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. BOOMING Carolee Anita Boyles SALES! Are Your Handgun Sales Robust? They Can Be! andgun sales are booming. more of what he would consider a “nor- Focus On The Customer “In my opinion, there’s nothing more “We know what our retail cus- mal” market. tomers are buying from us, and we “January and February were still very important than good customer service,” know handgun sales to our customers are strong months for us in handguns,” Mc- McClain said. “That means training your up,” said Laurie Aronson, president of Clain said. “Our handgun sales have al- guys so they know what the guns are and Lipsey’s. “That’s a good indication that ways been good, and they continue to can make recommendations.” Those recommendations aren’t just handgun sales are up in general.” be.” Further, due to uncertainty about the Jim McClain, owner of Jim’s Firearms presidential election, McClain predicts about which gun to buy, but also about in Baton Rouge, La., is a retailer who’s strong handgun sales through the rest of which cleaning kit, ammunition and other accessories customers need. seen huge “ups” in the handgun market in the year. Aronson agrees, saying, “You don’t the past few years. What can you do to make the most of “We have, on average, between 7,000 handgun sales? Aronson and McClain of- want your salespeople to be the ‘know-italls’ behind the counter. Instead, you want and 10,000 guns in stock,” McClain said. fer several suggestions. “We carry everything from Taurus and Bersa to $7,000 Wilson Combats.” McClain said the store has always done a very strong business in handguns. Because of that reputation, he “caught the wave” when disaster struck Louisiana in 2005. “After Hurricane Katrina, on one day we sold more than 700 guns,” he said. “Sometimes people had to wait between four and eight hours to buy a gun. We were running three registers as fast as we could, and were working 18 to 20 hours a day; instead of our nice uniform shirts, we were in t-shirts and shorts and flipflops. We didn’t even have time to go home and change.” McClain said his store rode that wave of sales for almost two years. In the past 18 months, Jim McClain, owner of Jim’s Firearms, stocks thousands of handguns and says, “Nothing is more important he’s finally seen it drop off to than good customer service.” www.shootingindustry.com MAY 2008 41 H