Five warehouses provide customized inventory - RSR Group

Shooting Industry, Nov, 2003

Steger says RSR is unique because it has maintained its five distribution points across the country.

"The system we use provides the best service to our customers, because we're in their region, and we know more about their business and what's going on in their particular area of the country," Steger said.

Understanding the needs of the different areas of the country means more than just knowledge, according to Steger. It also means customizing the inventory in each warehouse to meet the needs of retailers.

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"We're able to make our inventory relevant to the customer base we're serving in each area of the country," Steger said. "Our biggest plus is we can ship heavy items profitably because we don't have to ship them across the country. The advantage we always have, no matter what we ship, is we ship products the day people order them. Hopefully, that's part of why we were nominated for the award. It's not so much what we think about ourselves, but what our customers think about us."

Steger estimates the company handles upwards of 12,000 SKUs. Although the inventory in each warehouse is customized to the particular area it serves, all the warehouses can get anything they need.

"A large percentage of our inventory is available at each warehouse," Steger said. "There are some products that just don't sell very well in some parts of the country. But all of our inventory is available to every one of our customers, no matter where the customer is, as long as those products aren't prohibited by law in his state."

According to Steger, one way RSR provides outstanding service is by making sure those 12,000 SKUs all are relevant to the customers it serves.

"In addition to firearms, whether they be handguns or long guns, we also stock ammunition, cleaning kits, cases, holsters, sights, and different customizing options," Steger said. "We specialize in the hard-ware or hard-goods side of the industry."

Steger says RSR is particularly proud of some of the exclusive products it carries.

"We've always tried to go to the manufacturer and say, 'Can you make us something a little different that we can use to differentiate ourselves from our competition?'" Steger said. "We look for products with a different color, a different finish, a different configuration or a stock made of a different material. We try to do a lot of different things like that."

As an example, Steger cites an exclusive line of revolvers from Smith & Wesson.