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 Keep Your Displays Full, Even During Panic Buying mpty display space can make your gun shop look like it’s about to go out of business — not the sentiment you want to impart to your customers. When inventory is temporarily thin, creative displays present a prosperous look that reassures customers. This is especially important in the midst of the desperate “last-chance” gun spree of firearm, magazine and ammo purchasing that followed the election of Barack Obama to be the next president. Gun shops hitting record sales is good news. The downside to booming sales? These rushes of panic buying can literally leave shelves and wall displays of gun shops bare. We’ve seen events like this before — locally during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and nationally during the Brady Bill and the first Assault Weapons Ban, and during the Y2K phenomenon. Most business experts strongly advise against empty or sparsely stocked displays. Yes, a few may contend that near-empty gun racks can be a short-term motivator: “They’re almost out of everything! This really is my last chance! I just gotta buy now!” E That is not, however, a majority view. ure. Even with the best of intentions, some Consider this like a consumer. If you businesses simply do not have enough of a look as if you can’t keep your shelves cash base to build their business. However, stocked, potential purchasers may view remembering that perception is the reality, you as a loser, whose business is about to the dealer in this situation should look sucfail. People don’t want to buy from losers. cessful now, if he or she wants to be sucThey want to buy from successful dealers cessful later. who, they perceive, will be there to give Let’s look at filling those empty spaces. them aftermarket support for a long time. That’s why it’s so critical to give a prosperous impression, even when inventory is down. Other dynamics can cause inventory to dwindle, such as undercapitalization — the biggest cause of small business fail- When inventory is low, manufacturers’ banners fill the empty spaces nicely. Banners, Carrying Cases Fill Blank Spots on Strayer, owner of Pro-Arms gun shop in Live Oak, Fla., space out of the safes that held the rest of the inventory. However, he moved from a small gun shop to a large operation right in the started with only two Springfield M1As — the expensive SOCOMmiddle of the recent gun-sales boom. II versions — one Smith & Wesson M&P15, some DPMS and Strayer’s long-gun wall had been designed to display rifles and Bushmaster ARs, one SIG 556 rifle and just enough WASR semiaushotguns racked lengthwise, so customers could see the whole fire- tomatic AK clones that I could count them all on my fingers. arm. However, by the time he was ready to move into the big shop, This left considerable open space on the walls. his inventory of AR15s and other long guns had been decimated by What do you do when this happens? Fill the temporarily emptwo unanticipated factors. ty space with banners from the One was the state troopers manufacturers. living in his area had just been Displaying a banner, literauthorized to purchase their own ally, “flies the flag” and sends AR15 rifles from an approved list two messages. One is, “We sell of brands and models. They practhis brand!” The other is, “The tically swamped him. Then, the people who make these guns trust gun boom hit following the Nous.” The message received: “This vember elections, which was less dealer is on the list to get more than two weeks before the move products from this manufacturer to the bigger shop. as soon as they are available.” Strayer had started with enough In addition to the long-gun black rifles to put one representa- In a showcase of Springfield Armory XDs, the open carrying case gives challenge, Strayer experienced tive sample of each he had in stock this display a fuller look and sells the “package value” to customers. a run on semiautomatic pistols, into a large display, and refill that The showcase’s mirrored sides also present a good visual effect. with higher than 10-round capac16 FEBRUARY 2009 J Read SI DIGITAL www.shootingindustry.com