Visited a new shop in my area that opened several weeks ago. It's next to a saltwater fly tackle shop I frequent, so visited both yesterday.

Like many I've checked out lately in about a 3 county area from my home - a real disappointment.

Pistol counter , 4' long, holding Hi Points, SCCY 9mm autos, a small smattering of Glocks and used Sigmas. Think there was one or two HK autos, a couple Taurus .38's.
Long guns, behind counter - Mossbergs, various Turkish import shotguns, the mandatory lower end AR's (2 or 3). One or two synthetic stock 10/22's.
That's it.
Far less ammo on the shelves than I own. Some targets.
Some cheap holsters at inflated prices.

Trying to make conversation, the clerk offered up the 'we can order anything' line.
Hope they make it - but like so many, no real need for me to return.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

I would be thankful that at least they are trying. Unless you have been a small business man you have no idea how much it costs to open up a business before you even think about inventory costs. What many of us hope to find are collectible handguns and long guns at shooter prices, it just doesn't happen. Give them a chance and make a small purchase, ammo, cleaning supplies, maybe a gun case or holster. What would you rather have , an empty building or a growing gun business. I give full credit to anyone attempting to open a gun shop in this economy. All my very best, Joe.

Keep in mind inventory is hard to get right now. Stocking dealer buys don't come out until shot show in January. Election woes have the distributor shelves bare. Used / consignment inventory takes time to build. My buddy with a small shop every quality gun he can get is sold before it hits his shelf. He's worried about being able to get anything to sell much less what he would want to sell.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

I'm sure it's easier to get into the business buying low end guns and those are probably the best selling but they probably aren't going to last if they don't have something to cater to more quality products and high end buyers also.

Shelves bare? Haven't seen thay. My LGS is running specials in M&Ps, HKs, and CZ. The used shelves are 5 shelves high and 8 ft long and overflowing.

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I've owned a shop. Yours ordered those guns in advance. A new guy has to wait.
Been there don't be that.

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Straight shootin'
SWCA#2439

"We can order anything"... um yeah, so can I.

Let's be practical in this- any of us can order anything online, and usually beat the LGS prices. Your new guy likely knows this, and he's basically setting up as an FFL transfer site, with a few cheap ornaments that you can choose to buy if you want to walk in and out that same day.

If he can establish a little foothold in the local market, he may start to spend more on in-store inventory... but he needs to get things moving first.

Look at the bright side.
They might get a desirable old S&W or Colt in on trade and not know it's worth. I would offer to give the counter guy my phone # if he should get an older gun in, maybe bring in a box of donuts to help them remember you.

The only LGS in my small town is pretty small, and appears to be struggling. have not been helped by a hand-delivered-all over town poison pen letter and an injunction from a guy who set out to keep them from opening up the public pistol range they had spent a lot of $ to build. I try to stop in every week or so to see if they have anything in which I'm interested, and I will use them for any transfers in or out, just to help them stay in business. They know their stuff, so I'm not likely to get any blind-hog-finds-the-acorn deals, but if they get a good gun in, I'll see if I can do business and hep keep them in business.

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de minimus non curat lex

I have an LGS similar inventory..

BUT... I stop in now and again and have scored some really nice guns..

Never know when the sweet ones show up... and you have to see them to score them...

I look at it this way. I like that there is an LGS right around the corner from my shop. Their inventory is really not what I am looking for, but I give them what business I can. They opened a gun business in a really tough place (Montgomery County Maryland) and I want them to make a go of it. I buy this and that as I need it, had them do a 6 handgun transfer, and send other folks there when I can. They are a poke in the eye of the anti gun local government, and I like that.

My town of 15k now has four gun shops, and two pawn shops that sell guns. None of them have very good prices, and one of them is really bad and rude (but they've been around now six years, how?). At least two of them offer $25 transfers, the rest are $50 and above. I don't mind paying the $25, but I won't do $50--I'd think about opening my own business if it came to that.

Where are you gonna have it delivered to when all your LGS's close up?

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War Eagle! '10 BCS & '13 SEC

You are fortunate. My local shops are the exact opposite. Lots of near-empty space. Part of it has to do with state inventory taxation schedules, but they warn that restocking will be problematic as the fall events progress.

I don't know about taxation. Never heard of that but there are 5 or so gun stores within a 15 min drive of me and they are all stacked...ARs, AKs, FALs, Glocks, SIG's, HK, S&W....etc...etc..

Not many pictures but here's one





And another



That's how they're all like

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Yeah, but does the fly shop have anything cool? I can always use a Tibor Signature 7-8 to replace my Tibor Everglades QC that weights a ton!! A Sage X 8 weight might be handy too!! Heck, even a Scott Meridian might be nice!

Yes, you've found my other, bigger vice than guns...fly fishing!

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Get off my lawn!

Back home there's 2 gun shops and 1 pawn shop that I visit, when I have free time to look.

My fav gun shop has a well established following and is the place to go for advice, and to see a great selection of quality brands including Kimber, HK, S&W, and such. They are the ones that I trust to handle transfers, and I don't worry about their prices. They may seem steep, but with the advice, information, and friendly attitudes they have given every time I've been in, I find it well worth it. This is the shop the local LEO's know and trust by name.

The second gun shop is very small, and from what I can tell, trying to get themselves established. I've heard horror stories about them from multiple, independent sources. Serous enough to say, that I wouldn't trust them to clean my guns. Their prices are ~$200 what they should be on about everything, and they really push the "Cheaper Chinese guns are just as good as anything else you can buy on the market" line of cow dung. That being said, they have a cute girl working at the counter, who actually seems to know more then the "owner", from what our few encounters have shown. She's a S&W fan, and carries the Shield, if I remember correctly. I go there to see what their pre-owned gun selection is, and to get a smile from a counter girl if she happens to be working that day. Also, I have to pass this place to get to the pawn shop anyhow, so why not?

The pawn shop has a few smaller cases of guns, but always seems to have a few interesting pre owned to look at. Their prices on pre owned guns seem to be reasonable, and their staff seems to enjoy talking about guns. From what they've said, not much clientele is really into the gun thing. I go here in hopes of stumbling across one of the guns on the "price is right" dream list. (Maybe I should just call it a Holy Grail gun?)

Since I've moved I've only dealt with one of the gun shops close to me. They have a huge selection of about anything from Nighthawk, Kimber, and other. On top of them being very close to the house, they seem to have a good reputation from the people I've talked with, friendly, more then willing to help you with questions and tell you their personal experiences. I've done some business with them as well.

Each one has it's place and usefulness. The bulk of my support goes to the ones that earn my business. If the others happen to have something I'm interested in, then it'll go to helping them in their journey.

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John 14:6, Luke 21:11

It is interesting how much difference 'location' makes. I've only been at the current location (Coastal NC) for a little over a year, but came from the much more populated central capital city area. After the upcoming Labor Day, our population here will take a big, nice drop.

And, over the years, fit around my LE career, happened to work at 3 very established, big-to-huge inventory LGS's. So, I'll admit to being a bit spoiled.
I'm pretty sure that this area is unable to support much in the way of a very well stocked, large inventory, quality gun place.

The tackle shops bring in a lot more money, of which I also contribute heavily to.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

My favorite LGS has racks and racks of stuff. Of course they've been around since right after World War II...and they started out in the back room of a gas station.

I wonder how many people back then said "They don't have much inventory."

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John 3:16 .

It's just such a different market now. In my area, there are 2 fairly large (1 big, 1 fairly big) local shops, another around 50 miles away, and a smattering of small shops that might carry as much as a pawn shop physically.
Along those lines, we also have quite a few pawn shops that carry a bunch of used, and may or may not also sell new (but I think you have to order).
And then there are some outdoorsman shops, several of which have devoted gun sections, but don't completely rely on firearms for the income.

I know a guy who's trying to open a new shop, he builds custom ARs and does cheap FFL transfers. He is now in a 'hole in the wall' in a strip mall, which is an upgrade- he literally ran his business by appointment from a storage facility beforehand.

It's nice to walk in and see a lot of inventory, but again, you can order any gun online and beat the local shops by at least 10-20%, before figuring transfer fees and shipping. Anyone trying to run a shop has to be leery of buying up a lot of guns with the hope that people will purchase them, vs just running a transfer to get exactly what they want for less.