Concept of small chain type reloading supplies store at mall

Have you seen the way these guys bitch and whine then the price of powder goes up a buck a pound? How do you think you could pay the rent at a mall selling reloading supplies?

I'd say there would be no chance of something like that being a viable business. Reloading is a niche within a niche. Compared to all the people who shoot and own guns, very few people reload. It's more of a specialty hobby for those who either require high precision ammo, or those who shoot enough ammo in a year that they reload to save money.

Reloading supplies (like guns) is the kind of store that people actively seek out, it's a destination - not a store that they just happen to stumble upon. Some of us may be different, but to the vast majority of the people in this country, a pound of powder is not an impulse buy

Then you have to think about how the owner of the mall will look at your business (you're going to have to rent the location from them). If they aren't completely against the idea of firearms, I'm sure they'll balk at the liability of having a bunch of gunpowder inside their facility.

And as DudeRick mentions, as a group we shooters/reloaders seem to be incredibly price sensitive. It'll be tough to keep prices down in a high rent area like a mall.

Don't mean to shoot you down... A stand alone reading shop might work if you can find enough of a market, but I don't see any way that it would work in a mall.

There is a dunhams connected to one of the big indoor malls here. They have a very small supply of reloading supplies in the ammo cabinet. A few pack of primers and a few different pounds of powder. Still counts though.


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I have thought about a local reloading supplies store, but not in a mall. Maybe in a outlying area.

I thought about having classes taught by experienced re-loaders and equipment there to try out.

I just don't know if it would pan out around here.

This is very specialized

In a big city yes it could work. I was looking at purchasing a long established gun store not long ago and he has had a few reloading items in the shop like primers and some brass and whatnot but very little. I think as an add on to an existing business it would be totally viable. One thing I know about reloaders, they have trouble resisting a stocked gun case. And the hazmat thing is a great incentive to get people into a store rather than Amazon

SARuger said:

I have thought about a local reloading supplies store, but not in a mall. Maybe in a outlying area.

I thought about having classes taught by experienced re-loaders and equipment there to try out.

I just don't know if it would pan out around here.

This is very specialized

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Sorry to say, I think you would starve to death slowly.

Overhead would be brutal.

Not ideal for a mall, due to extremely high rent, but there is a store in a small town in central WA, right off I-90, that just sells ammo, reloading supplies & components. I just happened by there a year or so ago & was impressed by the range of stock on hand & the generally competitive prices. I was in the area again last month & he's still going strong, so there's obviously a demand.

With all the posters on this forum, we tend to think there are many reloaders out there ... NOT!
I am the only one of my friends and family that reloads. 30 years ago it was more common than now. If I wanted to go broke in a hurry, I'd open a reloading or muzzleloading shop.

When I moved to my present home in Oregon, I looked for reloading supplies at the local fun store (fishing, hunting, sporting goods store). I asked the owner about components and he said he got tired of hearing how much cheaper stuff was on line and folks would come in, ask prices and leave without buying, so he dropped all reloading components. Looking at the prices of his other stuff, I doubt if he was gouging. Town of approx 12,000..

A shop like that, I'd prefer a funky old building that I could buy dirt cheap and own outright, rather than sweating the rent every month. Even a shop at home, in an outbuilding on the property if you're able to get Commercial zoning.

I do not have many friends. Only a couple of them reload.

Someone needs to teach people not to do this, I found a hundred or so in the brass bucket at the range on Friday. How do you run that many without looking them over and why not pull the bullets and hide the evidence LOL!



I pulled the bullets! Free .40 cal bullets for me and I fertilized a small spot in the yard

IMO not practical.

For starters Inventory alone is killer. As a long time reloader I like to use specific powders so if you don't have my choices in stock at a price I am willing to pay no sale.

What would you as the owner have done during the Banic of 2013 - 2014 when powder, primers and almost all ammunition disappeared and was unavailable anywhere including the Internet.

Now in 2015 it is a buyers market. I shopped at a couple of LGS's last week and they had shelves full of Alliant, Accurate Arms, Hodgdon and some Winchester powders. There are great buys on the Internet. Yet we are just a few short months of Hanic (Hillary elected President) and supplies will totally dry up again.

There used to be a small handloading shop in the Pittsburgh suburb where I grew up. I regularly stopped in when I visited my parents. This was in the late 1990's. Was a neat shop, but unfortunately they went out of business after a couple of years.

One thing that they sold was military pull down powders. I think I bought some 4895 and the ball powder ( can't remember the WC #) similar to H335 for $10 or $12 a pound. The clerk would go down to the basement and bring it up in a coffee can.

Laphroaig

It really is a specialty niche. I reload because it saves money but maybe shoot 1-2000 rounds a year. If you made 1-2 dollars per pound of powder and 2-3 dollars per 1000 primers, and perhaps another 5-10 dollars per 500 bullets, you are only making 25-50 dollars per year in sales to me. There isn't enough demand without selling other items.

Malls typically are gun free zones

So no, I would not open one there.

As far as the thread hijack/upside down primers. It would be a no-no to put live ammo/upside down primer or not into a waste can or brass collection bucket at my club range. Good way to get your membership revoked. You preformed a service by removing them.

As far as the thread hijack/upside down primers. It would be a no-no to put live ammo/upside down primer or not into a waste can or brass collection bucket at my club range. Good way to get your membership revoked. You preformed a service by removing them.

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Sorry for the hi-jack, but my point is, some people either taught themselves with little guidance or just really need a mentor and do not know where to find one. I was one of those people but I did have help here and some great advice.

Common sense goes a long ways too

The brick-and-mortar stores I buy from are gun shops that set aside some space for reloading supplies, almost as an afterthought. It continues to amaze me that reloading is not more popular than it is. However I have a hunch that reloads can't be used by professional consumers of ammunition (law enforcement, etc) for insurance reasons, so it makes sense that the people who are into it tend to be target shooters.

Haven't seen it mentioned yet, but what about requirements for storing powder and primers? I don't think they could be stored in a regular mall shop even with a safe type storage area (one shop I frequented has a huge gun safe for storing powder). Fire regulations in a large shopping center vs. a single brick & mortar building?

Way too niche to be viable. Most malls have at least one restaurant in them. Pull up a stool at the bar, grab a beer and wait till wifey is done.

Even a shop at home, in an outbuilding on the property

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That's the way my local crack dealer....er, I mean reloading supplier does it.

Slim margins, low volume and spotty supply (we complain about availability of components for our hobby, can you imagine having your livelihood dependent on it?)

Don't fool yourself....That hazmat fee is passed along to you in the price of the powder.....You're still paying it....just a small amount per pound but it's still there.