buckeye

OK, I have a few questions I would like to ask and would appreciate as many answers as possible. In case anyone has missed it I am in the start up process of opening a shop.

* What hours of operation would work best for your schedule?

* What do you guys think of the new G5 sights and peeps?

* I never use a laser to set my center shot. BUT when you have work done at the shop does it make you more confident to see that a laser has been used to set you rest?

* I don't care for mechanical BH's much, especially with the fixed heads made today. Should I suck it up and carry them anyhow?

* Iam thinking about not carrying Trophy Ridge sights. What do you think?

If you could help me out with these, I am sure I will have more later.

HNI really is an invaluable place. I hope everyone appreciates what HNI offers us all.HNI rocks
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Arthur P

Q. What hours of operation would work best for your schedule?

A. I'd suggest staying open til 9 in the evening at least one night a week, so guys can stop off andget what they need after work.

Q. What do you guys think of the new G5 sights and peeps?

A. No opinion.

Q. I never use a laser to set my center shot. BUT when you have work done at the shop does it make you more confident to see that a laser has been used to set you rest?

A. No. Setting centershot by laser doesn't impress me in the least. Smoke and mirrors, as far as I'm concerned.

Q. I don't care for mechanical BH's much, especially with the fixed heads made today. Should I suck it up and carry them anyhow?

A. Nothing wrong with putting your own personal stamp on your business.But then, you will miss some sales. Your call.

Q. Iam thinking about not carrying Trophy Ridge sights. What do you think?

A. No opinion.

Germ

QWhat hours of operation would work best for your schedule?

A Open until 9:00 PM during the week, at least 6 onSaturday

Q Whatdo you guys think of the new G5 sights and peeps?

A Awsome

QI never use a laser to set my center shot. BUT when you have work done at the shop does it make you more confident to see that a laser has been used to set you rest?

A Good place to start when tuning a bow. Quick and easy and accurate

QI don't care for mechanical BH's much, especially with the fixed heads made today. Should I suck it up and carry them anyhow?

A I agree with you, but why would you want to alienate customers?

QIam thinking about not carrying Trophy Ridge sights. What do you think?

A Great sight, I would carry as many top brands as you can. SpotHog, Copper John, etc

txjourneyman

OK, Tue.- Fri 10-6 Sat 8-5, with maybe one or two late nights during the week. I may buy a G-5 sight,I just haven't been able to put my hands on one yet. However it will really have to knock me over at that price or I'll go with a Dusk Devil for a lot less. Yes I feel better if center shot is laser set. Why? Who knows. As far as mechanicals goes are you stocking the store for yourself or potential customers? You almost have to carry a variety. Think about the lazy guy that won't take the time to tune for fixed heads.
I'm getting rid of my TR sight. You could always special order. As long as you carry a variety of other brands that covers a wide price range.
Anything else?

Rick James

I can give you input from my experience at the shop I work at.

Hours: 90% of our customers are at the shop between 4pm-9pm. Saturdays they come in all day long, but more in the afternoon. We are open from 10am to 8pm every night however we have 2-3 customers all day long until 3pm hits, and then most are there between 4-9pm. We often times have customers walk in the door at 8pm or just after we close which is why we are there till 9 every night. I would say most transactionshappen between 5:30pm and 9pm though.

G5 sights and peeps: I think they are cool, however by design they seem to appeal to hunters specifically. This crowd of people tend to not want to drop $120-$150 on a pins sight from what I see at the shop. The only crowd you see that will drop this kind of $$$ on a pins sight are the 3D guys, and they tend to want a spot hogg or sword when in that price range. For the 3D guys, I sell probably 3 swords acu sites for every 1 sight from other manufacturers, and its not just because I push them, its because they sell themselves. The margin on the swords is much better too.......just an FYI. I don't have experience w/ their peeps, I sell super peeps to the 3D/target guys, and fletcher tru peeps to the hunters.

Lasers: You can get a better tune in less time with other means. Explain this to your customers and let them dictate if you need to do otherwise. I would however consider getting the spot hogg laser assembly to tune idler lean, etc. That is a cool tool.

Mechanical Broadheads: Yes. Carry them, but maybe only carry some of the better ones. We will be carrying the rage slipcams this year, as well as some of the rocket products (steelheads and steelhead XP's), and the G5 Tekan's. We will also carry slick tricks, stingers, steel force, muzzy's, and thunderheads.

Trophy Ridge: We carry the trophy ridge sights, but don't sell a lot of them mostly because we don't push them. Once someone realizes they can get something else for the same or less $$$ they tend to buy swords or spot hogg's. I hate to bash manufacturers but I really think these are junk and the number of problems I see on them as compared to how many we sell is out of control. The company does stand behind them however and have excellent customer service.

My biggest piece of advice to you is to get an indoor range facility built onsite even if it is only 10 yards. Get NAA or NFAA instructor certifications yourself or get someone that has them in the shop and do lessons. They are a great source of revenue, and people that can hit the target enjoy the sport much more, are more likely to stick with it, and will spend more money with you. We have 15 yards indoors w/ 6 lanes and a NAA/NFAA certified level 4 coach on staff full time and this really brings a lot of people in the door. I would highly recommend making this happen if your serious about this. I will be starting to pursue my instructor certifications next winter so that I can offer coaching through the shop and independantly as well.

Edit - My other piece of advice is to open an account with Kinsey's and/or Lancaster. All those items that you may want to order for a customer on occasion but don't want to stock you can get through these guys at dealer pricing. While their dealer pricing is not as attractive as becoming a dealer directly, it is often times a better option than the minimum order quantity restrictions some manufacturers have, plus their customer catalogs that show everything they have (with no pricing info) is an extremely valuable resource when a customer doesn't know what they want, but knows they don't want what you have in stock.

buckeye

Thanks everyone so far.

Rick James

I have secured Lancaster and Kinseys as supplier / distributers.

Not sure if you saw my other post but as of right now these are what I plan to carry for sure for accessories. Although I am still looking for other stuff to help fill in the voids.

The reason I ask about the G5's and Trophy Ridge is I am thinkikg about swapping them out. Not carrying TR and picking up G5.

Arrows. Goldtip. Easton - Beaman.
Sights. Spot Hogg. Trophy Ridge. Copper John. Cobra. Sword.
Rests. Muzzy. Trophy Taker. Trophy Ridge. NAP.
Releases. Scott. T.R.U.
Stabilizers. Simms. Doinker. Fuse.
Broadheads. Slick Trick. Muzzy. G5. NAP.

All the Simms gear and STS.

Rick James

Good idea, I guess they both fit in the same price range. I don't have a ton of experience with them but we did move 2 of them through the shop and I got to look the one over pretty good before it left. They are light, and seem to be of good design, hopefully better than TR. They both seem to dump lots of marketing money in the magazines for their products, so I would imagine customers will know who they are when they come in the door so you won't have to educate them on the product. It's sad I know, but a lot of products move because they happen to have the most magazine coverage, not because they are necessarily the best product. It is a good idea to have these types of products in the shop to help move stuff, and if you can find one that is better than another and recognized out there, then get on it and see if you can get yourself a protected territory.

quiksilver

Buckeye -

I'd echo a lot of the same things that Rick James has said already. Most guys work until 4 or 5 M-F, or they don't work at all. In any event, almost everyone is free in the late evenings through the week, plus all day Saturday & Sunday. I'd make sure that I was open for the working folk, until 9 or so.

When to be open depends on the kind of volume that you're trying to push. If you're looking to quit your dayjob and earn a living, you'll need to suck every dollar out of it that you can, that means not missing a sale - open 9-9 daily. However, if you're going to keep your dayjob, I wouldn't hesitate to frequent a shop that is only open from 5-9 each evening, plus all day Sat & Sun.
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G-5 Sights? Real nice, but you're not getting what you pay for (marketing). If you're looking for a mid-range sight to stock, check out these. A guy from right up the road has an upstart sight company, and all the locals swear by his stuff. They're very reasonably priced. http://www.vitalbowgear.com/ I can get you the contact info if you want it. If money was no object, I'd use the G-5's, but you'll have a hard time getting $140 for sights out of the hunter crowd. The target guys will shell it out though.
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No laser for center shot? I don't care, as long as it shoots straight. I'm not very finicky when it comes to that stuff. I don't care if you use lasers, rulers, gauges or voodoo hexes. If it works, I never complain.
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I would stock both mechanical & fixed heads. Sales. For mostMechanical heads, you get one shot before the head is ruined (at leastone bent blade)- then it's back to the shop for replacements. Meanwhile, you sell a guy a sixpack of Muzzy's, he can buy an $8 pack of replacement blades and kill 25 deer with them. Besides, people like choices and some guys really do like the mechanical heads.
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Trophy Ridge sights are okay, but in my opinion, one pin sight is as good as the next. It's a fixed pin that just sits there.
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Other advice: Do things that the big retailers cannot do. Offer guided hunts in the mornings before you open, you can book guys, put them in a stand and either leave them there or end the hunt early. Hang their pictures in your shop. Network with your buddies and have them help. Serve as aspringboard point for your customers to find hunts elsewhere, do fishing trips, etc. This will all help your business gain notoriety in professionalcircles and with your customers. Also,the hunting crowd will start to look at you as the guy to see if they wantto score on that buck of a lifetime. That's the stuff that keeps them coming back.

Cash in on the fads. Under Armour is a big thing now, don't miss the boat. Anything that says Sims. Cam and 1/2, scouting cameras,minerals, etc.There are also a lot of big local fads too, ex.: around here a few years ago, there was this cover scent called "Mountain Magic" that stunk like vanilla. Shops couldn't keep it on the shelves.

I'm a huge sucker for a contest. Any kind of contest. Deer, Turkey, Groundhog, Rabbits, anything. That puts people in your shop, and gives them an excuse to check out the place.

Good luck

hardcorehunter

tsoc

Quicksilver has made a number of very good points.You want to be available to the working person,the challenge with that is that you want a life to and want to be able to hunt to I would imagine.So finding that balance may not be the easiest thing.If the shop is in your home or close by and you can get other things accomplished if you have no customer traffic that would help.I would be pleased if I was able to get to a shop by 7:00 in the evening.
Contests,leagues,anything that makes your shop a focal point is a good thing.
I know nothing about G5 stuff.I have a copper john sight on one bow and a custom bow equipment on the other.
My understanding with the laser is it makes it easier and faster for you to adjust the center shot.If it saves you time and you can justify the expense buy it.
I know a lot of guys who shoot mechanical broadheads some of them are tuning freaks.Sell people what they want to buy,not what you think they should buy.O f course you should educate them and explain to them why they may want to do things differently but sell them what they want.
I also don't know about Trophy Ridge sights.
Some of the manufacturers you mention devote a lot of money to advertising,so you will have people looking to buy things based on their being influenced by the advertising.It is hard to go against the grain with that kind of stuff.It is not about reality it is about perception,if they have to have it because it has a center page spread every month in Bowhunting magazine than if you don't have it they will find it.
Good luck to you.When you get on board with the Enigma Camo let me know.It seems likely that I will have to have some of that!