that are gun dealers compare that to your margins and you can probably explain in $$ why WM probably shouldn't be in this business. I think they do it to support ammunition & hunting gear sales. Not to make direct money on the gun sale.

 

[Cuda]

I shop where I'm treated as I would treat my customers.. We have a large local shop who won't give you the time of day and their prices are rather high. Each time I wallk into SW I'm greeted and whether I buy something or not I get great service. At our Local WM there's a young fella who is quite knowledgable about guns and is a pleasure to work with.. I guess for me, although price is important (I'm not rich) I want service. If WM provides me that vs. the local I'll go to WM..


C

 

[cmidkiff]

Wally world doesn't appear to be anti-2A, I've never seen a NO CCW sign on a walmart building... If they decide that firearms don't sell well enough to justify the shelf space, that's their decision. It's a (mostly) free country, afterall.

As provider for a large family, I shop at wally world. I regularly purchase WWB ammo, clothing, and household expendables there, and I don't really feel bad for saving a few bucks doing so.

Specialty items are different. A good gun shop provides a great deal more than any wally world sporting goods counter. Selection is much better, and if they don't have it, are happy to order it for you. I've yet to see accessories such as magazines, holsters, etc. at a wal-mart. Add to that, a good gun store should have at least a few employees who have some clue what they are talking about. A gun store owner or employee who can walk you through field stripping your new weapon, or recommend a particular lube, etc. is important to me.

I'll pay more for good service and selection on specialty items, and never complain about doing so. On everyday consumables, I will save every penny I can. If wal-mart stops selling ammo, I'll keep buying it online, and pick up last minute 'on my way to the range' ammo at a gun shop, rather than wally-world. You might be able to beat that online, wal-mart can't beat it though. Wal-mart will perhaps loose a few sales on other items that I might have picked up on these trips, but somehow I think they'll survive!

I recently had a real gun shop offer me 5.56 lake city bulk ammo at 18c/Round, as many as I wanted.

 

[grimjaw]

2. Several Wal-Mart's have been dinged over improper Federal and state firearm paperwork, gun inventory etc. They can't pay the $7.00/hr clerk that has to cover automotive, paint, and the toy department enough to fill out a 4473 yellow form properly.

I can believe this. The only time I've ever bought a gun from them, it took three people (including the manager) and one hour to get the form filled out.

jmm

 

[Manedwolf]

You should be buying them from your local gun shop. You should be supporting local businesses.

I would, IF those local gun shops went for a model of "competitive pricing", not "Let's overprice everything by at least $200, it's better to let it gather dust while we all babble BS about hunting and eat fast food (and ignore customers) than sell it for a LOW PROFIT MARGIN!"

No one disputes that Wal-Mart tends to underprice some items by questionable business practices, but when local stores think they can charge the price of a new 870 for an old, beat-up one with rust in the action, come on...

Capitalism is about being COMPETITIVE.

 

[beaucoup ammo]

"No one ever convinces anybody to change their stance,"

Very true. However, documentaries, word of mouth and increasingly bad experiences at Wal Mart ARE changing minds.

Pity the poor employee at Wally World. Their "insurance" is public welfare. What a deal. Lettuce pickers are knocking down more than these "poor" folks.

It doesn't take a genius to see the job loses Wal Mart has created, and continue to decimate family owned operations every second of every day.

Want to have some serious fun? Park your truck/car with a "union" sign on the door or tailgate and watch the show begin!

Jets start arriving from Arkansas and suits run around like clowns with their pants on fire! It's hilarious! And it's free!

When they ask me about the "sign", I just say it's grampa's truck and I think it was the name of his bakery years ago!

I really don't give a damn if they sell guns/ammo or toilet paper. My money goes to help the dying American middle class.

Take Care

 

[Doc Lukens]

Support your local gun shop.. ?

It all depends upon where you live. Small town Wal-Marts are generally great places to buy ammo and gun accessories. I've actually been sent to Wal-Mart FROM my local gun shop. They're doing just fine competing against WM. I live in a town of 10,000 in a county of 34,000. We have one gun shop and one walmart and HUNDREDS of hunters. Plenty of business for both. Only thing that bothers me is that I am NOT a hunter, and that is what both focus on. Plus, the folks at our walmart are just as knowledgable about firearms as are the folks at Mom&Pop gunshop (small town labor pool, I suppose).

I used to live in Phoenix. I'd never buy guns at those walmarts. I bought a couple of rifle cases once at a more urban walmart in central Phoenix and the woman at the cash register looked at me like I was gonna go shoot up a high school or something (I checked out up front, not in the sporting goods department). In the cities, I ONLY buy at gun shops.

 

[Bruce333]

rather than start yet another thread on this subject...

There is an actual news story out today about gun sales at Wal-Mart...

http://www.wral.com/money/8698178/detail.html

(boldface added by me)

Wal-Mart Drops Guns Sales In Some Stores
Retailer Sells Rifles, Shotguns

POSTED: 1:06 pm EDT April 14, 2006
UPDATED: 2:09 pm EDT April 14, 2006

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has decided to stop selling guns in about a third of its U.S. stores in what it calls a marketing decision based on lack of demand in some places, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

The world's largest retailer decided last month to remove firearms from about 1,000 stores in favor of stocking other sporting goods, in line with a "Store of the Community" strategy for boosting sales by paying closer attention to local differences in demand.

"This decision is based on diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart.

Stewart declined to specify what stores were affected.

Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, Ark., has about 1,200 discount stores and 1,900 Supercenters, which include a full grocery section, in all 50 states. Wal-Mart says it sells rifles and shotguns. In Alaska, it also sells handguns.

"As with all merchandise decisions that we make, our decision to remove guns from Wal-Mart locations is simply based on the lack of customer purchase history of firearms in a given community," Stewart said.

Wal-Mart's experimental new Supercenter for more upscale shoppers, which opened last month in the affluent Dallas suburb of Plano, does not carry guns.

As Wal-Mart seeks growth by moving from rural America into cities and suburbs, it finds it needs to retune its inventory to appeal to more urban consumers.

The Plano store is a testing ground for ideas, from trendier products to more subdued interiors, that are part of a broad effort at Wal-Mart to rekindle sluggish growth by luring more affluent shoppers away from faster-growing rivals such as Target Corp.

Chief Executive Lee Scott has said that in communities like Plano, Wal-Mart's sports department should shift from a traditional emphasis on hunting and fishing to more home fitness and exercise products.

so maybe they should retune their inventory to include handguns and accesories for concealed carry? Wouldn't that be more appropriate to urban consumers?

 

[Ironbarr]

Another (minor) source...

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20060414-045721-9604r

 

[mordechaianiliewicz]

This is about competition. Look at Home Depot. If you wanted home stuff, you go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart?

Well, if you want gun stuff, Wal-Mart, or Cabelas?

What about Dick's Sporting Goods?

Both are far better as Sporting Goods items shops. And Cabelas to me has a true honest to goodness GUNSTORE. with Wal-Mart like ammo deals.

 

[Ironbarr]

Yeah, but...


How many stores... Walmart vs Cabelas?

What locations... uptown, downtown, burbs?

I read last week that Walmart is "expanding" here locally into more low income area - test project in marketing. We have three within 7 miles; no Cabelas in sight anywhere.

I don't know WM's new market drive, but business is in moving product for profit, so I suppose they think that hunt/fish in some areas aren't in vogue as they had been.

I hope that only the uber urban area are to be curtailed.

-AndyB

.

 

[cbsbyte]

I found out yesterday from a friend who regularly shops at Wal-mart, and buys most of his ammo there, that the local store recently stop selling ammo, and gun supplies. They stop selling guns in January. This store is in an area with many hunters. I now believe this is a conscience effort on Wal-mart to plan on removing firearms and ammo nation wide even in areas where the merchandise sells well, so they don't have to worry about liablity lawsuits. It really sucks for many people who will curtail shooting, due to having to now buy all there ammo at local dealers with their highway robbery prices. And we in Mass are not able to buy ammo out of state and bring it into the state due to our gracious Attorney General regulations.

 

[fiVe]

"This decision is based on diminished customer relevancy and demand in these markets," said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart.

This statement does not apply us out on the end of the Florida Panhandle. We're not Florida--we are West Florida (aka Lower Alabama). I know it's their business, but they are creating a hole that the local gun shops and internet will love to fill.