Gun Shops VS Mattress Strores (mild rant)

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This has been a fun thread. I have a few comments for everyone.


David Park: I agree that many guys open a gun shop becuase they love guns. I think that their mentality is they are doing us a favor for staying in business when it is the other way around.

Mike Irwin: You are 100% right Mike. My concern is about the overall atmosphere and general feeling that the gunstore owners give out. Gun shops should be like book store are now days. You should be able to browse as much as you want, hell maybe there should even be a coffee shop in there. You can't tell me there isn't allot of markup on a Tripleberry non-fat Mocha latte Grande. Allot of gun shops I have been to are not a place that I would like to stick around and just hang out.

Hillbilly: I think guns store owners need to work harder. There are allot of those big corporate stores that have strict rules about being friendly to customers. I also think that shop keepers should maybe sell guns for the typical 10-20% markup but then throw in some items that they buy for very little.(paper targets, ear plugs, safety glasses and other misc items) We do this in the cell business all the time. When you buy a cell phone and they throw in a Leather case and a car charger those are usually bought for around $0.75 a piece but then we advertise that we are giving you a Free $50 accesory pak. The cool thing is there is so much percieved value people really think they are getting a good deal. In my eye we get $48.50 in percieved value!!! Think if gun shops gave away stuff like that that would be a hell of a sale!!!
 
This reminds me of a story that links guns and mattress stores a little more closely.

I was shopping at the Sears scratch and dent store a few years back
looking for a decent matress.

Against the wall were a large stack of queen size sealy pillowtop matresses standing on end. I was flipping through them looking for the best one.

When I got to the third one there was a large, round crusty bloodstain with a .45 cal bullet hole in the middle of it and an exit hole on the other side.

I half expected to see a chalk linedrawn around where the body was.

Jokingly I showed it to an employee and asked if I could get an additional discount...

The guy just stood there with his mouth agape for a few seconds mumbled something and walked off.
 
Gun shops should be like book store are now days. You should be able to browse as much as you want, hell maybe there should even be a coffee shop in there.
Click to expand...

I swear that if I ever find myself with a little bit of money I will open that indoor shooting range/coffeeshop/bookstore

:neener:

Although I wasn't sure I'd actualy sell guns (just supplies)
 
If someone doesn't like dealing with people, then they should find a job that doesn't require human interaction. The secret(s) to successful selling include: Helping people to feel at ease - Demonstrating the value of your product - and letting The Customer reach a decision. Far too many gunshop owners and salespeople know a lot about guns and nothing of people.

Any first year business student knows that small margins require higher volume, and that higher volume usually increases margin by reducing wholesale costs. In a small market, volume can be limited, but being an ..........won't increase volume or margin.
 
Zundfolge,

I swear that if I ever find myself with a little bit of money I will open that indoor shooting range/coffeeshop/bookstore
Click to expand...

I've often dreamed of opening a combined bar/tobacconist's/gun shop and calling it "The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms." The barstools would be covered in baby seal fur, and the drink coasters would be made of alligator skin. We'd have Buffalo-style Whooping Crane wings on the appetizer menu... :D
 
Hey Sturm:
Did you work for sporting goods companies at one time? The point you're trying to make sounds just exactly like the guys who took over the last three sporting goods companies I worked for about 6-8 months before each of them went broke. Hey, if you hurry you might still be able to convice the few remaining sporting goods companies of the wisdom of your philosophy and drive them out of business too!

And Atticus:
That's a great one. How did you put it "reducing wholesale costs." I can't stop laughing. Do you know any others? Best of luck to both of you
 
"And Atticus:
That's a great one. How did you put it "reducing wholesale costs." I can't stop laughing. Do you know any others?"

Hum.

Seems we have a poorly disguised troll in our midst.

Higher volumn does reduce wholesale cost, troll.

It's called volume purchasing.

If you purchase 1 unit from your wholesaler, you're going to get a much different price than if you were to purchase 100 units from the wholesaler.

How do you think Wally World can afford to sell Remington 870 Express shotguns at prices below the wholesale price charged to the local mom & pop gunshop?

It's because of volume pricing. If you order 20,000 identical 870s, you're going to get a substantial discount on the price.

Atticus is absolutely correct in his statement.

If you have anything constructive to contribute, instead of puerile sniping, please do.

Otherwise, please go.
 
How about a few less personal insults, especially from those with enough time-in-grade to DARN WELL KNOW BETTER. :fire:
 
This has been an interesting thread. I do agree that it seems that many small and some large shops don't have a clue when it comes to customer service. I've yet to find a shop I feel I could send my wife to and know that she would be treated well with respect and and not be taken advantage of. A truly sad state of affairs. :(
 
Maybe I've just been lucky, but at the gun shops I go to, I've always been pleased with the service. The salespeople are generally attentive and helpful, and I don't think I've ever been made to feel that my presence is an imposition on their time.

Particularly, I've been impressed that, as a woman, I've never been condescended to by male gunshop owners or salesmen. I remember when I bought my Ruger last fall, it was a total impulse purchase, largely driven by the enthusiasm demonstrated by the salesman. I was on a trip with some friends, we were wandering around, and I randomly wandered into this gun shop. The guy treated me like a long-time shooting buddy, willingly hauled out gun after gun for me to look at, and when I left without purchasing anything he said good-by just as cheerfully as he had said hello. I came back later that day with my friend, bought the Ruger, and my friend bought a gun she'd been wanting, too.

They need to clone that guy and put him to work in every gun shop in the country.
 
Sadly, I've had the same experiences in most of the gun shops I've been to. The people that run them are generally standoffish, they act like they are doing you a favor by helping you. There is the occasional good, helpful employee, but, in my experience, they generally don't last long, as they move on to greener pastures. The place that seems to be the exception to this is some sporting goods stores, in particular, Galyans. The employees at any Galyans I've been to are always polite, helpful, and the prices are usually better than those of the local gun shops.

I don't think that it's a "specialty business" thing. I go to a tobacconist's shop on a frequent basis, and from the time I walked into the store for the first time, I was greeted nicely, and asked if I needed any help, and treated well. I rarely if every buy more that $10 worth of anything there, but they always smile and treat all of their customers like they should be treated. They aren't making a huge amount of profit either, but they are nice, polite, and treat their customers well. Why do most gun shops act as if they are doing you a favor by selling you their product?
 
"The point you're trying to make sounds just exactly like the guys who took over the last three sporting goods companies I worked for about 6-8 months before each of them went broke. "

Seems to be a trend there.
 
Unless anyone has owned a small business and knows the stress of everyday sales and competing with large chain discount outlets its hard to understand sometimes about attitudes.

My company works on a low profit percentage to compete.
I'm talking 10% on a 3k item.
This low percentage really does not allow for someone to make multiple trips or phone calls on an item and insults such as I can get it $15.00 cheaper by mail.

I put up with it because that is what I have chosen to do.
And I do it Gladly most of the time.
I have thrown people out of my building at times for this behaviour.
But after 25 years I still have a good reputation.

My local gunshop owner is a friend who has been dealing in firearms since the 50's. Started back selling out of his home part time while working for others. When he retired in 96', he opened his own small store and works on a 10% new gun margine on average.

A very popular store where we hang out to discuss guns. I have seen the rudest people come in and insult this owner with tall tales of being able to buy guns wholesale and why won't he sell to them for those prices.
I have seen guys keep him on the phone for long periods of time getting prices, visit his shop for the same and then not buy or invoke the price insult.

I have heard of only one incident where he finally threw a guy out of his shop for doing this.

Most of the time he is very patient and calls most everyone by their first name.

Behind the scenes to some of us he's ready to pull his hair out.
Puts in long hours.

The bottom line is don't just be a window shopper all the time. Don't waste the owners time looking up all sorts of gun prices and not buy. Don't buy the $100 jennings in the corner. Don't complain that Walmart sells ammo cheaper.

It is what it is, either deal with it or go somewhere else.

Nobody sells retail anymore, but don't expect everyone to sell wholesale.

Not directed to anyone, just an observation.
 
The bigger gun shops I have been to are pretty good.

The three stores in Austin (Red's South, Red's Pflugerville, and McBride's) all have helpful, knowledgeable staff and a good atmosphere. Prices are kinda high, but not outrageously so.

The Carter's Country in Houston that I have visited a few times is also a good shop.

I have been to a couple of small stores (one in Bastrop, one in houston) that fit the above descriptions pretty well.
 
952-474-4570

It's been two years since I moved from MN, but I still remember the phone # of my favorite gun store (Gunstop in Excelsior, MN - ask for Howard or Larry). Nice people, good prices and selection.

I can also think of a few rude, unhelpful people elsewhere -- my close friend went in to buy a sidearm and left without due to lousy, surly "service". They lost a $600 sale and any future sales to her.

Good attitude isn't an expense but lack of it would be.
 
GunStop(Excelsior)

Oleg- The GunStop is about ready to move to another location, They lost their lease with a set of new owners. I offered to help them move. They are trying to set up shop in around the same area, maybe Mound, DeepHaven. I will tell Larry and Howard hello for you and direct them to THR if they are so inclined. I will also give them a plug, they are great to deal with, I have bought several guns there, plus 95% of my ammo. On another note I have dealt with most of the gunshops in the Twin Cities and have never had a bad experience with any of them-My $.02 worth.:)
 
one thing to keep in mind is that the matress store screwed you over and treated you badly beforeyou stepped in the door.

See the thing you usually don't notice, is that no two mattress store chains EVER have the same model. Makes, yes, but not models. THeir models are made for the chain.

SO you can't comparison shop. ALso if you keep that in mind, and you read their advertising and promotions, you will notice you are NEVER getting a sale price. You will also notice that their comparison pricing has nothing to do with reality.

Basically they all mark up insane ammounts and agree to screw the customer rather than each other.

This reaches a whole new level when you get to the matter of the 10, 15, 20 year "warranty".

Better an honest pain in the ??? than a deceptive crook. At least in my opinion.
 
I don't remember the phone number of my favorite gunshop - I never called, I just went in! :D What I do remember is the man's name and everything I ever bought in there. He ran a pawnshop to cover bills, and had the best gunshop-in-a-pawnshop around. 10% over cost for new stuff, and gave the best trade values I've ever seen or heard of. I didn't always buy, but he always made time for the newbie questions I had. As a result, I always bought from him, and bought what I could as often as I could. He's out of business now - retired - and is sorely missed. The other shops around just don't measure up, and some of them downright suck.

There's just no excuse for poor customer service. If the gun shop guy is stressed about the bills, maybe he should try not to be a jerk. Return customers make a gunshop successful, and all return customers were first-time walk-ins once. The question the owner has to ask himself is whether or not he did everything he could to bring that first-timer back, purchase or no purchase.
 
10-20% is often optimistic. When dad was in business, he often made 10 to 15 dollars on three hundred-plus-dollar shotguns. (Trying to compete with Wally World.)

What dad really hated were the people who would come in just to pick his brain ( he prided himself on customer service) and then leave to buy the gun he recommended at Wal-Mart for $20 less (of course, Wal-Mart was making quite a bit more than that.) Every once in awhile, we'd get some goober who had gone to Wal-Mart to buy dad's recommendation, then had a predictable problem with his new gun, and when Wal-Mart wouldn't give him decent service he'd come to us.

One guy took about two hours of dad's time asking about and trying shotguns. Dad didn't mind a bit and thought nothing of it when he didn't close the sale; that happens, of course. Three days later the guy was back. He'd gone to Wal-Mart to buy his new shotgun. I believe it was an 1187. Anyway, he'd picked an 1187 at our shop and decided he wanted this barrel length and that choke setup, or something along those lines. When he got to Wal-Mart to buy their advertised "cheaper" 1187, he found it was cheaper because they didn't carry the two options he wanted--but he bought it anyway. I guess the Gremlins knew a sucker when they saw him, because he took it home and took it out the next day. When he shot it, the bead popped right off. He took it back to Wal-Mart to have them ship it back to Remington for warranty service--only they had given it to him in a Winchester box! They told him Remington wouldn't accept it, and then they told him they wouldn't ship it, nor would they give him another box, nor would they call Remington to try to work something out!

So here he was, gun in hand, asking dad to give him a Remington box. He saw no reason to offer to pay for the box, nor did he want dad to install a new sight for a small fee. He wanted dad to give him a Remington box for his Wal-Mart purchase and to ship the gun to Remington for free! When dad refused, he became angry and left and we never saw him again.

Dad firmly believed in customer service--keeping coffee and soda ready, providing barstools, greeting everyone who came through the door with at least a smile and hello, and providing expert service. It drove him out of business. The lesson he took away from it, right or wrong, was that the greatest number of people choose price over any other consideration. Customer service gets you nowhere.

Now, there were other factors in our shop's eventual demise--the location was not ideal, for one, and we never got to the point where we could hire an employee to pick up some slack for dad. But at the time that dad decided to call it quits, he was not up against a wall financially. Although there wasn't much profit coming out of the shop yet, he had budgeted for that fact and it was, in fact, growing. He told me the real reason he got out was that he'd had his fill of the people with whom he'd been dealing.


Now, I'm not necessarily defending gun shop owners, because dad was the exception around here (a fact he had counted on to set him apart from the pack.) I only use two local shops; the rest have lost my business. I'll never forget the time I was in Birds and Brooks, a military surplus place in Springfield, and I asked the owner what his best price on .45 range ammo was. I was buying a belt and holster, and I had already bought two guns from him that year. I'd never dealt with him directly, though, but with one of his employees, who had always been polite and helpful. He told me his best price, and I said "OK. I think I'll just take the belt and holster for now."

He got pretty annoyed and asked me loudly why I didn't want the ammunition.
I told him that I hadn't planned to bring it up, but since he wanted to know, I was going to the range next and their prices on .45 were better, so I planned to buy it there. Notice that I would not have said anything about his prices if he hadn't asked.

He blew up. He had to make a living! He had to have some markup in his stock! People like me just didn't understand business and we thought everything should be free!

I told him "I understand, believe me. I wouldn't have brought it up if you hadn't asked me." And then I walked out without buying the holster and belt, and I haven't been back since.
 
One other difference between matress stores and gun shops. You can't very easily walk out the front door of a furniture store with a matress hidden in your pocket.

That probably accounts for the more careful watching of gun store patrons.

-Pytron
 
This is an interesting thread

I agree that many gun stores do need better customer service. Have any of you noticed a trend where more and more gun stores are getting better at customer service?

Also do any of you know of good gunstores in the North Dallas area, including Plano? Pistol Tech doesn't look bad but I am wondering. Don't know about Harry Hines pawn shops either, kinda crummy area.

How about a gun shop and mattress store? Imagine it.
"Here's your new Springfield XD sir, and your Serta will be delivered later today." Oh and you could get one of those counting sheep dolls to use as a target. heheheh
http://www.thehighroad.org/newreply.php?action=newreply&threadid=34180&#
http://www.thehighroad.org/images/smilies/biggrin.gif

hope the smiley face works this time.

Hugo
 
1. I think the difference you've describe is indeed commonplace, as between guns and good "x", "y", or "z".

2. Yes, the markup could be a difference.

3. The major difference, is in the cost associated with the time of the clerks/salesmen/store workers in gunshops (labor costs) due to people who are browsing, but NOT buying. This I think accounts for the general gruffy attitude of gun-sellers, especially at gun shows. You don't get a lot of people just browsing around, laying on mattresses, unless they're really looking to buy one. Gun stores, however, get 10 yahoos an hour who are just kids with no money, or otherwise just people who are interested in looking, handling, and generally using (wasting) the time of the clerks, but who have no intention or wherewithal to buy. After all, guns ARE fun and exciting just to play with. But you can't make money offering free "amusement rides" by letting people play with your guns and gun accessories at no cost. I honestly don't see how the guys at gun shows even make enough to cover their entry fees, let alone their time in attending and setting up - all I see are tons of people looking, and hardly anyone shelling out bills. :scrutiny:
 
There used to be a place called intercept guns that was a couple miles
from my house growing up.

I used to walk there a couple times a week to oogle.

If they weren't busy they would talk with me briefly but mostly I just droooled on the display cases with the class 3 weapons.

A year or so after saving all my lunch money and selling whatever possesions were left I took my Dad in to buy me my first gun. A couple months later I had saved up enough for another.

The fact that the shop tolerated a kid in their shop asking a question now and then and putting some fingerprints on their glass paid off in terms of
2 retail sales, cleaning kits, ammo and referrals.

I agree there are some looky loos and pests who monopolize the clerks time without spending a dime but those folks can be dealt with in a professional manner. The attitude does not need to spill over to all of the
folks that come in to look at an item.
 
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