Why Do Gun-Shops Look Like Trash-Bins?

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RobW

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Why Are Gun-Shops Look Like Trash-Bins?

I have visited gun-shops in Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. Why is it that 95% of them look like thrasch bins? Crude shelves, dusty "products" on dirty walls, years old dust on "Gun Maintenance" products... endless list.

I really can imagine how a "future" female member of the shooting sports would feel, seeing that.

Nevertheless, I buy at a shop, owned by a woman, and another, employing a woman. Guess how these shops look like...

Is it that boys always like to play in the mud??? :rolleyes:
 
I don't know.Call me wierd if you want but I kinda like the cluttered look.Cluttered,dusty shelves sure beat dusty empty shelves.I think you're more likely to find something neat when stuff is un-organized.Kinda like an old timey hardware store.You know,the place looks like a bomb when off in there but the owner knows where everything is?
One of the biggest shops in west Mi is kinda like this.

One thing I don't like though is half empty displays.What I mean is;a company salesman will send out a display pac for an"endcap".The display is bright,shiny,cheerful,& overflowing w/product.Weeellllll,a few months go buy & either the proprieter doesn't re-order or the salesman :rolleyes: never comes back to check up/restock.So,the endcap now looks terrible.It has half a dozen pieces of unwanted crap on it that'll end up either in the trash or(if the shopowner is cheap/the salesdink never returns)hanging around until the plastic is so old,cracked,& yellow that it's unrecognizable.Eventually [hopefully]the assistant will throw it out with all the rest of the crap when the old man finally goes on vacation.Until then,however,the end cap will become a home for similar,but,different brand products.ie.Picture a Birchwood Casey endcap with more Tetra Gun Products & Pro Shot products than BC.Also,some of those point of sale displays have fancy,eyecatching signage.When the really screwball clip/fastener that holds half of it up breaks & is replaced with duct tape.Weellll,not kool.
I'm not picking on any one store in particular.The above is just an amalgam of several retail places.

Know what I mean?
 
I'm more than happy to visit trashbin-gunshops... It's usually the guy behind the counter that's a problem..

"A 357Magnum is so powerful it you were shot in the pinky with it, it's spin you around!"

"A 44Magnum is so powerful if you were shot in the stomach with it, your eyeballs would pop out.."

Right..:rolleyes:
 
Most small gun shops are owned and run by guys who decided to turn a hobby into a business. These guys usually know nothing about business or running a store.
 
I'm more than happy to visit trashbin-gunshops... It's usually the guy behind the counter that's a problem..
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I agree with you 100% there!

For some strange and stupid reason, I tend to prefer Gander Mountain or Cabela's. The people there seem to have more knowledge and experience with the newer products available than does my local gun shop 4 miles from my house.

The local shop is cheap for targets, but overpriced for anything else. Example: He had a USED Kimber Custom II for sale, which didn't even have the factory magazine for it (it had a Pachmayr in it) for $625. The local Gander Mountain had the same gun NIB for $630.

I know that it's best to support your local small shop so he doesn't get put out of business by the big name outlets. Unfortunately, most of the shops around here aren't just a little more expensive - They're looking to rip you off!

I'm also happy to report that Gander Mountain, Cabela's, and the like are more than happy to show me any gun, explain its features, and talk with me about what I'm looking for in a firearm. I can't wait for the new Bass Pro Shops to open up in my area in November (it's going to be the second-largest in the US), and hopefully expect the same level of knowledge, expertise, and service.

Of all the small local shops I go to, I typically get a "grunt", followed by the "are you gonna buy it or not?" look when I ask to examine a particular piece. If the hometown, personal, friendly level of service that I hoped to expect existed in these small-shop owners, I probably would spend the little extra money and save myself the longer drive to Harrisburg or York.

I've had one exception: I checked out a small shop an old man had inside a barn outside of Carlisle, PA. I can't remember the name of the shop, but I stopped by to inquire how much he'd charge to re-adjust my rear blade sight on my revolver, as I was hitting to the left horribly. He looked at the gun, fussed through his toolbox for the correct wrench, and adjusted my sight right there in front of me while I watched. He even showed me how to adjust it and informed me I would need a 1.5mm Allen wrench, available at any local harware store.

I'd defenitely go back to that particular "little man" any day, and will when I buy my next concealed-carry gun and take the one I have now for be-bluing. I'd buy a new gun from him, but the only autoloaders he sells are Makarovs and Llamas (the Llamas of which I've been informed are "junk", and the mag release on the Makarovs not my taste).

However, it's probably just a matter of demographics, geography, and personal preferences IMO.

Matthew Webb
Franklintown, PA
 
After working in retail, I must say the use of duct tape to repair a display is perfectly accecptable if done correctly.

Shame on you for implying otherwise. :D
 
Location, location? The shops I've visited/patronized here on the East Coast have ranged from small/crowded to cavernous, but none of them have been slovenly.

Ever hear of the Kittery Trading Post in Maine? http://www.kitterytradingpost.com/ Outdoor nirvana, with a gun section guaranteed to keep you interested until the significant other drags you away.......unless she is mesmerized by something several cases over.:D

That's only a couple hours away from me, so I only stop when I'm in the area. Otherwise the local guys get most of my business, mainly because of that knowledge and experience that SnubFan referred to. The fact that they are friendly and motivated and recognize me (they don't yell out my name, this isn't Cheers) makes it more pleasant to go to these places.

One shop knew I was in the market for a used 625........they called me and held onto it until I could get there. LOTS of handling and discussion before I walked out with it, and I came away with some useful knowledge.

One of the things I like about this forum is the chance to see how the rest of the world lives. Must be nice to walk out your back door and shoot at your convenience or carry openly. Then there are the stories from DC, New York and the other coast :what:

Gives me perspective.
 
Most small gun shops are owned and run by guys who decided to turn a hobby into a business. These guys usually know nothing about business or running a store.
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ding ding ding ding!
luxhello.gif
You got that right! This is exactly why they look like they do, and why gun shop employees are, well...the way they are. I speak from the experience of having helped launch 2 startups, and working for my father's business all my life.

On another thread there are some great ideas about starting a new, better kind of gun store....it CAN be done -- just like Starbucks reinvented coffeehouses.
 
On another thread there are some great ideas about starting a new, better kind of gun store....it CAN be done -- just like Starbucks reinvented coffeehouses.
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I agree ... and whomever does it will be vilified by the shooting community for "destroying the mom & pop gun shop" and for creating "McGunshops" with "no soul" (apparently dingy carpets are imbued with a great deal of "soul")

But as an Anarcho-Capitalist libertarian I say go for it :evil:



Seriously, the Starbucks franchise business model would be a good place to start. There's a lot of us who would love to open a gun shop and buying into a franchise system would make it easier for most of us (for one thing a large enough franchise network would have greater buying power ... thus reducing costs and thus reducing prices thus increasing business).



There is something greater at stake here ... I read recently that younger people aren't buying guns and that the demographics of your average gun owner are getting older.

At this rate the antis just have to wait for the "old gunnies" to die off and their children and grandchildren will just turn in papa's guns at a buy back where they will be crushed.

Right now there are 80 million of us ... we will not increase (or maintain) that number by only appealing to the "good old boys" ... what we need are "yuppies", minorities, women, and "Metrosexual" men etc.


Shooting needs to market itself like golf ... the numbers of golfers have increased steadily for years ... if we could just get 10% of new golfers to become shooters as well we'd be fine.
 
So this really is as common as I suspected. Add to that smoke stained walls and ash burned carpet, with a smell so strong folks thought that I smoked, and you just described the shop I worked at part time.
 
I do like those shops that smell of Hoppes and pipe smoke. They remind me of going deer hunting with my father when I was 6.

The clutter doesn't really bug me much until you notice that there's no counter space to place a gun.
 
Some gunshops are cluttered and dusty, some are cluttered and clean.

Gunshop I used to frequent until I moved was clean, dusted, vacuumed, and well arranged, had four guys behind the counter who knew what they talked of and had everything from used .22s to a .50 BMG and a rack of AR15s as well as a couple Beretta 686s.

Other gunshop in town was similar, a bit more clutter (smaller store) but well set up. Just depends where you go. And neither were McGunshops.
 
I can't wait for the new Bass Pro Shops to open up in my area in November (it's going to be the second-largest in the US), and hopefully expect the same level of knowledge, expertise, and service.
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Great selection of gun stuff, and some shotguns. Minimal inventory of rifles and handguns seem to be limited to hunting calibers.

They do not allow CCH on premise so you either check your piece at the door, ignore it or leave it in the car.

You can not handle handle handguns unless you present the clerk with you purchase permit.

I would not buy a firearm as Bass. They have ammo out the ying-yang and a pretty good selection of gun stuff but frankly their gun policy sucks.
 
Bass Pro Shops in my area has quite a nice assortment of rifles and shotguns. Handguns are limited to yours most common ones Glock, Beretta and Ruger I think mainly. With maybe a few Taurus and S&W revolvers. Also the ammo is so cheap you can't help but buy it even when you don't need it. Winchester USA 9mm ammo goes for like $5.50 a box and the UMC is about the same.
 
The Bass Pro Shop in Nashville allows handgun permit holders to carry inside their store, but to follow their rules you must show them your carry permit.

I was asked to check my handgun when I visited one of their stores near Atlanta though, I guess local stores have some leeway in interpreting their rules...
 
LukeM, Waitone...

I think the Bass Pro policy regarding carrying of firearms in store, handling handguns, etc. varies from state to state, locality to locality, store to store, etc.

In PA you are not required to have a permit to purchase a firearm, so long as you are over the age of 21 and can pass the NICS checkpoint.

I'm not sure how their carrying in-store policy will be. I know the Gander Mountain stores in Harrisburg, PA or York, PA require that you check your gun at the door if you don't have a permit. It is clearly stated in the notice however, "This policy does not apply to CCW permit holders."

As far as the gun policy, I'm not offended by being asked to check it in. Before I realized about the CCW exception at Gander Mountain, I was simply asked to unload the weapon and keep the action open or to keep in holstered and open carried, with the orange "Gander Mountain" sticker they placed on the backstrap showing so store personnel knew it was checked in and "on safe".

YMMV.

Sincerely,
Matthew Webb
Franklintown, PA
 
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