Posted: 1/26/2016 3:09:07 AM EDT
| So my father-in-law and I have been talking a lot lately about starting a gun shop in the phoenix area and possibly building an outdoor range if the right amount of land can be found around the outskirts. I have quite a few ideas for an outdoor range that include a shoot-house, long distance range, etc. for classes/recreational shooting and have a good idea of what I would like out of a gun shop. I would like to hear from you guys on what you would like to see out of an outdoor range or gun shop. Any ideas are welcomed as I obviously want this to be successful if all goes through and would also love for it to be a place where everyone wants to go. |
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Okay, I'll give my $.02 worth.
When I go to a shop, what will make or break things is customer service. I want to feel welcomed and not argued with if I am looking for something that they don't like. If you don't stock it or normally carry it, have good contacts for ordering it and making the customer happy. As I also walk in, I take a look at ammo always and the prices there set's the tone if I'm going to buy things or not. If I see ammo that's way over priced and I know what it really costs the dealer, I walk out. Second thing I look for is the availability of parts and things like holsters and mag pouches. If I see strictly 1911 and Glock only, I'm out. I like variety because I own a variety and would rather spend my money on the local economy but I will and have ordered online to get what I need. I don't like junk but having some economy line ups is good to attract all sorts of customers. Keep the transfers as low as possible and don't try to make extra cash for shipping because we know what it actually costs. Have an online web store and don't be a middle man either; If it's in stock, say so and if not, list it accordingly and ship it at normal prices. I like using Vertex Ops because their shipping is correct for flat rates and they ship fast and I prefer doing even online business inside the state. As for the range and store, here's a thought: Come to our hometown shoots and sponsor them. I'm not looking for free stuff and even if you just hang a banner with your store on it, would be good enough for me and you get to meet your community and answer questions. If you get a range, that shoot-house would be nice to have a sponsored hometown event with your fellow AZ arfcomers. Cater to the range fun guns with no purpose, the hunters, the tactical guys, us reloaders, and the competitors, and you will be good to go. |
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When I go to a shop, what will make or break things is customer service. I want to feel welcomed and not argued with if I am looking for something that they don't like. +1 The biggest thing that keeps me from going back to any range or gun shop is the customer service. |
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Just a differing opinion - I'm not a customer service guy. All I really require is the ability for an employee to show me something I'm interested in. Not being a know-it-all, or telling me whatever I'm looking at is junk and I should buy something else can be annoying, but if they have what I'm looking for at a competitive price, I'm likely going to buy it. If all else (inventory, price, location) is equal, sure customer service will likely be a factor, but its not my #1. The biggest thing that annoys me from new-ish shops, is their lack of inventory. I understand inventory is expensive, but having a dozen pistols in the rack but saying "we can get anything", means I'll just go wherever they have what I'm looking for. Unfortunately the internet has made it hard for many retailers, so you have to do something that makes it worth it - and that something is usually instant gratification. |
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I agree with most of whats already been said, but I would also add that if you are going to have a retail shop, have something nice (and local when possible). That means, instead of having a huge selection of Uncle Mikes holsters, maybe try and get with a local Kydex guy to keep some on hand. Find someone that makes leather, and carry some of their stuff. Get local AR lowers or AR parts from local companies rather than the crap you can get at one of the box stores. Have a decent transfer cost, thats a good way to get new people in to see what you have while they are picking up an online purchase. Maybe a decent consignment price too, and sell used guns at a fair price. Nothing turns me off quicker than seeing high priced used guns and ammo. We all know that beat up used Glock shouldn't be tagged for $469 with a single 10 round mag and no box.
I like the idea of a shoot house, sounds like fun! Customer service is big. We know how fickle people are, so I wish you luck. Its tough these days. Online is easier with the lower overhead, having a shop makes it hard to be profitable and compete with cheap shipping costs. |
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There will be lots of I want to see this in the store, but a store is a store. Go look at what others have and its about the same. What you need is to stand out. The range is where I would do that. Go big, do 100m/yard in door range with smart targets and video of targets down range. Offer both bench and prone benches that are easy to switch between. If you want to get real big go 300m/yard indoor with cross wind control. Have daily schedule of cross wind values. Offer different winds at different ranges with heater to cause up drafts. You would be a huge hit with all the precision shooters. That or go 3d like this one. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010/05/24/i-have-seen-the-future/ |
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good luck, shooters can be a damn cheap bunch. A 100 yard indoor range would be awesome, but I am sure its going to be expensive. Most people are happy with 15 yards.
Only 100 yard indoor range I went to was very nice but it didn't stay in business long. It was in San Antonio. Street access to it wasnt the greatest. Get educated on the environmental regs. Even outdoor ranges have their concerns these days. The NRA offers a service/education to those who want to start up a range. I would honestly get all that out of the way and figured out before you start to worry about what kinds of product to stock. If you ever do it, come up with a design that is geared towards competitors, have the range easily segregated so you can run people through multiple stages simultaneously. |
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good luck, shooters can be a damn cheap bunch. A 100 yard indoor range would be awesome, but I am sure its going to be expensive. Most people are happy with 15 yards. Only 100 yard indoor range I went to was very nice but it didn't stay in business long. It was in San Antonio. Street access to it wasnt the greatest. Get educated on the environmental regs. Even outdoor ranges have their concerns these days. The NRA offers a service/education to those who want to start up a range. I would honestly get all that out of the way and figured out before you start to worry about what kinds of product to stock. If you ever do it, come up with a design that is geared towards competitors, have the range easily segregated so you can run people through multiple stages simultaneously. SGC tried to do 100yds indoors. They ran out of money before it got off the ground in peoria. Ease of access is huge! Ever tried to get into the parking lot at randalls? That can be a pain in the ass. But you should still come visit me. I get lonely. Hope you guys can make it work! |
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Ease of access is huge! Ever tried to get into the parking lot at randalls? That can be a pain in the ass. But you should still come visit me. I get lonely. Hope you guys can make it work! Getting into the parking lot is easy, parking in it on the other hand... Bought a CZ-85 there last week, and I'm glad I was driving the mustang and not the F-150. But Randall's has fair prices, good selection, and reloading supplies, so it's worth the effort. Probably my 2nd favorite local shop after AJI. |
| Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. |
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. |
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Where's your shop or did you move your FFL? Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. I started out in AJ in the side of AJI, sold everything there to another guy when I moved, who Jeff got rid of(Refused to renew the lease). The guy Jeff has in there now seems pretty cool, if a bit 180 from the work I did there. |
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I started out in AJ in the side of AJI, sold everything there to another guy when I moved, who Jeff got rid of(Refused to renew the lease). The guy Jeff has in there now seems pretty cool, if a bit 180 from the work I did there. Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. I started out in AJ in the side of AJI, sold everything there to another guy when I moved, who Jeff got rid of(Refused to renew the lease). The guy Jeff has in there now seems pretty cool, if a bit 180 from the work I did there. Come back to AZ!!!!!! |
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! 
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Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. |
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To the OP; in all seriousness, if you don't like working a few hours of overtime in a 40 hour week, you will hate owning a business. Many a day is spent from the time you get to the time you go to bed working. 12-16 hour days happen. There is no holiday pay, no vacation pay, etc.
My 'negative vibe' for the thread.... It's great and it can suck all at the same time. |
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Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. |
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Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. Arent you copping it in some god awful flat state? Every agency in AZ is hiring now... Just saying. |
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Appreciate all of the responses guys... We should be rounding up the money to get serious about this within the next week or two, next comes finding the right land/property.
First things first, customer service is a big deal to me, and it's as simple as that. Right now it's looking like there will be a decent sized shop and 25yd/multiple lane indoor range attached. Would like to keep the shop stocked with plenty of variety, plenty of fair priced ammo, etc. Range will be the basic 25yds, similar to SGC, and we'd like to have a variety of training classes for both skilled and new shooters. A 100yd range would require too much property, especially in the metro area. An outdoor range is also being looked into, this is also where most of my interest is. Right now I'm looking at two shoot houses, one live fire and one for sim/force on force. Also looking at an area for long range, a carbine range, pistol range, shotgun range, and plenty of steel to shoot at. Depending on the location we are looking into lodging to house people for training courses as well. Being an LEO with an agency with great facilities, I can say that there are quite a few local agencies in the area with not so great facilities and I'd like to get them onto our ranges as well. This all sounds like a lot but after doing the research it definitely seems within reach, it helps that my FIL is a wizard with anything to do with business. If you guys have any other ideas, go ahead and throw them out there, all of it helps. |
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You planning on coming here in the late spring or early summer? I need to schedule a summer shoot for the folks that cannot make this one tomorrow. IM me if OPSEC is an issue. Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. As much as I like to joke about it, I likely won't be making any HTF shoots. Lately if I head to AZ it's for something short that eats up all my time or so the wife can visit family, which means I spend my days either watching kids or drinking beer with my FIL. |
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As much as I like to joke about it, I likely won't be making any HTF shoots. Lately if I head to AZ it's for something short that eats up all my time or so the wife can visit family, which means I spend my days either watching kids or drinking beer with my FIL. Quoted:
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Damm negative nancy's. I started my shop with 2k and some hand tools. Work your ass off, be nice to customers, deliver on your promises and constantly re-invest every bit of profit you make for the first few years. If you have to pay yourself make it the absolute minimum. Get out of here with your positive vibes. Enjoy the cold weather, sucker! Hey man it's a heat wave here, it got up to 40 and only 25mph winds. Getting tired of ice fishing, ready for spring turkey. As much as I like to joke about it, I likely won't be making any HTF shoots. Lately if I head to AZ it's for something short that eats up all my time or so the wife can visit family, which means I spend my days either watching kids or drinking beer with my FIL. You coming down for the Independence Day rifle match again this yr? |
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Appreciate all of the responses guys... We should be rounding up the money to get serious about this within the next week or two, next comes finding the right land/property. First things first, customer service is a big deal to me, and it's as simple as that. Right now it's looking like there will be a decent sized shop and 25yd/multiple lane indoor range attached. Would like to keep the shop stocked with plenty of variety, plenty of fair priced ammo, etc. Range will be the basic 25yds, similar to SGC, and we'd like to have a variety of training classes for both skilled and new shooters. A 100yd range would require too much property, especially in the metro area. An outdoor range is also being looked into, this is also where most of my interest is. Right now I'm looking at two shoot houses, one live fire and one for sim/force on force. Also looking at an area for long range, a carbine range, pistol range, shotgun range, and plenty of steel to shoot at. Depending on the location we are looking into lodging to house people for training courses as well. Being an LEO with an agency with great facilities, I can say that there are quite a few local agencies in the area with not so great facilities and I'd like to get them onto our ranges as well. This all sounds like a lot but after doing the research it definitely seems within reach, it helps that my FIL is a wizard with anything to do with business. If you guys have any other ideas, go ahead and throw them out there, all of it helps. Did you previously hold an FFL? |
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Land for an outdoor range in the Phoenix metro area, "The Valley", is going to be very expensive. Best bet would be to the west or south of the valley. Large parcels to the east and north are going to be the highest priced.
Large parcels "up north" like near Holbrook are stupid cheap, but not near any population centers to speak of. |