Click here to download the catalog as a PDF file. To view this site you need Adobe Flash Player and your browser must allow javaScripts. Go here to get the latest Flash Player. Massad Ayoob Should You Start A Cop Shop? — Part I T here’s that headline in the morning newspaper: “City Purchases New Handguns for Police Department.” You sigh and ask, “Why the hell isn’t my shop getting that business?” You’re not alone. A lot of “regular” gun-shop owners ask the same question, especially with the dramatic growth in L.E. and security sales in recent years. Wo u l d e x p a n d i n g more into the law enforcement market be good for your business? Let’s look at two firearm dealers who did, with conspicuous success. sales staff. The fourth is a traveling salesman who pays courtesy calls at police HQs and acts as a roving ambassador for the company. The sales area at Riley’s Law Enforcement Sales is compact. The gun counter area is only a small corner of the shop. Riley’s Sport Shop Riley’s Sport Shop in Hooksett, N.H., is the largest dedicated gun shop in New England, rivaled only by the gun department of the huge Kittery Trading Post in Maine. Bob Parlangeli (left) and Ralph Demicco converted the Begun by Dick Riley, building (far right, in inset) into the very successful the shop was pur- Riley’s Law Enforcement Sales. Parlangeli is now retired. chased by two longtime employees, Ralph Demicco and Bob Sample uniforms, shoes and boots, body Parlangeli, when Riley retired. armor, ballistic body bunkers, etc., take Some time back, Demicco and Parlan- up the rest of the floor space, with duty geli noted that most New Hampshire agen- belt gear mounted along the walls — all in cies made their police equipment pur- a very efficient use of sales display space. chases from “cop shops” in Massachusetts. What are some of the keys to Riley’s They converted a building on the property success in the L.E. market? into Riley’s Law Enforcement Sales. “We found it was really important to Today, the L.E. subsidiary contributes nail down some of the best, most popular 25 percent of the income to this extremely product lines and be certain we could successful retail gun shop. And, it does so provide the best prices and best delivery,” efficiently. Riley’s employs 16 full-time Demicco said. “We have Glock, CCI and personnel in the gun shop and only four in Federal as core lines in the firearms and the “cop shop.” Three of those are onsite ammunition area.” This product mix serves the company well. While in some states you find that one or another handgun brand is profoundly dominant, the Granite State’s tradition of independence is also reflected in police handgun choices. A broad mix of Beretta, Glock, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Smith & Wesson and even Walther is found among police officers. In patrol rifles, Riley’s sells primarily Bushmaster and Colt. There is less competition in ammunition. While the state police were using Winchester R a n g e r, a t l a s t look, a majority of police in the state issue either Federal Hydra-Shok or Tactical, or CCI Gold Dot. Streamlight is Riley’s dominant brand of illuminating devices. In gun leather, Riley’s offers a variety, including Bianchi, Galco, Uncle Mike’s and Safariland. “Safariland is our dominant seller in police duty gear, with Uncle Mike’s a strong second,” Demicco reports. Body armor is another core element of the business. Riley’s stocks the Armor Holdings line, which covers a broad spectrum of brands and options. Shore Galleries Attracts L.E. Sales I n northern Illinois, Shore Galleries is the dominant retailer of firearms to law enforcement. Located in Lincolnwood on the edge of Chicago, the business began as an auction house, then grew into a gun shop after the success of handling the sales of antique gun collections. That was in the mid-1950s. By May 1956, Sig Shore was operating a gun shop. At the retail facility, Shore hired a lot of off-duty cops, who recommended stocking more police equipment. Things snowFEBRUARY 2008 balled from there. By 2004, 90 percent of Shore Galleries’ sales were police weaponry and equipment. At Shore, the key to success, as it is in any business, is knowing the local market and stocking accordingly. For as long as any currently serving Chicago PD officer can remember, the department hasn’t issued firearms, except special weapons to the SWAT team. Officers purchase their own from an approved list. For more than a decade, the primary weapons have been 9mm DAO semiautomatics produced by Beretta, Ruger, Sig Sauer and Smith & Wesson. Officers may carry a DAO .45 by WWW.SHOOTINGINDUSTRY.COM 16