A month or so ago we had a discussion on several of VA'S larger gunstores turning in the towel.

I was at the richmond raceway gunshow, and 4 or 5 shows on both coasts this summer. Portland and here in va. This last weekend was not the historic rqceway gunshow. The midlothian show has been canceled. The nations gunshow last month was okay, but significantly less than in prior years.

I know many of the smaller shops are really hurting. I had a conversation at a local shop today. They are stuffed with stock. Suppressors, ar's scopes are all instock but not moving.


I had another convo tonight with a shop owner in middle america. He makes and sells sbr parts for several different guns. He is swamped.

I wonder if folks are tooling up what they have over making new purchases.

My favorite gun store, Virginia Arms, just closed.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
My favorite gun store, Virginia Arms, just closed.

Yeah, it was my favorite, too.

Bummer

I really don't need another gun. But then, I don't really need several that I have.

The phrase "safe queen" comes to mind.

I think I need to spend my money on ammo now, rather than more guns.

The only decent place we had closed up recently. Seemed to have good traffic whenever I went so not sure what happened.

The other two places are alright, one is more sporting goods / archery / hunting gear plus guns - nice people just standard bubba prices. The other place is all guns but the too-cool-for-school tacticool guys behind the counter with MSRP pricing.

They're still in business.

We do gun safe deliveries for all of your typical retailers. Everybody from the little shop in a strip center all the way up to the big box guys.

Gun safe sales are down upwards of 50% for this same time period last year.

We had one gun store in Tucson close recently. Owner now does business at gun shows only.

Gun show I attended last week drew a modest amount of vendors and a below average attendance.

Personally i have sold maybe 6 to 10 guns through my ffl, bought 3 or 4 this year.

I did however mqke the effort to go form one on two rifles, and form 4 on 8 suppressors.


I am down quite a bit in my overall horse trading from prior years.

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
My favorite gun store, Virginia Arms, just closed.

Check out Loudoun Guns, the only gun shop I have went into that I didn't have a crappy experience. Super helpful and knowledgeable, didn't try to sell me a striker when I went in.

Only bought accessories so far from them, but still in my mind best gun shop I have ever walked into.

The local brick and mortar stores are doing well- volume is the key.
New player in the area-caters to high end crowd with the most amazing indoor range. Time will tell if high end can last.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

Originally posted by Fenris:
My favorite gun store, Virginia Arms, just closed.

Check out Loudoun Guns, the only gun shop I have went into that I didn't have a crappy experience. Super helpful and knowledgeable, didn't try to sell me a striker when I went in.

Only bought accessories so far from them, but still in my mind best gun shop I have ever walked into.

Louden guns has a great selection.

We had eight solid years of panic buying. Everyone who wants a gun has five by now.

We might need to put Obama back in office just to prop up the gun business.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGfourme:
The local brick and mortar stores are doing well- volume is the key.
New player in the area-caters to high end crowd with the most amazing indoor range. Time will tell if high end can last.

Who is the new shop?

I used to frequent hillers/fairfield newington gun echange qnd a few others.

Ok in my area, but Buds is one of them. He's VERY high volume. The shop where I work added internet sales of classic arms a couple of years back, and do transfers as well. There's a certain level of daily sales that we joke "keeps the lights on." We hit that number 9 days out of twen, and 7 out of ten we exceed it.

Really small shops seem to be hurting. The gun stores with ranges and training seem to be doing OK. Illinois has had CCW for almost 5 years now and lots of CCW holders need to renew as it expires after 5 years so that should help stores that offer classes for it.

Most shops in our area including ours have been flat. ARs were doing quite poorly, although we were surprisingly doing well with the more expensive offerings ($1500 and up). But the vote on I-1639 just changed all of that. I just placed a huge order for rifles thanks to the uptick in black gun business since the passage of that vile initiative. More than just a few want their own MSRs (and 10/22s) before the other shoe drops and anyone wanting to buy a semi-auto rifle signs their privacy and rights away.

The ones in South Puget Sound are all doing well. With the passage of the gun grabber I-1639 there’s an expected rush to buy “assault rifles” such as the infamous Ruger .22. We have until January 1st.

Seattle has it’s tax on gun sales and 5 cents a round tax on ammunition. There are few places up there that are still open.

It's a buyers market now and it's great. My buddies and I have all bought way more guns in the two years since Trump was elected than during the Obama panic years.

I think some dealers got complacent and didn't save up their nuts for winter.

It's also failure to adapt to a changing landscape. Small dealers are like the old brick and mortars trying to stay afloat in the age of big box stores (academy, Cabelas etc) and the internet.

As long as Greentop stays open with their incredible selection, I'm happy with the state of local shops.

Other than my FFL who operates his business out of his home, I haven't stopped in a local gun store in over a year. My FFL has plans to eventually open a brick and mortar store, but I think that business is slow enough at this time that he's going to phase in this part of his plan later. In the mean time the local economy is booming so he has purchased a piece of land and is currently building out a commercial building that will allow him to lease out space to other businesses while still reserving enough space for him to later open up the gun store.

Interestingly I've been passing by a new local gun store that opened a few months ago. It's in a building that had previously been an adult store for many years.

I finally made the time to check out the store. The new owner spent some money renovating the place and putting a mix of inventory in it. Square footage and inventory wise I'd describe it as mid-size. Really nice wood floor, nice display cabinets, well lit, complimentary coffee/drinks, a couple stools around a narrow bench for employees and customers to lounge. I was surprised that they seemed to focus on high end hunting shotguns and rifles, but also a smattering of Glocks (had a commemorative 1996 Olympic Games Security Glock with a companion wood/glass display case), a few SIGs, a few S&W, several Ruger revolvers and rifles, but also a PTR MP-5 clone, a B&T, a Glock RONI, a Century G3 clone, and others. There were at least 3 counter guys that day and they were a bit chatty so I ran out of time and will have to go back to check out the last couple display cases and walls.

Politically, this state is heading for more gun control proposals, and I'm guessing they might get real busy in the next year or two.

ETA- I will say that over recent years local gun stores seem to be advertising more on the radio and running more frequent sales.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Modern Day Savage,

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
A month or so ago we had a discussion on several of VA'S larger gunstores turning in the towel.

I was at the richmond raceway gunshow, and 4 or 5 shows on both coasts this summer. Portland and here in va. This last weekend was not the historic rqceway gunshow. The midlothian show has been canceled. The nations gunshow last month was okay, but significantly less than in prior years.

I know many of the smaller shops are really hurting. I had a conversation at a local shop today. They are stuffed with stock. Suppressors, ar's scopes are all instock but not moving.


I had another convo tonight with a shop owner in middle america. He makes and sells sbr parts for several different guns. He is swamped.

I wonder if folks are tooling up what they have over making new purchases.

don't read too much into the Dec RVA show being cancelled,

remember the promoter was kicked out off, or had contract issues, or (insert gunshow rumor here) was not scheduled for any shows at RIR for a good bit, so she got access to the old Kmart on Midlo,

2018 she was able to get 3 dates for RIR, in addition to adding some at the Kmart,

the Kmart is owned by a group of investors with ADD,
it was going to be an Expo type center (parking really too small for that), an International food mart (very diverse crowd lives in that area) and now supposedly an off site betting parlor,


either way, the investors refused to spend a lot on improvements, a lot of which was paid for by the gunshow promoter,,


my understanding is all shows run by showmasters will be at RIR in 2019


having said/typed all that,
a gunshow in RVA in Oct,
another in Nov,
and one scheduled in Dec is too many,
we did the past 2, had a not great show at each, and were told by some of the big handgun dealers that they did not have a great show at either

we had already dropped the Dec show before she announced it was cancelled,



re the local shops,

DeGoff's last year,
Hopkins this year,
rumors Bob's may close next year (have not stopped by to check or ask)

Greentop is doing well, as is Dance's from what I have heard,


North American is reportedly on the fence (tiny shop in innsbrook)

and the usual handful of small by appt only shop are doing relatively well, (raises hand here as one of them)

Can't say I have seen anyone closing up shop around me, must be doing enough sales to stay in business.