Most of the important points have been well covered, but having been on board while at least four big box sporting goods stores went down the tubes, I have a little more insight than some folks. First, look at management. C&BP don't really have any gun people among the upper management. A few years ago, for example, they were extremely proud to announce they were hiring some guy from Tractor Supply. Some of us remember when TS sold firearms and ammunition, but anyone who has been in these stores know they don't sell very many gun related items apart from gun safes. The bright guys out of business school don't really understand the gun business and are certain that you can't tell them anything about it they don't already know. I've stood face to face with them while they ranted and raved that selling guns was like selling anything else. It's not! All aspects of the firearms business from guns to ammunition, to duck decoys have very limited production capacity. Consequently, if you don't buy it when it's available, you probably won't get it. In addition, much of the firearms industry is seasonal. Since these bright business boys are tied at the hip to just in time shipping and keeping no inventory, when they place orders for an item 2 weeks before the season opens, they're shocked when it doesn't arrive. Then, rather than change their order system, their response is simply to quit selling that item.
That leads to the second issue which is markup. These same bright-eyed business school idiots can tell you how much each and every square foot of store brings in revenue. A teeshirt that they buy from China for .49 cents, brings in about $19.00 when they sell it for full price. They admit it might be sold for less during a sale, but it still makes a bigger percentage of profit than a thousand dollar firearm. At the same time, these same business types refuse to admit that the guy who comes in the store to look at the thousand dollar firearm is buying all this other stuff, and it's the firearms that are getting the customers in the store!
Finally, there is the public relations/legal aspect of all this. You're all probably familiar with the situation regarding Dick's Clothing and Sporting Goods. Yea, that's what they prefer to call themselves or at least they did when I tried to help them. Not only is it all about clothing, but even though they might have "lost" some business because of their actions regarding firearms, they contend that the positive publicity they gained for their clothing and all of their other products far outweighs the losses and will benefit the sale of those items for years to come. On the legal side, the liability and the legal work involved in selling firearms outweighs all other products combined. When the markup on firearms includes all the legal costs involved as some marketing and legal departments insist, the price for a box of ammuntion or a firearm goes through the roof. When you put all of these ingredients in front of the bright folks from the business schools, guess what happens?
I've seen it take many forms. Some businesses try to continue to sell firearms but they struggle and eventually fail. Some buinesses have quit selling firearms and generally manage to survive somewhat longer, but the same closed minded attitude that the business school types have towards firearms tends to rub off into other areas as well and they too go out of business. Anybody know who was the biggest seller of firearms in 1967? It's the best reason I know to support your local gun shop... only you can keep them in business.