Building profits in your reloading department

Shooting Industry, Jan, 1997 by Cal Stewart

Three Top Retailers Reveal Why Their Reloading Sales Are Successful

To borrow a gold rush phrase, "There's gold in them thar hulls!" And bullets, reloading presses, powder, cases and accessories!

But just like miners who had to work for the ore, so does the 1990's retailer. The advice of three successful retailers, can produce gold from your reloading department.

Sue Bennett is a 26-year veteran of Southwest Shooters Supply in Oklahoma City. The daughter of founder Dale Cain, she started by dusting shelves in the 7,000-square-foot, custom-built store and now is a co-owner of the family-run business that employs 15 full-time workers. She's seen what works - and what doesn't - in the operation that she now oversees Monday through Saturday.

"We used to have a really knowledgeable reloader heading that department, and didn't know his true value until he retired," said Bennett. "We saw a definite decrease in dollars until we hired our present department head, John Bollerjack, this past May. What a difference he's made!"

Bollerjack was hired when another gun store shut down. He's the ideal reloading expert, according to Bennett.

"He's familiar with standard and obsolete cartridges, knows all of the product lines, is enthusiastic about reloading and he's a darn good salesman to boot!" said Bennett.

Gerard "Jerry" Polizzi of the Trop Gun Shop Inc., in Elizabethtown, Pa., is the reloading expert for this 1,500-square-foot gun, taxidermy and gunsmithing emporium that began life in the 1960s inside the Tropical Treat diner. Perhaps the aroma of gun oil didn't mix with the smell of frying hamburgers and steamed hotdogs. The diner closed, but the gun shop remained.

"We have an experienced staff besides myself," said Polizzi, who's been reloading rifle cartridges for eight years. "When people come to us, we can get them answers."

An experienced staff is also one of the keys to high volume and profit at Rocky's House of Guns. There are two stores in the Rocky empire - one in Wenatchee, Wash., and a spanking-new store that opened in early November in Lake Havasu City, Ariz.

"Hunter Moses is one of the most knowledgeable reloaders alive," says Dick Crocker, 67-year-old banker/farmer/Korean War vet/pilot, deputy sheriff and gun store principal who's partnered with his son, Rocky Crocker, a 34-year-old entrepreneurial whiz kid. "Hunter really helped reloading sales take off in Washington, and now that he's in our new store in Arizona, I'm sure he'll repeat the performance."

With Moses spreading the reloading gospel in the 900-square-foot store on the main street in Lake Havasu City, the Crockers hired Pat Dennis and Sam Fletcher to work the Washington store. It includes a storefront and warehouse totaling about 6,400 square feet.

"Pat is a full-time employee and Sam is a hobbyist who works part-time," said Crocker. "They really know their stuff and can help the newcomers we get all the time, and the 'experts' who may not be so 'expert,'" he said with a chuckle.

FILLING THE SHELVES

Besides knowledgeable help, the right inventory is critical to building reloading profits.

"There's more than $1 million of inventory in the store at all times, and we focus on the best-selling products," said Bennett, of Southwest Shooters Supply, whose reloading department is about 900 square feet adjacent to the black powder and optical departments. "In primers, we move CCI more than anything, followed by Winchester and Remington. We sell a grade B primer, too, for people who aren't so concerned about brand names."

In bullets, Southwest Shooters Supply moves, in order of preference, Hornady, Sierra and Nosler, "... although the Nosler is a little pricey on partition bullets," Bennett notes. "We also sell a cast bullet that's made locally. It's cheaper."

In powder, Bennett sells Hodgdon, Winchester, IMR, Hercules, Alliant and Accurate, in that order. "We're fortunate to have a separate room for powder storage that meets fire department regulations," she said, of her solid-concrete, including the roof, store. "It's more convenient for our customers and sales staff."

What are the top primers in Pennsylvania at the Trop Gun Shop? "We move Federal, CCI, Winchester and Remington, in that order," said Polizzi.

The Trop Gun Shop carries a huge variety of bullets, but only a couple of boxes each of the best-selling Sierra, Hornady, Speer and Nosler projectiles.

"We get deliveries twice a week and, unlike the other two gun shops around here, we'll special order for customers and that really helps sales," said Polizzi. "We can get a customer's product within a week to 10 days."

Polizzi uses and thus recommends Hodgdon powder. "But we sell IMR, Winchester and Alliant, also," he said. "I am most comfortable with Hodgdon, so if a customer doesn't know what he wants, I'll steer him to what I'm most-familiar with."

How about at Rocky's two locations? "We stock all types of primers, but I'd say the top sellers are Fiocchi and Winchester," said Crocker. "But with any of our products here in Washington, we're a cut-rate store. We work on a 10 to 11 percent margin, so we turn a lot of product. We're doing about $1.5 million in sales per year, down from our high of $3.2 million."