How are your local gun stores doing?

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gspn

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I haven't been to my local gun store in months but after hearing the earnings guidance from S&W earlier this week I got to thinking about them.

It was obvious that the sales boom wouldn't last, but now we have some forecasts from a major manufacturer that things are slowing down. S&W announced that they expect sales to be down 7% in 2015.

The last time I was in my local gun store was maybe three months ago. I stopped by a few times during the panic just to see how big of a circus it really was. Many times there were no parking spots so I didn't even have to go in to see what the crowd was like. Then earlier this year the traffic fell off a cliff. The few times I went in there was nobody in the store. They had racks and racks of guns and employees sitting around with nothing to do but talk about how slow it was.

How are your local gun stores doing? Do you think they'll all survive the slump that comes after the binge we saw over the past few years?

I think the big store in my town will do fine…but some of the smaller guys that got in during the boom…not so sure about them.
 
Well, we just had one open up a year or so ago, and they seem to be doing quite well.

Well enough, in fact, that whenever they get my next gun in they will have collected around $2,500 from me in guns, ammunition, and target shooting.

:):)
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
Well enough, in fact, that whenever they get my next gun in they will have collected around $2,500 from me in guns, ammunition, and target shooting.

:):)
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Now you've got my interest…what's the gun? You can't leave me hanging like this…the suspense…it's too much!
 
gspn said:
Now you've got my interest…what's the gun? You can't leave me hanging like this…the suspense…it's too much!
Click to expand...

Two guns, so far. I'm waiting on the second...it may be a while yet on that one.

The first was a Walther PPK/S for my wife. This next one is for me.

Well, just to be honest here, very likely the next one after that will be for me, too...

:)

I don't really want to break the suspense until I get it, though. Trust me...I'll post pics of my childhood dream gun when I get it.
 
Just remember the ones who gouged or tried to gouge during the past 18 months. I do, and stay away from them.

Overall I think LGshops are suffering a little bit, and hopefully the greedy ones will pay the price.

be safe
 
My dealer doing fine He always has had good prices and did jump them doing the Rush. Now a different dealer in another town not doing the best Of course he has some used guns listed at more than they cost new.
 
Roll by.....

I went by a local Walmart & did the "Walmart walk" :D .
The sporting goods section had plenty of rifle & shotgun loads but was out of .22LR, 9x19mm & .40S&W. :rolleyes:
The older Walmart employee was a bit of a annoyed by having to explain that too. :mad:
I went by a big Bass Pro Shop too. I got a great Plano, lockable case on sale($7.99) & saw they had plenty of hunting rifle calibers, shotgun shells, handguns, and related accessories. :D
The mark up on the firearms was high but that's common for larger retailers like Bass Pro Shop & Gander Mountain.
They cater to the YUPPIES, new shooters/gun owners & those who are swayed by the "down home", hunting cabin motif. :rolleyes:
 
I have two gun shops and two pawn shops within a mile of my house. :evil: I would like to think that they are doing okay. :scrutiny: One LGS I’m pretty sure is doing just fine. :D I think I’ve bought 3 or 4 guns there in the last few years, and a lot of ammo and accessories and supplies. The other, I’m not too sure. It’s on it’s third owner in about the last 7 years and I think the training classes and indoor range are the only things keeping it afloat. :eek: I go to the range a lot, but have only bought one gun and very little else. One of the pawn shops isn’t worth the trouble to walk through the door, but I just bought my 7th gun in two years from the other one. :D It’s almost transformed from a pawn shop to a gun shop that also handles pawn (And no, not porn.)
 
If they could just get and keep the popular rounds in stock, before the price gougers snatch them all up for ridiculous resale prices.
 
We have only one LGS in this town. I think they're hanging in there.
One of the co-owners told me the problem they have is that their main distributer's agent got moved, so they got put on another agents' list. That put them at a lower pecking order. So by the time the agent gets to them, they are out of the good stuff. They have to resort to haggling with other shops if you need something. It took them six weeks to get me some common magazines.

The thing that keeps them floating is CCW classes, remanufactured ammo, and hunting trips they line up.
 
I haven't been to my local gun store in months
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Same here. That, in a nutshell, is why some local gun shops are having trouble. They can't keep enough of a selection in stock, at reasonable prices, to attract the serious gun buyers. I do my buying at large gun shows, or through GunBroker with delivery through the local FFL. I never seem to find anything I'm looking for in the inventory of the LGS.

The LGS cannot simply sit on its hands and expect to make a lot of sales from inventory, at the store. It needs to exhibit at gun shows, and do transfers for a reasonable fee.
 
The Good Ones are doing fine.

We have a little town of around 15000. There are four gun shops, a Walmart, a Grocery store with a Sporting Good section, and six or seven Pawn Shops. Two of the GS's and one PS are doing great. They have good selections, great service and don't gouge. The others are probably on their way out. I don't know about the grocery store sales because buying guns in a grocery store goes against the grain.

I DON'T SHOP AT WALMART.:fire::cuss:
 
Gun stores sold about 4 years worth of guns and ammo in six months. Anyone who was ever thinking of buying a gun bought it during the 2013 panic. Only the gun collectors who hang out on forums like this are still buying now. It will take a long time for demand from casual gun owners to build up again.
 
sauer1911 said:
Just remember the ones who gouged or tried to gouge during the past 18 months. I do, and stay away from them.

Overall I think LGshops are suffering a little bit, and hopefully the greedy ones will pay the price.

be safe
Click to expand...

This is a new LGS. I expect LGS prices to be somewhat higher than large retail outlets. However, getting a rock-bottom price on a gun isn't always what I'm after. I pay a premium price on occasion when I think the result is worth it.

I do my shopping, of course, to find out what price ranges to expect from various sources.

:):)
 
They're much more willing to "deal", right now. Whereas, that wasn't the case 6 mnths, ago.
 
JMHO

I like to do business with someone who will back their product. Like my friend/GS owner/gunsmith tells the customer who brings him a gun to fix bought from Walmart, " You bought it from Walmart, get them to fix it."
 
Captcurt said:
" You bought it from Walmart, get them to fix it."
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and this statement likely lost that LGS a customer for life. You don't win customers by belittling them, or "punishing" them for not having shopped with you. You HELP them, and thereby EARN a loyal customer. Customers don't drop out of the sky, and business owners aren't entitled to sales just because they exist as a business.

Back a few years ago when I discovered internet gun auctions, I shopped around a few LGS's to decide who was the best to run transfers through.

One guy acted like it was a travesty that I was buying online instead of purchasing his $700 glocks. I never went back...in fact, the guy was so rude I cancelled the transaction, told him why, and walked out.

Another guy, retired LE charged an extra $40 for his own additional "background check" in which he ran your DL through his old LE friends back at the station. This was on top of the transfer fee of $50. That guy isn't even in business anymore, I don't think he did a repeat sale in his short career as an FFL.

The next guy was nice enough, but charged $50 for transfers. Again, I never went back.

My "go-to" shop is owned by a nice older woman, and she was very willing to take transfers and has not once said a harsh word about doing them.
Since then, I have done app. 30 transfers through her at $30 each. You do the math....that's $900 of pure profit that didn't require a lick of effort on their part to pursue, and no inventory to stock or maintain.
More often than not I have also purchased goods while I was doing the transfer. Hell, She's so smart she will read the invoice she gets, and order an extra mag or two so that when I come in to pick up the gun, she has a few mags to sell me at the same time!
I have also purchased guns from them that I saw in their case while doing the transfer, and walked out with more than one gun....she has paid attention to what I order in, she knows I like revolvers, so she will call me when they get a nice revolver in on consignment.
I have sold guns on consignment there, and done well, and their consignment fee is reasonable, and they have a lot of traffic because it is a popular shop.
Its a popular shop because she runs it like a real business owner and not some grumpy hobbyist who thinks they should be showered with business and money because "they aint no gubment corpration"

That's how you run a business. Not by browbeating, punishing, or cowing the consumer into meekly accepting your overpriced goods.

LGS's seem to have more than their fair share of antisocial, arrogant, clueless owners who end up being their own worst enemy.
 
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Around here the ones that seem to still be doing ok are the ones that did not start gouging on prices in the first place. The ones that did are paying for it now by the buyers going other places.
 
They are not doing well at all. Competition from the big box stores (Bass Pro, Cabela's, Gander Mountain, Academy, etc.) has run most of them out of business. The good old days of a LGS where you knew the owner and/or gunsmith seem to be over here in the N. Texas area. There are several FFL who will order guns on request, but only one actual gun shop left in this area and he no longer has a gunsmith on site and he is looking to sell.
 
Post 17, The Yankee Marshal....

I think the older Walmarter was using profiling. ;)
He(and other Walmart staff in hunting-sporting goods) may field the same questions all day long. ;)

The Yankee Marshal on Youtube.com did a brief clip asking gun owners/2A supporters to shop at the local small business/brick & mortar locations. :rolleyes:
He stated(which I agree) that most profits/sales come from accessories & ammo not firearm sales.
This might be true, but Im not going to patronize a gun shop or any business that has high mark-up or poor customer service.
If a gun shop goes under it's not my fault or my $$$ that did it.
Bigger retailers like Dick's, Bass Pro Shop, Cabelas, etc can absorb the losses & spread it out. Some small shops can't.
The small gun shops may or may not get distributors either. This is not my problem. My job(as a paying customer) is to buy products/merchandise & get good support/service. That's it.
I don't walk into a failing business, jump the counter & start acting like James T Kirk. :D
 
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