Walmart gun drop story goes big

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The only reason I'm happy about this is because it opens up the possibility of me snagging some nice firearms on sale. Now I just have to find a store with them on sale...
 
Well, it sounds like Wal-Mart is doing this for business reasons, not some sort of social engineering, then.

They want to push into Target's more trendy city market -- Target exhibits sheer genius, BTW, for a sort-of "big box" store -- so they want more space for yoga mats and treadmills. Huntin' and fishin' stuff isn't selling well enough in those areas, I guess. City folks buy that stuff from Orvis.:p

I hope they still have my trapshooting ammo. My local stores haven't sold guns for a while, but they sell ammo. There's a lot less cost and liability, and a lot more volume, in ammo sales, I think.
 
Floor space is $$$, so if guns aren't selling, why use up that space?

Thomas county, GA, has two outlets for firearms. One is a high-end, full-pop retail place. The other is WalMart. It's money-wise sensible for Wally to keep its expanded gun counter.

In many cities, there's too much competition from small shops and the Cabela's-type places...

Art
 
Walmart is changing their business a lot, focusing on demographics more..trying some higher end stuff in some areas, sticking with guns and gardening in others. I don't think this is an anti-gun initiative.

What it does mean is that we're losing. The guns are being taken out because they aren't selling, which means that as a sport or tool, they aren't seen as important in some areas.
 
...and believe me, the week that Wal-Mart's local manager hears 10 people per day say, "Hey, I came in to buy a Weatherby Mark V and all you have are yoga mats!?", while the yoga mats aren't moving off the shelves, is the week that he or she applies for a new FFL again.
 
Barbara-

I think it has as much to do with widespread obesity and generalized physical laziness as anything. People in cities are less likely to trudge for miles and hunt, and more likely to sit in front of a surround-sound HDTV entertainment center.

And then, when their doctor tells 'em they're going to die, they go to the gym or buy a treadmill.

I'm doing my part, though. I started hunting.:)
 
What it does mean is that we're losing. The guns are being taken out because they aren't selling, which means that as a sport or tool, they aren't seen as important in some areas.
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Barbara ~

Might have nothing to do with overall trends. It could be that gun owners boycotted WalMart out of the gun business.

Run a search for "Wal-Mart" on THR, and count how many gun owners feel self-righteous about not buying any guns or ammunition from WalMart.

Multiply that by sales nationwide.

pax
 
ArmedBear:
And then, when their doctor tells 'em they're going to die, they go to the gym or buy a treadmill.

I'm doing my part, though. I started hunting.
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What *are* you hunting? Fat city dwellers? :evil: If that's the case, it's just as well that Wal-Mart won't sell them anything more lethal than a tread mill or a yoga mat.

That aside, Wal-Mart getting out of the firearm business in some areas might actually mean cheaper prices at your favorite gun store. The way the WalMartians work is that they make vendors a deal on X,000,000 units and squeeze the margin. Manufacturers go along because of the volume they can sell. We can't be sure what will happen, though, only market dynamics will tell the true tale. It'll be interesting to watch, whatever the result.
 
Well, I can be as cheap as the next guy (or cheaper). I find myself trying to find the cheapest price on a gun. Then I realize that, given the 10,000 rounds I've probably shot through the 870 I got for $235 at a local shop, it wouldn't have mattered a whole lot if I'd have paid the going average price of $300 for it, in the big picture.
 
I am glad Wal Mart stopped selling guns. Thats a good start.

Now, I wish they would stop selling groceries, clothing, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, jewelry, cosmetics, automotive supplies, pharmaceuticals, toys, electronics, and gasoline.
 
Some suburbanite soccer moms ARE buying guns here. But they're probably not buying Remington 710's or Mossberg O/U's.

There's a lot of interest at local stores, but the interest is in the sort of guns that Wal-Mart doesn't stock...
 
[citeuser=Lone_Gunman]I am glad Wal Mart stopped selling guns. Thats a good start.

Now, I wish they would stop selling groceries, clothing, housewares, sporting goods, hardware, jewelry, cosmetics, automotive supplies, pharmaceuticals, toys, electronics, and gasoline.
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They sell gasoline?

[citeuser=ArmedBear] Some suburbanite soccer moms ARE buying guns here. But they're probably not buying Remington 710's or Mossberg O/U's.

There's a lot of interest at local stores, but the interest is in the sort of guns that Wal-Mart doesn't stock...
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Yeah, like the ones I want!

I do, for the record, see a business decision here, but behind it lies a social engineering decision, make no mistake. It is merely cleverly disguised. Who could more easily disguise a public show of giving up firearms as a business decision than Walmart? But the truth is, the people get the (subliminal) message behind it all, and the press was only too happy to lead them to the trough: you don't want guns. We will stop selling them to you. You will stop seeking them.
 
I'd buy that if I had a tinfoil hat. Or if my local stores didn't keep selling every gun-related item including ammo, gun cases, hunting clothes, cleaning supplies, targets, scopes, etc. Everything that doesn't take an FFL to sell.
 
I'd buy that if I had a tinfoil hat. Or if my local stores didn't keep selling every gun-related item including ammo, gun cases, hunting clothes, cleaning supplies, targets, scopes, etc. Everything that doesn't take an FFL to sell.
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I will admit, it's much easier--and infinitely more facilitative to bliss--to reflexively discount such assertions as "tinfoil hat" paranoia. To those with their eyes open, however--and again, I admit it's not nearly as much fun as pretending the truth is a lie--the trends are unmistakable. Walmart carries many low-margin, low-volume items, but firearms are the only one it stops selling...ask yourself why. Then ask yourself why the media doesn't create a NATIONWIDE string of reports every time Walmart does stop carrying a certain item.
 
I don't think that "we're losing" on the gun-sale front. I just think that at certain stores Wal-Mart is.

The new breed of Big-Box hunt/fish/camp sports retailers like Sportsman's Warehouse, Outdoor World superstores, and new Gander Mountain/Cabela's going up means someone out there thinks Hunting/shooting is a business worth persuing.

I just think that a large percentage of Wal-Mart's gun customers are one-time customers. At most of their stores there is no way you can have a hassle free transaction. The two gun purchases I've made at Wal-Mart (commodity guns like an 870 that my local gun-store actualy told me to get at Wal-Mart, so no flames... :) ) have taken me well over an hour each time.

Your average suburban Wal-Mart gun shopping experiance goes something like this, say you go in at noon on your lunch break:

12:00 Wait ten minutes while the assistant manager with the keys to the gun case is paged.


12:10 Check the gun out while the asst.mgr. taps his foot because he's got three other pages to other depts. and he can't leave until you give him the gun back.

12:15 Decide you want the gun. He "goes in back", to pull one from stock. While in reality he takes off to handle those three other pages.

12:30 Asst Mgr is still nowhere to be found.

12:40 Snag a clerk from automotive or hardware to find the &*^% asst. Mgr.

12:50 Asst. Mgr. comes up, flustered, claiming he's "still looking in back". In reality he's trying to handle the last page, a disgruntled woman in the children's shoe asile on the other end of the store.

1:00 Asst. Mgr's shift is over. Lucky for you, the next assistant manager coming on shift goes in back and grabs your gun from the back, without trying to do anything else first. Unfortunately it's the wrong model.

1:10 Asst. Mgr. II comes back with the right gun. Gives you the 4473 to fill out. You get shoved aside while you try to fill out the 4473 and AMII checks out fishing, shotgun shell, and camping gear customers who have pounced on the register, seeing a blue vest behind it. You finished the 4473, but he is tied up trying to sell a fishing license.

1:20 AMII finaly cuts off the line at the sporting goods register, and takes your form to call NICS. He is stuck on hold. He puts NICS hold on Wal-Mart hold. He then gets called away on a "quick" page. While he's gone, NICS answers, and hearing Wal-Mart's hold music, hangs up.

1:35 AMII calls NICS again, get's through. Waits ten minutes on the line, and gets approval. Tries to finish the 4473, but screws it up. Despite the fact this is about your 50th gun purchase, and you know the 4473 like the back of your hand, he can't take your suggestions, he pages the senior manager for help.

1:45 Senior manager shows up. AMII screwed up. You all need to fill out the 4473 over.

2:00 New 4473 is filled out and completed properly. Can't find the NICS approval number. It's on the 4473 they threw in the trash.

2:10 Rings you up.

2:15 Walks you out to the car like you're some kind of shoplifter.

2:30 You get written up by your boss for taking a 2 1/2 hour lunch break. :mad:

CONGRATULATIONS! You have your new Wal-Mart Gun!

5:30 You get home, and finaly get to look over your new gun. It's scratched. You were so frustrated and rushed, you forgot to inspect the one you were taking home. Unfortunately, all gun sales are final.

Wal-Mart made $15 in profit on the gun over thier wholesale cost, the two Assistant Managers make $8.50/hr, not counting the Sr. Mgr's salary, so it just cost Wal-Mart about $18.00 in wages to throuroughly **** you off, and make $15 bucks...

I'm not even getting into the stores that are trouble with the ATF or state governments for improper transactions.
 
Wait for it ...

How many more minutes until Sarah Brady comes out and claims this was all a response to the public pressure they have generated to keep our children safe?

Wal-Mart, like every other retailer, has added and dropped a number of lines and eliminated complete categories of products from their stores before and will in the future. Several of our local stores eliminated their complete trees and shrubs section. Maybe they are "anti green"?

Why sell shotties or deer rifles in an urban or suburban environment. SportMart and MC Sports have eliminated all their hunting gear in urban and suburban stores and replaced them with $100+ sneakers. Faster turn and better mark-ups, plus you have to buy a new pair every year or so.

It's not about philosophy, it's about margins and turnover velocity for a retailer.
 
Why sell shotties or deer rifles in an urban or suburban environment
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My thoughts exactly. People act like its a big deal but I can tell you in South Florida no one bought guns at Wal Mart when they carried them. Not enough of a market there for the kind of guns Wal Mart sold. In Central Florida, where there is actually places to hunt all the Wal Marts sell guns and seem to do good business doing it. Who cares if Wal Mart doesn't sell guns in an area where no one buys hunting rifles and shotguns anyways.
 
but firearms are the only one it stops selling...ask yourself why.
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Yeah? As someone who shops there for random but rather specific items like engineered fitness foods (okay candy bars with less fat and more protein :p ) and fireplace supplies -- they have great prices on these consumables -- I can attest that there are LOTS of things they stop selling all the time. Wal-Mart is in the business of providing cheap stuff; if they can't sell it pretty cheap and in large quantities, they stop selling it and use their shelf space for other stuff.

The fact is that, here in Target Country, where Wal-Mart really wants a foothold, real estate is expensive. Over $450/sq ft. is typical for a condo here. Every shelf costs money, and Wal-Mart is going to use that shelf for something that moves.

Then ask yourself why the media doesn't create a NATIONWIDE string of reports every time Walmart does stop carrying a certain item
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Yahoo news? "Nationwide string of reports?"

This is Wall Street Journal stuff, man. Read the Marketplace section and you'll see stuff like this all the time. "Mercedes Benz guns for a piece of the middle class family car market with new under-$30K sedan." "Snickers brings out two new candy bars to compete in the growing energy bar segment." "Vons opens new chain of stores with traditional Latin American foods in bid to win growing hispanic market."

The point of the article is that Wal-Mart is shifting its focus in urban areas to compete directly with Target, and sporting goods are a good example. Wal-Mart has a "pickup truck with gun racks" image, and they're trying to keep that where it's profitable but also get the "minivan and exercise ball" market.

If I hadn't seen the same thing 100 times in different contexts, I might see it as you do. But I have.

Choose your paranoia wisely. There actually ARE things to be concerned about... (This isn't one.)
 
The Wal-Mart stores around here are all closing their snack bars. But that's not national news.

I have mixed feelings on this. I have bought a firearm at Wal-Mart. Removing Wal-Mart from the equation will do nothing but help the local gunshop.

But on the other hand, it's another sign that we are losing in the culture war. It used to be every big retailer had firearms in their sporting goods section. I can't fault Wal-Mart for dropping firearms where they aren't selling. Perhaps our job is not to castigate Wal-Mart for making a purely business decision and look into why firearms aren't selling in those areas.

I think this means that we need to reach out to the people who live in the urban areas. I'll be darned if I know how to though. The Scouting and other youth programs that get kids interested in outdoor activities aren't what they once were. The interest isn't there.

I'm not aware of very many school sponsored shooting activities any more. For the most part the days of the school smal bore rifle team are over.

The entertainment media is still providing us with armed heros to stir interest in the kids. But that interest isn't carrying over into other activities. It would take a sociologist to figure it out.

But I'm worried that unless we put gun ownership back into the mainstream, our culture will die and with it RKBA.

Jeff
 
The Wal-Mart stores around here are all closing their snack bars. But that's not national news.

I have mixed feelings on this. I have bought a firearm at Wal-Mart. Removing Wal-Mart from the equation will do nothing but help the local gunshop.

But on the other hand, it's another sign that we are losing in the culture war. It used to be every big retailer had firearms in their sporting goods section. I can't fault Wal-Mart for dropping firearms where they aren't selling. Perhaps our job is not to castigate Wal-Mart for making a purely business decision and look into why firearms aren't selling in those areas.

I think this means that we need to reach out to the people who live in the urban areas. I'll be darned if I know how to though. The Scouting and other youth programs that get kids interested in outdoor activities aren't what they once were. The interest isn't there.

I'm not aware of very many school sponsored shooting activities any more. For the most part the days of the school smal bore rifle team are over.

The entertainment media is still providing us with armed heros to stir interest in the kids. But that interest isn't carrying over into other activities. It would take a sociologist to figure it out.

But I'm worried that unless we put gun ownership back into the mainstream, our culture will die and with it RKBA.

Jeff
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Well, Jeff, in Illinois, I don't think there is a way to fix things--at least, not at this point in time. I feel for the citizens there, having to walk the unsafe streets of crime-ridden places like Chicago disarmed and defenseless, where they most need a firearm--all while their mayor congratulates himself on a job well done.

As far as sociologists, they DID figure it out. THEY are the leftists that successfully got the ball rolling the wrong way! Fortunately, outwitting them is easy. Unfortunately, very few non-leftists are interested in putting forth any effort in saving our culture...and there you have it: our decline in a nutshell.

Yahoo news? "Nationwide string of reports?"

This is Wall Street Journal stuff, man. Read the Marketplace section and you'll see stuff like this all the time. "Mercedes Benz guns for a piece of the middle class family car market with new under-$30K sedan." "Snickers brings out two new candy bars to compete in the growing energy bar segment." "Vons opens new chain of stores with traditional Latin American foods in bid to win growing hispanic market."

The point of the article is that Wal-Mart is shifting its focus in urban areas to compete directly with Target, and sporting goods are a good example. Wal-Mart has a "pickup truck with gun racks" image, and they're trying to keep that where it's profitable but also get the "minivan and exercise ball" market.

If I hadn't seen the same thing 100 times in different contexts, I might see it as you do. But I have.

Choose your paranoia wisely. There actually ARE things to be concerned about... (This isn't one.)
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...maybe you're right. This isn't Earth-shattering, and I am probably overreacting. I am most alarmed, however, by the fact that Barbara and Jeff pointed out--our imminent loss of the culture war.
 
I think you are correct in keeping an eye on culture. Culture is a very powerful thing. And culture doesn't mean apple strudel, reggae music, or ethnic holidays. I mean culture here and now, the values passed on by parents to children, and picked up from our neighbors.

Individuals have a great deal of power, but if you look at larger groups and averages, you'll see neighborhoods and whole nations that find success or failure in their here-and-now cultures.

However, there's a glimmer of hope in the specific area we are discussing.

Look at the left side of the page:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...-stores.jsp?cm_re=home0414*left*retail_stores

Currently Open, and Opening Soon. You're looking at a HELL of a lot more sales than the little corner in the back of Wal-Mart there.
 
I've never bought a gun from Walmart, they just plain dont sell the type of firearms that I would like to purchase. So in that regard I dont care if they stop selling guns, as I buy guns from stores that sell what I want.

However I do buy ammo from Walmart, and I would hope that they continue to sell that.
 
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