Posted: 5/11/2009 10:17:03 PM EDT
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Well as we all know in the business it is all about LOCATION. I am looking for a smaller storefront in the north Snohomish County area for my business. I am planning on opening up a "small" gun store and need some help finding a place. Rent has got to be cheap and not alot of windows.
Unfortuantely the sale of firearms will be put on hold until the ATF approve the license and then the state has got to get approved. I do currently sell parts and accessories. the sale of AMMO does not require any paperwork for me so there will be some business. ideally the space will have a back counter and a back office/ storage. if it has a couple of rooms... Classrooms can be made for even more fun for us all. I am open to all suggestions even if they do not pertain to the office space. Please email me all of your ideas and information for the above. thank you -Pete |
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Quoted:
Well as we all know in the business it is all about LOCATION. I am looking for a smaller storefront in the north Snohomish County area for my business. I am planning on opening up a "small" gun store and need some help finding a place. Rent has got to be cheap and not alot of windows. Unfortuantely the sale of firearms will be put on hold until the ATF approve the license and then the state has got to get approved. I do currently sell parts and accessories. the sale of AMMO does not require any paperwork for me so there will be some business. ideally the space will have a back counter and a back office/ storage. if it has a couple of rooms... Classrooms can be made for even more fun for us all. I am open to all suggestions even if they do not pertain to the office space. Please email me all of your ideas and information for the above. thank you -Pete Sounds like Snopczynski? Did you move and change jobs? |
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Tread lightly on the advertising angle of talking about your new business and I think you'll be fine. The site has certain rules concerning paid advertisers. Some businesses pay some pretty good money for the privelage of advertising in the hometown forums, etc. However, I don't think there's anything wrong with discussing the ins and outs of starting a gun shop. Plenty of shop owners here on the boards both paid advertisers and regular members. |
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Nowadays I don't really see location for a gun shop as all that important.
i.e. Mary's Kesselring Surplus Ammo I know there are many others where their locations suck and are doing very well. I believe it's all about service and reputation. Build it and they will come... if you're worth two shits. If you're not worthwhile, it doesn't matter where you have the shop. .02¢ |
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Quoted: Nowadays I don't really see location for a gun shop as all that important. i.e. Mary's Kesselring Surplus Ammo I know there are many others where their locations suck and are doing very well. I believe it's all about service and reputation. Build it and they will come... if you're worth two shits. If you're not worthwhile, it doesn't matter where you have the shop. .02¢ Good point. I don't know how many times I heard someone say about Mary's "I've lived in Tacoma all my life and didn't know this shopping center was here". ETA: On that point, If I were you, I'd travel down to Tacoma/Lakewood and have a chat with Dan and Mary. They've established themselves quite well as a mom and pop shop with little to no advertising. I'm sure the guys up in Sno-Ho wouldn't mind having a similar type shop up in their area. |
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I agree that reputation is better than location but still look at DGS. Their store by the Southcenter Mall does very well and we all know that their prices suck. I think he should focus on both. Low prices, friendly service where you care more about the customer than the sell, and a good location will serve you well.
Good luck. |
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We really need a good retail fun store up here in Snohomish County.
In the North area Norpoint in Arlington is the only game in town. In Marysville there is Puget Sound Security on Grove with a very small selection of goodies, a guy tried to run a shop right off of State in Marysville next to the park but he didn't last very long. I often thought about opening a store in Granite Falls, but besides not having capital I don't think there would be enough business to support you. The hardware store in town sells guns but the prices there can be a little steep. There might be some open space in the Lake Stevens area, North Everett on Broadway (DSG has a shop on Evergreen Way near the QFC). Maybe something in the Smokey Point. |
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I think that the two best gun store models I have seen have been Rainier Arms and Shizzle's.
From what I can tell, Shizzle's is in a very good location near TT and QTS right next to Fort Lewis and it seems that .mil personal sales drive a large portion of that business. Rainier Arms is primarily an internet storefront that allows the occasional walk-in. Nonetheless, Rainier Arm's selection of repair, replacement, upgrade, and build parts can't be beat anywhere else locally. I think that if a gun store existed that was combined the the Rainier Arms' model, (impressive parts inventory and strong internet storefront presence) yet with a brick-and-mortar model of Shizzle's (i.e. impressive rifle selection/inventory and huge ammo selection/inventory)combined with a serious NFA class 3 and DD presence...located somewhere near the Everett Naval Station to capture some of the .mil demand. I believe it would do well...guaranteed there would be nothing like it in North Snohomish county. Don't go with a 'boutique store" DGS model (couple of dozen or so overpriced guns, minimal parts selection and minimal overpriced ammo selection). |
For minimal competition, length of customer commute, maximum population of routine shooters, you want your business in here:
Unfortunately, alot of that is not zoned commercial, etc. I have seen alot of commercial space for lease in marysville/smokey point/north everett lately. I know marysville has been looking to bring in more businesses for the better part of a decade. Maybe they'll work with you on a tax break/zoning change or something. Here's what you're looking at (I'm sure I'm forgetting something): 
Private ranges in Lakewood(ish), Granite Falls, and one of the islands in the Snohomish river delta. Public ranges in south Everett (Sams), and Arlington (Norpoint). Gun and ammo sales: in Monroe (Big 5), Snohomish (that company that isn't supposed to be mentioned on ARFCOM - ARs only, no ammo), Everett has Sams on 128th&Hwy99, DGS on Hwy99&55th-ish, three pawn shops on Hwy99 and a couple downtown. Lake Stevens has that hardware store in Frontier Village. Granite Falls has a hardware store selling Taurus' and holsters. Marysville has a pawnshop in the "historic district", the locksmith on Grove Street, Big 5 on the north end of State Ave, and Walmart on the Rez. Arlington has Norpoint and a pawn shop in downtown. Go to any of those and you'll see that right now, none of them have all 3 of: good prices, or vast selection, or a convienient location. Most fail on selection or pricing. A single day or two spent visiting all of them would give you an idea of what's missing in the local firearms scene. If you have the capital to finance a diverse inventory, or the volume to beat everyone's prices you should be fine. |
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well to explain a little bit more about me for those who care to listien.
I used to work weekends at Arlington Recreational Training and Shooting Center (now Norpoint) when i wasn't on the everett base port ops. I knew the guy that had the shop just off of state street next to the bank of america. infact he still owes me a G17 for basically running his store the for the first 3 months they were open. So i am not new to the game. Currently i have an internet business that is closed while i am deployed. I will leave it at that so there is no plublizing issues. I have been to most of the shops you all talked about and I agree. My motto was if you don't see.. I can get it. that is how i sold most of the firearms from ARTSC. Everyone all has good points and my job as a shop has and always will be to cater to the client. Keep the advice and comments coming. An old saying " a great king has many advisors". |
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Quoted:
well to explain a little bit more about me for those who care to listien. I used to work weekends at Arlington Recreational Training and Shooting Center (now Norpoint) when i wasn't on the everett base port ops. I knew the guy that had the shop just off of state street next to the bank of america. infact he still owes me a G17 for basically running his store the for the first 3 months they were open. So i am not new to the game. Currently i have an internet business that is closed while i am deployed. I will leave it at that so there is no plublizing issues. I have been to most of the shops you all talked about and I agree. My motto was if you don't see.. I can get it. that is how i sold most of the firearms from ARTSC. Everyone all has good points and my job as a shop has and always will be to cater to the client. Keep the advice and comments coming. An old saying " a great king has many advisors". If you build it, we will come. 
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