What to stock? What to avoid?
Short answer ... depends you your financial resources.
Stocking 20% of the most popular products will service 80% of your customers. Start there. For long guns have at least one or two of the most common models from each of the big manufacturers. Ask anyone who comes in the door and they will know Remington, Winchester, Browning, and Ruger. Ask them about Dakota, Ed Brown, or Wilson Combat and chances are a good many of them will wonder what you’re smoking. Carry the higher-end products only if you have the money to spend on inventory that’s not going to move very fast. Caliber? For bolt guns have most of your selection in .223, 22.-250, .243, .270, .338, and 7 mag with a smattering of the “hot new” calibers if you can afford it. Keep a decent selection of scopes, too. Your largest sellers will be the bargain scopes (think “Tasco”) with the 3-9x40 Leupold, Nikon, Pentax, Burris, et al, running a close second. The mega-zoom and Hubble-objective scopes are tacti-cool and will draw wannabes like flies to honey. Make sure people can see them in the display. If money permits, maybe one or two top-end scopes just to make people drool.
Black guns are big right now. Stock them. At least three or four different brands in as many different configurations as you can afford.
Always have .22’s on hand. Three or four each of semi-auto, bolt, and single-shot.
Pistols? A den of snakes, this. You can go broke stocking every last configuration of every known pistol in every caliber from every manufacturer. For a core inventory I’d keep 1911’s in at least two or three variations each from Colt, Springfield, Kimber, Thompson, and Taurus to cover the price, quality, and option spectrum. Maybe one or two ultra-premiums like STI if money allows. Always keeps several Glocks. We may hate hearing about them but there’s no denying that they sell. I’d keep at least two or three each of both service and compact model 9’s and .40’s and at least a representative sample of as many other models as you can afford. Springfield XD’s are also big right now. Wheel guns? Small-frame revolvers, definitely, as well as several variations and brands of 4”-6” DA’s in .357. Maybe a couple of more limited sellers like a Smith X frame and a Super Blackhawk or two. At the very least these tend to be attention getters. SA handguns are always a steady seller. Keep at least one or two “real” (USFA) SAA’s on hand along with a half-dozen caliber/style clone variations. Ruger SA handguns tend to sell extremely well (at least around here). Keep at least five or six in various calibers and styles. Always keep a couple of Ruger and Browning semi-auto .22 pistols on hand.
Cleaning supplies. Have a good selection of brushes, patches, rods, and cleaners. For the price of a single gun you can almost completely stock a brush rack. A couple bottles each of the most common cleaner, along with a few specialty items, should keep you going.
Storage. Have a small selection of safes from single-gun to behemoth. Keep manufacturers’ literature with each safe and make sure the customers know that other styles, sizes, and colors are available.
How to encourage new shooters?
Three words – “Attached Indoor Range”. A clean, comfortable, well-lit range will draw more people to your store than will your inventory selection (which should still be reasonably varied and well-tended). The convenience of being able to try before you buy is a HUGE draw for new and experienced shooters alike.
How to discourage bad choices?
Experience and education. Have instructors and affordable classes available for entry-level shooters. Be sure to include a women’s only class. Have it taught by a female instructor if possible.
How to make the PR atmosphere in my local area more favorable to the idea of a gun store in the community?
Get involved in community activities. Make yourself conspicuous at things like Little League games and community fundraisers. Join a local civic club. Make small but consistent contributions to local charities. Offer free range time and ammo at cost+5% to local schools for their shooting teams. Host a “get to know your local law enforcement” kid’s day at the range. Have reps from any local, state, or national agencies in your area that can talk to the kids about what they do, and have part of the program be a “Keep Your Kids Safe Around Guns” bit and make sure the parents know they are encouraged to be a part of it.
How to advertise? Where to advertise?
Paper is okay and yellow pages are still effective, but the internet is where it’s at. If nothing else, a PROFESSIONALLY DESIGNED web page with pictures of your store, basic contact information, and maybe a weekly special or two.
Locations to avoid? Locations to prefer?
If the floor space is extraordinarily cheap, you probably don’t want it. If it’s premium, you probably can’t afford it. Some place on a main thoroughfare in a price range you can afford. And make it easy to see and find. Avoid having it stuck behind somewhere just to get a couple bucks off your rent. People won’t go someplace they can’t see or find.
Interaction with customers?
The question is self-answering. Interact with customers. When they come in at least acknowledge their presence with a “Hi, be with you in a moment.”
Features that the shop should have?
A broom, a mop, and enough floor space. I’ve seen several shops that have a ton of selection but I hated going there because it was filthy, dimly lit, and you have to step and over/around and dig through piles of disorganized and unlabeled crap in order to almost find what you want. Having a hundred organized, clean, and priced items the customer can see is far superior to having a thousand items in a pile that nobody wants to dig through.
And, for goodness sake, keep the place organized, especially the area behind the checkout counter! My local shop is nice enough and has plenty of inventory, but sometimes you wonder if they can find anything. The area behind the registers is piled several feet high with ... stuff. Magazines (both the paper reading and metal cartridge kind), guns in for repairs, parts, partial boxes of ammo, cleaning supplies, snacks, and various old bits of assorted grunginess. It’s the first thing you see when you come in, and the last thing you see when you leave. It is a disorganized mess and really detracts from the rest of the store.
Keep your storage and display cases clean and organized. And get good ones. Display cases that look like you got them from the local thrift-store (because you probably did) do nothing to enhance your image as a quality establishment. Do not allow smoking in the store or allow employees to smoke in front of the store, even if you smoke and it is allowed in your community. It makes the store stink and turns off the 60% of the buyers who don't smoke. Smoke out back.
KEEP THE FRIPPIN' RESTROOMS CLEAN!!!!! I know that people have a tendency to miss and it's a pain keeping things swabbed down, but this is important. Hire it done if necessary.
Other suggestions?
Don’t go broke trying to please everyone. You could have every model of every product from every manufacturer and someone will always want something different. Unless you have unlimited funds you should stock the most common items first, then a progressively smaller number of less common items, going as far as your money will allow. Again, stocking 20% of the most common products will service 80% of your customers. For everyone else, offer to special order for them at no additional charge (unless they want overnight delivery or something).
Brad
