Author Topic: 3rd Times A Charm????? (Read 677 times)

Duce · « **on:** December 30, 2004, 10:52:23 AM »

Folks: Bologna!!!! Got the sad news today that the gunshop I hung around for the last 10 years is closing. Between competition from Gander Moutain in Indy, ongoing road repair, makes it hard to get there, plus the cost of self employed health insurance, made the owner take a 9 to 5 with benefits. This is the third time I've witnessed a local gunshop closing, in the seventies due to miss managemnet, in 89 due to owner illness, and now this, bummer!! They Will Be Missed :-( Duce:

MSP Ret · « **Reply #1 on:** December 30, 2004, 12:23:09 PM »

Nightrain52 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 30, 2004, 02:33:00 PM »

Hey Duce, I live in western Indiana So I was wondering which one it was. Like you said it's a sad time when these individuals close their shops but you can't blame them when some of the discount chains are selling the products cheaper than what they can get them for.

Brett · « **Reply #3 on:** December 30, 2004, 03:11:32 PM »

Times change, businesses change jobs and people change. Good bad or indifferent you can't change the facts. We all say boo-hoo when a mom & pop gun dealers closes their doors because the poor owner has to take a real 9-5 job with bennies yet I have never met one of them behind the gun counter at Waly-World, Bass Pro shops or The Sports Authority. Why is that? Seems to me that would be a logical "real job" for a former gun shop owner to get.

Here is todays trivia question: Anyone know what IBM started out doing?

IBM started out making postal meeters.

Duce · « **Reply #4 on:** December 30, 2004, 05:03:20 PM »

fellas: It was Quality Guns north of anderson on highway 9.

Here's an idea for a thread, anybody that does business with a good smaller shop tell the rest of us orphans where its at!!!! Thanks Guys: :-) Duce:

Nightrain52 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 30, 2004, 05:26:02 PM »

About the thread on gunshop owners working at Wal-Mart or some other sporting goods store is if they are trying to raise a family the pay and bennies suck. Wally-World more or less hires everyone part time. A single guy might be able to live on it if you don't mind starting out just above minimum wage. Thats why at some of these stores the guy or geek behind the counter don't know a 22 short from a pair of boxer shorts. My favorite gun shop is located in a little town called Cayuga here in Indiana. The guy that runs and owns the place is I would say in his late 30s or early 40s. Great guy to deal with. I live about 50 Miles away and other shops are closer but it seems this guy is a whole lot easier to deal with and always takes time to answer your questions.

Brett · « **Reply #6 on:** December 30, 2004, 05:45:07 PM »

Quote from: Nightrain52

About the thread on gunshop owners working at Wal-Mart or some other sporting goods store is if they are trying to raise a family the pay and bennies suck. Wally-World more or less hires everyone part time. A single guy might be able to live on it if you don't mind starting out just above minimum wage.

Try owning your own business... no payed health insurance, no payed vacation, holidays or sick days. It definitely ain't part time... after putting in your 10+ hrs at the store or job site then you get to go home and take care of all the paper work before hitting the sack. After taxes, liability insurance, workmans comp. rent, utilities etc,etc, you get to take home five or six hundred bucks... a month. :cry: You don't know how often I've thought about applying for a job at Waly-World.

Duce · « **Reply #7 on:** December 31, 2004, 02:19:49 AM »

Fellas: I agree whole heartedly with the downside of owning a gunshop. What got me was yesterday, I was there and an ol'f--t had heard John was closing. He was shuffleing around the shop making ridiculous low ball offers on anything and everything, $100 for a brand now Henery lever gun. Even tried to justify what he was doing by calling the rifle just an old gun, even tried to say how 17 mach 2 ammo was some kind of orphan ammo and was worth little of nothing. What hurts was the fact that John had given me and others some good deals, did this lead to the closing of his shop. Still Bummed :-( Duce:

gwhilikerz · « **Reply #8 on:** December 31, 2004, 05:02:15 AM »

No Duce you didn't cause the shop to close because the owner gave you some great deals. More likely he gave you great deals because he knew he was closing long before anyone else did and he had much to sell to try to recoup some of his investment. As far as the guy making offers in the store, there are many guys who look for closing shops where they can get "clearance" deals for resale.
And I sure do wish some of these "retired" gun shop owners would go to work at Wal-Mart. Think how much easier it would be to purchase something from someone who actually knows what they are doing.

Nightrain52 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 31, 2004, 05:02:46 AM »

Duce, I know the area your talking about and I know over the last 2 years this area has been plagued by several plant closings in the Anderson area. Do you think the loss of these mostly union jobs has something to do with the shop closing? When an area loses it's manufacturing base everything is affected.

BuzzKill · « **Reply #10 on:** December 31, 2004, 05:33:02 AM »

Too bad to hear about the closing. Watch out for the other west central IN shops as Gander Mountain will be opening in Terra Haute later in 05. Not that I don't like GM, cause I do, but I also envy all the small town gun shops that IN seems to have. BuzzKill

Deadeye47 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 31, 2004, 06:35:28 AM »

sorry Duce. I'm in the same boat...there is a FFL in my town but he doesn't have any supplies and those he does carry... Yikes!!! He's proud of um!! Can't blame him though...The other alternative for me is Houston!!! :shock: I'd rather take a beating than to go over there for anything. I order most reloading supplies but fortunately I have discovered a gun shop that is close to my son's house in Dallas....corse he's proud of his stuff too but.... he has it!!! :wink:

Sourdough · « **Reply #12 on:** December 31, 2004, 01:41:55 PM »

You know guys I know what you mean it's a sad day when the gun stores close. But it's no differant than back in the 50s when every dept store, drug store, and country general store, had a gun rack and sold new and used guns. The gun control act of 64 put them out of the gun business, and the local gun shops came into being. In most cases the local gunsmith started selling guns, established an inventory, and selling became the bulk of his business. It's hard finding a good gun smith, most of the time they want to send it back to the factory, or they tell you it can't be fixed.

The store with the lowest price if going to get the business. Hello Wally World, Gander Mountain, and Bass Pro.