Is Opening Gun Shop Profitable?

[NorCalBusa]

Want to make a million bucks with a gun shop? Start with two...

With the pending "no lead bullets" law coming, start with three.

[DrewN]

More like favorable terms from suppliers would be my guess.

[EMR]

[audiophil2]

Go boutique. Gun range first with sales floor secondary. Classrooms. Memberships. Rent stuff regulars can't have like events called suppressor Sunday where all range user must rent a suppressor to enjoy quiet shooting. Laser simulator

[SelfGovernor]

...
The purple-haired community agitator/councilwoman came on the news a couple years ago, be-otchin' about it's opening - https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-storie...e=cmg-tv-10080 - & I thought, "Geez... I GOTTA give those guys some business!" They've been SO cool, and great to deal with, I've bought at LEAST 6 pistols from them, lotsa gear, and now do all my transfers through them as well! As have LOTS of other people. The owner tells me, the purple-haired councilwoman was the BEST thing that could've happened to them!!!

That's like the Streisand effect Only better

SG

[TKM]

Quantico Tactical, late of Oceanside, consolidated their operations to Virginia a few years back.

[nitroxdiver]

[ZirconJohn]

California is absolutely a very profitable State to operate a firearm business

You will most certainly make a small fortune

...but to achieve a small fortune you must first start with a large ... very large fortune...!

[GW]

Hi Ever One,
I have always wanted to open an Gun Shop, but see the gun industry is California is not doing well, lot of the Gun Shop Close, and was curious of is it profitable in the state of CA? I also know to find a landlord who is well to lease you a store front can be very challenge, especially in the Los Angeles area. Please let me know, any input will be greatly appreciated. Thank you

Ideally, you should have a strip mall with the gun shop, billiard supply and a massage parlor. That way if they like to shoot, you'll get them going and...

You get the picture


eta A taqueria in that mall would be a good idea too!

[WWDHD?]

Go boutique. Gun range first with sales floor secondary. Classrooms. Memberships. Rent stuff regulars can't have like events called suppressor Sunday where all range user must rent a suppressor to enjoy quiet shooting. Laser simulator

Come to San Mateo County. There are NO indoor ranges from Marin, down through SF & along the peninsula all the way south to Santa Clara. No ranges = no competition for that whole part of the Bay Area as well as only a few scattered gun stores at all. Mostly a very wealthy part of the state with no places to shoot local or many places to buy guns & related items.
Want to be the only fish in a very big pond? Build a well run indoor range/gun store here and make a fortune.

[NoHeavyHitter]

You'd be hard-pressed to find a business that runs on tighter margins. A straight gun shop would be very difficult. Most of the successful ones have a focus on some sort of related profit mechanism. For example, I've seen quite a few plain gun shops go under in the last couple years, but I know of a shop that is growing that started life as an "ammo only" business. Same thing with reloading tools and supplies as I've seen such a shop add guns to their inventory just as the previously mentioned ammo shop did.

In much the same way as I've mentioned, I've also seen an indoor shooting range (years ago) decide to add gun sales. Now days, pretty much all ranges sell guns. This tells me that having a related business that caters to shooting is a major factor in keeping the guns sales end of the business afloat.

[Uncivil Engineer]

Come to San Mateo County. There are NO indoor ranges from Marin, down through SF & along the peninsula all the way south to Santa Clara. No ranges = no competition for that whole part of the Bay Area as well as only a few scattered gun stores at all. Mostly a very wealthy part of the state with no places to shoot local or many places to buy guns & related items.

Want to be the only fish in a very big pond? Build a well run indoor range/gun store here and make a fortune.

Did you forget about Turner's in San Carlos. They had a site approved only to have a "community organizer" cause trouble delaying the construction until Turner's said F it. You can count on the same level of bs anywhere on the peninsula.

[BigPimping]

Better off opening a coffee house near a college campus.

[audiophil2]

Come to San Mateo County. There are NO indoor ranges from Marin, down through SF & along the peninsula all the way south to Santa Clara. No ranges = no competition for that whole part of the Bay Area as well as only a few scattered gun stores at all. Mostly a very wealthy part of the state with no places to shoot local or many places to buy guns & related items.
Want to be the only fish in a very big pond? Build a well run indoor range/gun store here and make a fortune.

I considered it but I do not have the funds. I would target the high net worth individuals.

To get past the red tape I would probably start off with simulators only. See how it goes and then expand to gun range and shop. Have a restaurant attached to the simulatorsike the one down here called modern round and make it a happening weekend spot.

[DrewN]

I considered it but I do not have the funds. I would target the high net worth individuals.

To get past the red tape I would probably start off with simulators only. See how it goes and then expand to gun range and shop. Have a restaurant attached to the simulatorsike the one down here called modern round and make it a happening weekend spot.

LOL, but now you're talking about TWO high overhead, low profit businesses together! Cooking has been my fallback job since I was 15 years old and I would think long and hard before opening a restaurant. Bar that didn't have to serve food as a license condition? In a second, but California thinks that these two completely unrelated enterprises must be magically better together,so unless you buy an extremely old license you have to not only serve food but have it make up 51% of your sales. Which will never happen with burgers and fries so you either lie or try and run a proper restaurant, with all the misery that goes with it.