Check out the AZ Republic-- Mandall's has announced that it is closing down for good.

Mike

I heard there was an upcoming auction for their inventory.

I'm not going to miss them.

I have never heard anything good about them.  

I shot in their basement a few times. I always thought their prices were high though.

When is the auction?

Quoted: I have never heard anything good about them.

You just did.

Mandall will holster his guns, close on Sept. 4

Maggie Galehouse
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 24, 2004 12:00 AM


SCOTTSDALE - Mandall Shooting Supplies, a family business that will close on Sept. 4, was born half a century ago in the back seat of Martin Mandall's station wagon.

A Brooklyn native who served in the Air Force and Army during World War II, Martin Mandall was always a good shooter.

When the war ended, he joined the military reserves and shot on the New York Governor's Honor Team, competing in pistol and rifle matches around that state.

But Mandall noticed that fellow competitors often came to matches without ammunition, targets, scopes or cleaning utensils.

So he started selling those items from his car.

By the mid-1950s, Mandall had persuaded his father to give up the back room of his linoleum shop so he could sell shooting supplies. After his father died in the early 1960s, Mandall took over the entire store.


Moved to Scottsdale


Two decades later, Mandall and his wife decided to move their thriving business to Scottsdale - lock, stock and barrel.

New York was a dangerous place to own a gun shop, said Joyce Beyer-Mandall, 75, and Arizona's gun laws have always been more relaxed than New York's.

"It's still the Wild West," Beyer-Mandall said in her still-thick New York accent.

A lot has changed in the 30 years since the Scottsdale store opened.

Most recently, a stroke last November left Martin Mandall, 76, ready for retirement. His grandson Ben, 23, has been managing the store at 3616 N. Scottsdale Road for the past year.

However, the family has decided that it is in their best interest to put the business to bed.

The store "has made my grandfather very happy," Ben Mandall said. "Guns have always been his passion."

Initially, the shop was directly behind its current location, near Scottsdale Road and Goldwater Boulevard.

Today, that site is occupied by Arizona Knitting and Needlepoint, which Beyer-Mandall opened 20 years ago.


Knitting . . . and guns?


"We send the ladies around the corner, and the men come here," Beyer-Mandall said.

Mandall Shooting Supplies carries regular firearms, such as rifles, pistols and shotguns, as well as machine guns, short-barreled rifles and silencers.

"Our inventory isn't deep, but it's very broad," Ben Mandall said.

The store has changed over the years to meet customers' shifting interests. The major move has been away from hunting and toward self-defense shooting and instruction.

Beyer-Mandall remembers the days when racks of rifles lined the middle of the store and customers were free to handle them. That ended when other gun shops across the country started having problems with people loading the guns.


Underground gallery


In the mid-1980s, when the shop moved to its current location, the Mandalls built a shooting gallery under the store while they were renovating the rest of the building. The five galleries, with a distance of 25 yards each, made up the first indoor shooting range in Scottsdale.

After 1986, when the federal government put a cap on the number of machine guns allowed in the United States, automatic weapons saw a spike in demand. Today, the most expensive gun in the store is a $70,000 squad automatic weapon, the same machine gun troops are carrying in Iraq.

"Affluent people here can afford them," Beyer-Mandall said.

Another notable jump in sales occurred during the Y2K scare near the end of 1999.

The shop always sees a boom in business at the beginning of a war.

"Wars are funny," Beyer-Mandall said. "When they start, we're very busy. But as the war progresses, it gets quieter here because people want it to end."


A store full of stories


Funny stories and gun stores go together, the Mandalls say.

There was the guy who tried to throw a brick through the store window, which is made of two layers of Lexan, an ultra-tough bulletproof plastic. The brick bounced off the window, hit the guy in the head and gave him a concussion.

Another customer came in with a dismantled gun and asked one of the gunsmiths to put it back together. The gunsmith noticed the serial numbers on the gun had been filed off at about the same time he saw the customer shoplift some cleaning supplies. The police came and arrested the man. Hours later, the Mandalls noticed that the customer had left his briefcase in the store. It was filled with cocaine.

When Mandall Shooting Supplies closes in early September, the new Scottsdale Gun Club on Northsight Boulevard will have the only indoor shooting range in town.

But the public will have one more chance to shop at Mandall's.

On Nov. 9, the Mandalls will hold a public auction at the store to liquidate what remains of their stock. From Nov. 6-8, the store will be open for the public to preview the merchandise.

... Could never get the old fart to budge on his prices. I won't miss him, I'd like the bear with the AR15 though.

While I have no idea about their current business practices, I do have very fond memories of that place, hell I can almost smell it now (memory imprint).

I went to grade school at Loloma elementary school (it's no longer there) and when I was able to ride my bike back and forth from school (about 10 or 11), I used to pass it all the time, I often stopped in just to look at the guns, this was 30 years ago, and the people were always very nice to the youngsters that wanted to just stare at the Ruger Bearcats, or talk about that rifle hanging on the wall.

For me it's just a great memory from a better time. 30 years ago, the world was much nicer to kids.

Like him or not, he's a gunner.  Having a gun store close AND a range close is not good.  It's pretty unlikely there will be a new range open in scottsdale due to all the rules and regs now.  

I've been in there on occassion, used to shoot there on my way to the airport when leaving north scottsdale where I lived.  

-luke

Quoted: Like him or not, he's a gunner.  Having a gun store close AND a range close is not good.  It's pretty unlikely there will be a new range open in scottsdale due to all the rules and regs now.   I've been in there on occassion, used to shoot there on my way to the airport when leaving north scottsdale where I lived.   -luke

I wanted to open a gun store. However I actually want to make money.

That homo's prices were outrageous.  

The secret to shopping at Mandall's was in bringing your wife or girlfriend, but never at the same time, in with you to be the sexual harassment magnet. The old guy seemed to melt at the sight of a tight t-shirt concealing a nice, full rack.

 I wouldn't wish a stroke on anyone that I really didn't just absolutely hate...and I never hated Mr. Mandall...but I sure as hell didn't like the mean old bastard either.  it wasn't the fact that he was mean...it was the fact that he was one of those " I'm too good for the likes of you " types.  

Won't miss Mandall's at all!!!!

Quoted: ... Could never get the old fart to budge on his prices. I won't miss him, I'd like the bear with the AR15 though.

Hey WW,

You were saying a while back how you would like to move up North and start a busnisses...

Well the store is North of us.  You could buy it and own that there Bear!

Hell, I'm sure you could swing it, just cash in all those Boeing options and stocks you own

Come on you know you want to!

Quoted: The secret to shopping at Mandall's was in bringing your wife or girlfriend, but never at the same time, in with you to be the sexual harassment magnet. The old guy seemed to melt at the sight of a tight t-shirt concealing a nice, full rack.

So I should have but a bra on, put 2 water ballons under them and go find a tight Hooters shirt....  

Maybe I should shave 1st too....

A Brooklyn native...

That explains it.

Yeah WW,

Take a vow of poverty and open a gunshop.

We should get together and buy that building.

Underground range...C'mon!

D.
AZEX

Quoted: We should get together and buy that building. Underground range...C'mon! D. AZEX

... Now I would be down for that!

Rename it "The Wolf Lair(sp?)", or just "Winston's" would be catchy.

Quoted: Rename it "The Wolf Lair(sp?)", or just "Winston's" would be catchy.

Winston's might work better since Lone Wolf might get testy about something called the Wolf Lair. :)

However, if one is really looking to do this, best thing would be to form an LLC and have the LLC purchase the thing. The problem there is that all the owners, I believe, will have to qualify for an FFL, esp if they have any say in how the operation is run.  Perhaps non-voting members of the LLC solely for the investment portion.

However that leaves only a couple folks in charge and I am sure those who toss in coin will want a say in how it's run.  If you're willing to "pay your money and take your chances", then having 2 or 3 "voting" decision makers of the LLC would work best.

No, I am not an attorney, etc.  Just did LLC research while setting up Practical Tactical, LLC. ;)

Overall, it might be a cool idea.  I'd be all for renting the space to the right of the main entrance (if I recall, that's like a 20' square 'alcove", right??) that I could use for a PracTac storefront.  

However....with SGC a mere, what?, 8-10 miles North (if that) with a bigger selection, better facilities and a snazzier location, I don't envision a great deal of success.  IMO, only.

As for the local area...I don't know S. Scottsdale well, but I don't recall it being freeway close, like SGC, Looter's World and Caswell's are.  There isn't the money in S. Scottsdale like up North.  So, you'd have to draw a crowd...making the location, well, less than ideal, IMO.

Many folks want a shopping "experience"...hard core gunnies notwithstanding.  The folks with the cash thusly like big, open shopping areas (Shooter's World and SGC).  Most folks who'd cater to a gun store like I'd want to run (black rifles and gear) don't have, or don't want to spend the money on, top end gear.  Again, apart from this crowd, I don't know that the critical mass of customers is there.

That leaves you moving volume over large margins.  As anyone in the gun biz knows, margins on guns is painfully thin, so you need to move a lot of guns. Which means you gotta have the guns in stock.  WHich means a lot of money tied up in inventory.   You can't get Kimber to drop ship a gun to your customer, and folks don't want to wait, anyway.

Quoted: ... If you're willing to "pay your money and take your chances"

... There are more than a few folks on the Arizona Hometown Forums that I would venture into a limited agreement with. We're lucky to live in a State where this is still a possibility.

... Unfortunately, I’m afraid the building is much too expensive (given its location) for a rag-tag group of gunnutz’ pocketbooks. No, Mandel's gun store will become just another uppity Snotsdale, politically correct, business venture. Like those afforded by adjacent establishments that occupy the strip now.

I think it would be a pain in the ASS hobby to own a gun store.  But it would also be cool as hell.

To bad that you couldn't make the guy with all the Class three stuff of theirs a silent partner.  There is  some serious  Money tied up in those.  I remember I went buy there the first of this year and there was a MA Duce in the window.

Also from what I understand, on Class Three stuff.  If your "Company" is the license holder of the Class Three Weapons.  Then the Offices of the company all have access to said weapons not needing a separate Class Three Licenses.  Is this correct?

WW, you probably could even sell your house and live in the store if needed.

BTW, I dropped my paper work off at Joe's house for a . 22 can.  Oh what fun Ill be having in a year from now.

Yeah, but you can't detonate tannerite with a .22!

I have very fond memories of Mandall's.  That is the first place I ever shot a machinegun.  I was 18 years old and rented their UZI.  That was a great time.   I hate to see them go.

I lived in California at the time and could not own full autos.  After I turned 21, I recall Mr. Mandall telling me I could buy a machinegun and he would hold it on his license for me, and I could come there and shoot it whenever I wanted to.  I should have done that.  UZIs were about $2,000 back then.  M16s were about the same.

It had been years since I went downstairs and shot at their range.  I went back there to shoot recently.  I've always wanted to build a house with a range like that in the basement, except maybe two shooting lanes at the most.

Their prices were always high, no question about that.  When I was there last in January 2004, they had two transferable UZIs for sale for about $7,500.  UZIs were selling everywhere else at about $4,200 to $5,000 at that time.

My couple of experiences with Mr. Mandall were fine.  Granted they were limited.  The last time I was there, there was a guy named Howard, who did not seem very friendly.  Maybe he was having a bad day?

My guess is that the building has already been sold or there is a deal in the works.  Who knows, maybe Oregano's, next door, will expand.  Their store is pretty small and always crowded.

Scottsdale Gun Center (not Scottsdale Gun Club), down the street should move into Mandall's.

At least the good news is that there is now Scottsdale Gun Club.  That place is incredible.  I know some here have complained about it but I think it's a great store.  If it were closer to my house, I'd get a membership and shoot there.  I've had very positive experiences with them.

Scottsdale Gun Club does something I think is a good thing:  They get the idea that black rifles are cool across to teh monied folks....the ones that can help make things happen.

We all lament how the Golfer with Guns don't do dick when it comes to protecting our battle rifles, as long as their Perazzi shotguns or scoped Weatherby rifles are safe.

Get these same people interested in owning FALs or AKs, and then see what happens next time DiFi starts whining about "those people...have no need for an AK".

All of a sudden, the rich become "one of those people", and will take offense.

Now this doesn't address the issue of some folks attitudes that "the less-well-off shouldn't have guns", but it does address the type of gun involved. closing the gap somewhat.

I was given a SGC membership as a gift, I use the range because it's close to my house and very well set-up. The place is full of people with $1000 watches, the prices on their Firearms are "OK", but accessories are ridiculous.

Quoted: Scottsdale Gun Club does something I think is a good thing:  They get the idea that black rifles are cool across to teh monied folks....the ones that can help make things happen. We all lament how the Golfer with Guns don't do dick when it comes to protecting our battle rifles, as long as their Perazzi shotguns or scoped Weatherby rifles are safe. Get these same people interested in owning FALs or AKs, and then see what happens next time DiFi starts whining about "those people...have no need for an AK". All of a sudden, the rich become "one of those people", and will take offense. Now this doesn't address the issue of some folks attitudes that "the less-well-off shouldn't have guns", but it does address the type of gun involved. closing the gap somewhat.

Membership Fees are Way to high in my book.

I live within a mile of SGC and have never been in there. From what I hear I'm not missing anything.

Membership Fees are Way to high in my book. Gun prices are ok, but accessories are high.

It's not about catering to folks like you or me, though we are as welcome as anyone else.  It's targeting the well-to-do who want guns or a 'gun experience'.

Accessories are high because that's where the money is.  As I said, margins on guns themselves is painfully thin.  If you get 15%, you're doing good...20% and you're smokin'.  Least that's what I found out when I was researching opening/buying a gun store.

In fact, when I started formulating this whole idea, it was a couple years before SGC even was an idea.  My buddy and I determined the way to make money was to go high-scale on the facilities, offer really cool shit, and charge a lot of money to be part of the "club".

Shooter's World tried this, but it was before its time and the original owners were, um, interested in other things, shall we say.

Businesses do best when they have a nice stream of recurring revenue, which the membership fees are.  When you can meet your monthly nut, you can afford to be price-flexible in other areas.  Since guns are a thin-margin item anyway, that makes the most sense.  Accessories, for anything really, is where companies make their profits.

When you buy a house...does it come with everything, or do you have to pay $X for each additional cable outlet, phone jack, etc.?  Don't like Formica counters?  Well, we have this nice Corian for only $Y more.

New Car? Want the Super Big-Penis deluxe package? yeah, it has those 3 add-ons you don't need, but it's a little cheaper than doing it a la carte and you get this new cool feature, too.

New Springfield XD?  Well, you'll want a couple of magazines (range mags, carry mags), plus you'll need a holster.  Yeah, Fobus holsters work well, but Blade-Tech are Da Bomb!  Yeah, Winchester White Box is good for target shooting, but you don't want that for defense...you need Dr. Blammo's Super Deluxe Golden Eagle Claw round, the best thing since sliced bread...and did I tell you that all the SpecOps guys use them, too?



TimW
Phoenix
Practical Tactical, LLC

Quoted: Membership Fees are Way to high in my book. Gun prices are ok, but accessories are high. It's not about catering to folks like you or me, though we are as welcome as anyone else.  It's targeting the well-to-do who want guns or a 'gun experience'. Accessories are high because that's where the money is.  As I said, margins on guns themselves is painfully thin.  If you get 15%, you're doing good...20% and you're smokin'.  Least that's what I found out when I was researching opening/buying a gun store. In fact, when I started formulating this whole idea, it was a couple years before SGC even was an idea.  My buddy and I determined the way to make money was to go high-scale on the facilities, offer really cool shit, and charge a lot of money to be part of the "club". Shooter's World tried this, but it was before its time and the original owners were, um, interested in other things, shall we say. Businesses do best when they have a nice stream of recurring revenue, which the membership fees are.  When you can meet your monthly nut, you can afford to be price-flexible in other areas.  Since guns are a thin-margin item anyway, that makes the most sense.  Accessories, for anything really, is where companies make their profits. When you buy a house...does it come with everything, or do you have to pay $X for each additional cable outlet, phone jack, etc.?  Don't like Formica counters?  Well, we have this nice Corian for only $Y more. New Car? Want the Super Big-Penis deluxe package? yeah, it has those 3 add-ons you don't need, but it's a little cheaper than doing it a la carte and you get this new cool feature, too. New Springfield XD?  Well, you'll want a couple of magazines (range mags, carry mags), plus you'll need a holster.  Yeah, Fobus holsters work well, but Blade-Tech are Da Bomb!  Yeah, Winchester White Box is good for target shooting, but you don't want that for defense...you need Dr. Blammo's Super Deluxe Golden Eagle Claw round, the best thing since sliced bread...and did I tell you that all the SpecOps guys use them, too? TimW Phoenix Practical Tactical, LLC

I understand all of that and agree with it, I guess I should have made my point a little more clear.

Thier prices are set for people that don't need to look for a bargain, the kind of people that carry $700 - $1000 in their wallet for spending money. "Oh, $150 for that soft side case that can be bought for $65 + $7 shipping from www.less that rich tactical.net? bah... no problem."

I watched as 2 guys that pulled up in a one of those new caddy sportscars went in and asked to buy some "Clips" for their "M-16's" then asked for some ammo which they bought 500 rounds of federal 55 grain for $185.

I agree with all that was said about it being a good thing that the so called "Assualt Weapons" are made available to these people in a clean, organized, well run environment. I'm just saying that I can't, and won't shop there.