Are Online Retailers Killing Local Gun Stores? Should We Care?

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dlbleak

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The short answer is yes but I’d rather spend a few bucks more at a local store. I frequent village tactical, sooner state pawn and a host of other local stores. I called VT the other day looking for some ammo. I’d rather give it to them than some online company that doesn’t know me from the next guy with a credit card.
 

SoonerP226

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Competition is a good thing, but unless we can get GCA68 and NFA34 repealed/struck down, we should be very worried about losing LGSes. You have to have a local FFL to receive that gun, after all...
 

O4L

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I agree with the last part of the article...

"WHO IS KILLING BRICK AND MORTAR BUSINESSES?

My opinion is this: The brick and mortar gun store is better than the online seller if it’s done correctly. Well-run gun stores like The Guns and Gear Store and Top Gun Supply, with engaging, not-pushy, knowledgeable employees and a good selection of inventory not only tend to be successful but also serve as hubs for their local firearms community. But when a shop goes out of business, we don’t point at the $650 Glock 19 under the counter or the owner’s brother-in-law, Bill, behind it with his “guns don’t kill people, I do” t-shirt. (I remember when he told Travis Haley “Son, that Glockdoesn’t have a safety and if you buy it you will definitely die. You need this Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum here.”) Rather, we direct our wrath towards the specter of the gunternet – the low-overhead, no-presence online gun shop.

I may be wrong, but it seems like it isn’t the big box retailer or the online gun dealer – it’s the local gun store killing the local gun store."
 

DavidMcmillan

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It's a shame when a local store, of any type, goes out of business. But, every business must be able to change as the customer base changes. Sometimes very hard to do, just ask the buggy whip businesses.
 

cktad

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The short answer is yes but I’d rather spend a few bucks more at a local store. I frequent village tactical, sooner state pawn and a host of other local stores. I called VT the other day looking for some ammo. I’d rather give it to them than some online company that doesn’t know me from the next guy with a credit card.
I agree if it's only a few bucks but I'm not going to pay a premium to a local store if I can save a lot money buying online.

Unless I need the item asap.
 

Timmy59

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I will always patronize a local before the interwebs.

I am and have always been a blue collar hourly worker, Once upon a time I could say I was middle class, today I might be able to say I am upper lower class.. What that means in my purchases is that I look for the lowest prices, I am also a BIG fan of layaway.. I would love nothing more than to keep my $$ local or in state but it doesn't happen.. We are big internet shoppers.. So my LGS gets only xfer $$..
 

dennishoddy

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Brick and mortar stores need to realize in this day and age they need an online side of their business model.
They need to utilize social media and a website that keeps current inventory up to date. Yep, that might mean hiring a person solely for internet sales but there are a lot of folks that only do internet purchases.
If B&M stores don’t keep up with technology, they will almost always fail.
 

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