Well, it's that time of year again.
The SHOT show has come and gone, the owner/boss at the LGS where I work has returned from Vegas and is preparing to leave for the next big trade show in Fort Worth.

And now the phone begins to ring. Repeated inquiries on guns that have been just announced and are barely a glimmer in the distributor's eyes.
A panicky "Have ya'll got a 'xxxxxxxx' (fill in the item you just heard about 3 days ago) You don't? Why? Well, (exasperated tone) when are you getting it? Well, who DOES have them? Well, how can I get one?"
Multiply times 9 every day.
Even more fun are the ones who have no concept of how to do an internet search on online auction sites. May as well suggest looking for it on the backside of the planet Mongo.

A lowly clerk has absolutely NO way of knowing when the 'just announced super-terrific master tactical blaster auto' will be arriving for the perusal of all that are eagerly awaiting it's glorious arrival.In fact, not only the lowly clerk, but even the boss that went to the SHOT show lacks this knowledge.

Yet, there seems to be some sort of 'disconnect' when that information is conveyed. Sort of a non-verbal 'gosh, you work at a gun store, whatdya mean you don't know when the utmost object of my desire will be here'? sorta look and response. And the 'I've got the money and I want this and a GOOD businessman would make it happen' sort of attitude.

And the stock is rolling in. (see pic) Pallets of guns daily. Of course, dealerships are offered 'packages' in order to qualify for certain pricing structure. With these packages come guns that don't really move all that wonderfully. Guess what - that means that once more we have 4-5 .500 S&W's on display that we get to hand out to 2.5 dozen 'lookers' a day who wish to have their pals gather 'round and exclaim the awesome hugeness of this behemoth revolver..................and then hand it back. Over, and over, ad nauseum.
They'll be listed on the 'net and leave in a few weeks, but 'til then - it does get a bit old.

Great day at the shop though.......
Feel better now.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

To use a trite phrase, "I feel your pain." Been there, done that, got the t shirt! Did it today! I checked one of our distributors today for a 617 and in the list of some 20 or so Smith revolvers on the page there were maybe 3 that showed in stock. Customer asked when the 617 would be in stock. Hoe do you answer that? The distributor is not open on Saturday and I doubt if our gal there could tell me anyway.

My favorite are the holsters. "Do you have a holster for (insert obscure cheap/latest gun here)? Why not? What else will fit? Where can I find one? (As if I know all the inventory for every shop within 100 miles.)

The folks who can make your day though are the ones who come in and "You probably don't have one of these but can you order one and call me when it comes in?" These folks want this or that and know I don't have everything but know I can probably get it and are willing to wait. THAT WILL make your day.

Rant over, Pecos who feels a lot better.

The only thing new about that in the gun business is that all the "new" guns and equipment become known on the customer side a lot faster since the proliferation of the internet and the advancement of the SHOT show. Back in the '70s and '80s, when the SHOT show was in its infancy, and pre-internet, all the new items that didn't yet exist were pretty much unknown to end users. The only "new" things that shooters new about were whatever new guns were announced by the various manufacturers and "tested" by the gun magazines. Never was it disclosed that they were pre-production models, and that the factories had not even tooled up for production, let alone actually built any for sale. Within days of a new issue of a gun magazine coming out, we would be deluged with customers calling or coming in to see the new "S&W/Colt/Ruger/Winchester/Remington/Browning Whiz-Bang Super-Duper Model XXX in that new .260-375 H&H-Remington caliber." Of course, none had even been built, and, if they ever were (most weren't), they would not be in production for another two to three years (but you wouldn't know that to read the company's advertising in the gun rags). I can't begin to tell you how many disappointed, or worse, customers walked out with long faces. Of course, two years later, when the new miracle guns came out, the same customers were now chasing the latest whiz-bang model (which, of course, did not yet exist), and were no longer interested in "those old things." Oh yeah, when they finally did come out, all the distributors put them on "allocation," meaning you had to buy $500-$1,000 of unsaleable items to receive one "desirable" gun, at a dealer discount from list price of 10% to 15% - just try making money in the gun business, especially under those circumstances. Heck, I still have some of that junk, and I closed my retail gun business back in the 1980s! The more things change, the more they remain the same."

The gun business is a labor of love. I'll bet that most LGS could make more money selling janitorial supplies instead of guns.

do what the bar tenders do.... when someone calls and asks for a certain person, the tender says "he's not here",, and hangs up. end of problem!!

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UNDER THE CONE OF SILENCE

you really have to be a patient soul to be behind the counter at a gun store.
these places seem to be a magnet for the talkative squirrels that feel a need to try to impress somebody with their tales of manly bravado.

One of my"Off Duty"(keeping the wolf from the front door) jobs was a clerk in a large gun shop.
Anyone worked in a gunshop dread a rainy Saturday? After the day's end---MILLER TIME!!

We have 4G phones getting us data instantly, why can't your store get stuff right away? All symptoms of the "give it me now or sooner" society.