Indoor gun range, with store front.... Good Idea? Profitable?

[Sniper_Ewok]

A friend of mine and i have been tossing the idea around about starting an indoor gun range. We live in a large 2nd amendment supported area. There are a couple long distance gun ranges in the area, but im not interested in tapping into that for self profit, but we are willing to support the firearms support for them. we are both going to become CPL instructors. we are thinking 10 firing lanes. we want to be able to support every type of shooter when it comes to sales. from women, children, hunters and competitive. we want to bring a more extensive AR-15 and AR-10 market to the area, that kind of an untapped market, there is one store about 30 minutes away that has a small amount of AR inventory. One of the main reasons we thought of this is because nobody can try firearms before owning in our area, unless they want to drive over an hour away. within a 45 minute radius there are over a dozen decent sized town and a lot of industry so income isnt a problem for most customers. The other thing is the only place to get rifles are mc sports and dunhams.... dunhams only carries synthetic stocks and mc sports carries the run of the mill remmingtons mossbergs and savages, with just a couple browning. we are hoping to tap into more, like weatherbys sako and tikka, along with newer american companies for lower budgets, like diamondback, FMK and Sccy. what are some good paths to follow here while considering this, and is it possible to make it a profitable business?

 

[ford8nr]

A year or two ago I would have said the cost of an indoor range with the HEPA filter air exchange requirements would have cost prohibitive based on a resonable ROI.
That was before TWO such ranges opened within 20 miles of me. I believe the cost of both of them was over $1M, with the larger being close to $2M. They sell memberships, firearms,
accessories and teach classes. You just have to have some real volume to make monthly bills. The second more expensive range initially had 4 investors, 2 pulled out mid build due to cost overruns.

 

[Sniper_Ewok]

We arent looking to make it it huge... and no archery... 25 yard range...

 

[chicharrones]

I go to two indoor ranges on a fairly regular basis. Both are located in the northern suburbs of the 4th largest US City. Which means there are a lot of shooters to be potential customers.

One is essentially handgun only with some inventory of new guns, but no rentals that I know of. They also offer training and host local handgun shooting competitions. They did add an outdoor archery range behind their building, which may be to offset losses due to Texas CHL/LTC training class requirement changes. They have been open for at least a decade and seem to be doing well.

The other indoor range has a slightly larger store front with a much larger selection of new firearms, rental guns, and accessories. They serve handgun and rifle shooters and also offer training. They haven't been open as long as the range I mention above, but they have done very well. Over a few years, they have added extra shooting lanes and have opened up a new location several miles away from the original location.

Both of these ranges are what I consider good decent ranges for all types of people. These are not the high end sophisticated ranges that would seem to cater to the Range Rover set (as those have popped up in recent years as well), but they are well run ranges.

 

[243winxb]

Winter=Indoors=$$$. Florida=0

 

[chicharrones]

Winter=Indoors=$$$. Florida=0

Summer=Indoors=$$$

At least around here.

 

[243winxb]

Good point. Works both ways.

 

[Dog Soldier]

Our town as many towns in the West provides an indoor shooting range. Ours is a modern up to date range. It is operated by city paid employees properly trained. It cost 1 dollar per hour. Black powder is allowed. Some centerfire rifles are allowed. It is used for NRA Trng. and Pistol leagues.

 

[hdwhit]

This is the link to a gun club in my area. It might provide you some ideas. They are a one-stop operation providing not only shooting range, but a gun store, gunsmith, CHL and shooting classes, firearms rentals, FFL transfers and even a restaurant. It seems to me they are trying to get people in the door and give them a reason to stay making a little bit of money off of each piece of the operation.

http://www.friscogunclub.com/

If you decide to do this, do your homework, seek the help of knowledgeable advisors (and be willing to pay for what you get), develop a sound business plan, make sure to have enough of a cash reserve (accountants call it "working capital") to keep the doors open for several years until word spreads and you develop a clientele that is spending enough money to make the business a going concern. Good luck.

 

[reddog81]

I've had 2 indoor range so open in the last 2 years. Both are pretty nice setups. The first one that opened is generally pretty busy they have 2 pistol rooms and a rifle room. I think all the ranges are 25 yards. They have a decent store and do rentals. Frequently they have a waiting list to get a lane on the weekends.
The second store is a little more bare bones and not as high tech and it's not nearly as busy. It's still a nice place and I actually prefer it since they allow reloaded ammo but when I've gone during the week I'm usually the only one shooting. I'm not sure if being first in the market made such a huge difference or it's just the atmosphere.

I'd be hesitant to try out such a venture due to the high initial costs. I'd think trying to offer as many services as possible will increase the customer base but sometimes trying to be everything for everyone can be difficult.

Honestly when the weather is nice I prefer to drive outside of town to the outdoor range and pay $8 per hour to shoot vs $20 for a visit.

 

[Jim Watson]

Got an indoor range under construction here.
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=cypress creek indoor range

There was another in the planning and even funding stages but this one got the jump on him and he is waiting to see if business is good enough for the area to support two within about 20 miles.
Cost of the one actually building is said to be $1.3 million, the other guy told me his was quoted at $1.1 million but he already owned the property. The next nearest 58 miles away is more elaborate, in a growing area, and the owner said it was $3 million... and already expanding after 4 years.

We have a fairly new outdoor square range that is a good facility but not heavily used. Our club range is a bit cramped, the acreage we bought after the city evicted us to ease sales for the city officials who are also real estate agents turned out not to be fully usable. But we stay busy.

On the other hand, we have lost two outdoor ranges in the district this year and another owner talking about retiring.

 

[Sniper_Ewok]

I am from northern michigan... winter would definately bring in people considering it was -9 windchill today. I cant imagine it costing too much here, considering the city council is dying to bring business into the area... they are building a multi million dollar shopping center, which im hoping to be closer in proximity to... all the safety and hazardous stuff will be easy for my partner... considering hes the fire Marshall Ha! The market up here is getting bigger by the day and like i said the closest range north is 60 miles, and south is about 80 or 90... east and west are none... so i have a large demographic to cater to...

 

[ford8nr]

Quote all the safety and hazardous stuff will be easy for my partner... considering hes the fire Marshall Ha!

I'd make sure I did my research on this. Range safety and air quality is far outside a Fire Marshal's normal expertise.
The NRA has a great range development course which is the gold standard by which you'll be judged if the is ever an incident. I've belong to a 2200 member club and several of the board members have been through it just for that reason. Recently we had a voluntary evaluation done of our outside ranges and ended up spending almost $150,000 in improvements to comply with their safety recommendations.

 

[22-rimfire]

Most indoor ranges also sell firearms from my experience. Only a few outdoor ranges will have a gun shop/retail area. Whether it is a good investment, I have no idea unless you already own the building.

 

[ATLDave]

There are lots of indoor ranges in the Atlanta area, and they seem to do pretty well in terms of range occupancy rates. One guy opened a range and within 3-4 years was so busy/oversubscribed that he opened another less than 4 miles away. They're both pretty busy. Part of their trick is that they are not a "traditional" gun store with grumpy old guys behind the counter and lots of far-right political stuff on the walls. They have a diverse (gender, race, age) workforce, and attract a similarly diverse clientelle. The waiting area is slick and comfortable... free coffee and doughnuts. They are also located very centrally, near densely populated areas. I have the feeling they make most of their money on rental of NFA TItle II/Class III guns - and the range ammo. They started out doing a little bit of retail of guns, but pretty much have abandoned that.

Another range has a "normal" sized gun store in front - maybe 4-5 glass cases of handguns with another ~30 long arms for sale at any time - with a big selection of serious gun safes. I think they do OK, but I don't think they're printing money.

 

[azrocks]

We arent looking to make it it huge... and no archery... 25 yard range...

I think you better be hoping to make it huge, because you're going to be paying a huge price up front. If it's not for something, I wouldn't bother.

If you've got the capital it's got the potential to be very profitable, particularly if you're the only game in town. But I'd think it's the last business I'd want to try to get into without adequate funding (which includes anticipating unplanned, expensive events like people off'ing themselves on lane 2).

 

[TwoFirstNames]

I can't tell you about Michigan, but I would it if someone would open an indoor range around here.
I have to second what ford8nr said in post #13 though. If you haven't already talked to whoever regulates indoor air quality in your state/area, I suggest you do so before you go too much further. Come to think of it, you should probably talk to whoever regulates outdoor air quality too.
I work in environmental health and see way too many people loose everything because they either don't have enough capital to get through the initial start-up (people will not flood your doors from day one and every day thereafter) or they forgot to talk to some regulatory agency and they get shut down right after opening.

 

[readyeddy]

The range rules may have an impact on the crowds you draw. Where I live there is an indoor range owned by a gun store, and they require you to buy their ammo on every visit. This means you can't shoot hand loads or factory ammo that you bring with you to the range. Also, if you have left over ammo from a range visit, you aren't allowed to bring it back on a subsequent range shoot. They also prohibit anyone from taking home brass that hits the ground, even if it's your own brass.

Both rules are no go for me. I choose to shoot elsewere.

 

[Sniper_Ewok]

The air quality is already being worked on... thats where i was going with the fire marshall comment... he knows the state reps that we need. I was thinking of reloading for shop rounds. You can bring your own, 5 or 10 dollar fee to use unlmtd rounds of your own... or fee is waved if you buy from the store... i also cast my own rounds already, so i can drive the cost per round way down. And its absolutely a must to leave your brass after shooting... every range ive ever been on has been like that...

 

[Sniper_Ewok]

Another thing we are tossing around is a reactive target lane or 2.... have a texas star set up in one

 

[aarondhgraham]

Good Idea? Profitable?

Heck yeah it's a good idea,,,
We can always use another well built indoor range.

Profitable?
That's going to depend on how well you can run a business.

If you just invest the money to build the range,,,
Then sit back and wait for customers,,,
You'll go broke very quickly.

It isn't a: "If you build it, they will come." thing,,,
You have to promote the business like there's no tomorrow.

That means having training there on-site,,,
Sponsoring and promoting matches,,,
Preferably sanctioned matches.

And anything else you can dream up.

I wish you good fortune in this endeavor.

Aarond

.

 

[azrocks]

The air quality is already being worked on... thats where i was going with the fire marshall comment... he knows the state reps that we need. I was thinking of reloading for shop rounds. You can bring your own, 5 or 10 dollar fee to use unlmtd rounds of your own... or fee is waved if you buy from the store... i also cast my own rounds already, so i can drive the cost per round way down. And its absolutely a must to leave your brass after shooting... every range ive ever been on has been like that...

No way I'd ever go to a range that made me shoot their reloads. Ever.

And if I was charged extra money to bring my own ammo, same thing. Deal breaker. It sounds like your money-grubbing because it's a money-grubbing move. People aren't going to get warm & fuzzy over such rules.

The thing about not even getting to keep your own brass is even more icing on the mud pie. Every range I've been to locally here - indoors & out - allows you to keep whatever brass falls behind the firing line (assuming you're policing it up in a timely manner).

I think these are all bad ideas.

 

[Sniper_Ewok]

Nobody said they had to shoot the reloads... there would be all types... remington, winchester... you name it... the reloads are there in case they want to just shoot for cheap...

 

[readyeddy]

Something to just keep in mind is that for reloaders, brass is an important issue. We inspect them, we count the number of loads fired, we separate case heads, remove primer crimps, trim, and some mark them with sharpie or nail polish. 10mm Auto shooters will rarely voluntarily part with their brass.

I'm just saying that it's almost an emotional issue for some.

 

[azrocks]

Nobody said they had to shoot the reloads... there would be all types... remington, winchester... you name it... the reloads are there in case they want to just shoot for cheap...

If you're willing to charge the exact same price (or less) as Walmart, for factory ammo, then I wouldn't complain. Otherwise, you're forcing people to pay more for their ammo than they have to - so you can make a profit on it - just to shoot at your range. I personally feel that's an offensive move that would turn people off. It would turn me off PDQ. But maybe I'm unusual.

I think it's completely reasonable to sell ammo at your range for more than Walmart. You'll get plenty of business from people who run out of ammo, appreciate the convenience, or simply don't care about price. But to require people to buy it.... nah. Perhaps people will appreciate low-cost reloads. But personally I wouldn't run anyone's reloads in my gun. And I wouldn't feel I was getting a deal on a box of reloads that cost the same as a box of Federal target loads at Wally World. I'd feel ripped off. Which would make me feel like never coming back.

Just my .02.