Great post Len. As I read through your post I could almost "feel your pain". As I knowmany of youare aware I do not own my ownbusiness but I have been the personally solely responsible for running the archery section of one of the local hunting and fishingshops for the past several years.

We went through/are going through much the same type of scenario that Len related. We had a Cabelas and a D.I.C.K'S open up within a year of each other and within reasonable driving distance of the shop. Both were near fatal blows to the shop's archery department. It was only since June of this past year that archery sales and service started going back up to the levels they once were at. Sadly though the damage was done.

After 9/11 and the new stores opened he decided that the archery, fishing, etc.. wasn't providing enough of a profit for him to make a decent living. He started a second business unrelated to anything outdoors and is doing very well with it. The shop went up for sale but still functions much as it did before but with all of the work, upkeep and ordering left to the individual department "managers". After being in that position for the last few years I can honestly say that trying to run an archery shop is anything but easy.

My hat goes off to Len for sticking with it and continuing to provide a high level of service and expertise to his customers.