Gun makers take opposite approach to selling product

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Apr 20, 2001 by Dickinson, Casey J

KING FERRY - Remington Arms, long-time Herkimer County manufacturer, has moved away from the old methods of making rifles and guns in favor of newer technology. The company has modernized its Ilion plant over the past several years, streamlining the production process for its mass-market firearms such as the popular pumpaction 870 series of shotguns.

One hundred miles to the west, in the Cayuga County town of King Ferry, another shotgun manufacturer is pursuing a different market from Remington's. "We're just the opposite," says Robin Sharpless, director of marketing and business development for Ithaca Gun Co., LLC.

Remington's rifles and shotguns are sold in sporting-goods stores and at major retailers across the nation, while Ithaca concentrates its sales on a network of firearms - focused dealers.

Ithaca's customer base, says Sharpless, is composed of shotgun aficionados seeking to recapture a tool from the "Golden Age" of American shotgun manufacturing prior to World War II. He often uses the analogy of automobiles to explain why people are willing to pay more for an Ithaca shotgun.

"Being able to buy a Model 37 is the equivalent to being able to purchase a classic car at the local dealer," he says, "It's not a reproduction, it's the real thing."

As with classic cars, owning an Ithaca shotgun can bring back memories of younger days for some, customers, Sharpless explains.

"For every grandson that inherited their grandfather's Model 37," he says, "there were three or four siblings that didn't."

Ithaca produces fewer than 10,000 guns each year, says Sharpless. However, some of those are upscale custom shotguns that can cost up to $4,000 each.

Ithaca Gun Co., LLC is the latest incarnation of the 120-year-old Ithaca Gun name. After encountering financial troubles in the 1980s, Ithaca changed owners and ultimately wound up in the hands of creditors. The current Ithaca company dates back to 1996, when new investors bought some assets from BSB Bank and began anew, focusing on a single product, the Model 37 pump-action shotgun.

Remington introduced the 870 in 1949, using less expensive and less laborintensive manufacturing processes. Over the years, Ithaca craftsmanship couldn't compete with Remington's manufacturing ability and pricing. Other manufacturers, such as Mossberg, also introduced lowcost pump shotguns, cutting into Ithaca's market share. By 1995, the original Ithaca Gun had been through three financial crises and could no longer compete. The Remington 870 is now the best-selling model on the market.

Ithaca Gun Co. manufactures its Model 37 shotguns using the same techniques as the original Ithaca company did when it introduced the line in 1937. Each gun, says Sharpless, begins as a seven-pound block of steel that is machined down to a 24-ounce receiver. Each stock, he adds, begins as a block of wood to be shaped by Ithaca craftsmen and women. Each Ithaca gun is assembled and finished by hand. Ithaca employs 30 at its 35,000-square-foot plant in King Ferry.

The care, says Sharpless, costs more, but Ithaca's target market isn't interested in price alone.

"Our shotguns cost much more than an [Remington] 870 sells for," he adds.

The suggested retail price for a Model 37 is more than $700, while a Remington 870 has a suggested price of $329. However, the Remington may sell for less on sale at a discount chain.

Remington, with approximately 1,000 employees at its one-million-square-foot plant, is Herkimer County's largest employer. The company's flagship Ilion facility turns out more than half a million rifles and shotguns each year, according to Larry Kipp, the plant's manager.

Remington's Model 870 slide-action shotguns are standard equipment for many of the world's law-enforcement and military personnel. While Ithaca is no commercial threat to Remington in the law-enforcement field, says Sharpless, some departments, such as the Los Angeles Police, still issue Ithaca shotguns. Ithaca sells its law-enforcement models only to government agencies, he stresses.

Founded in 1880, Ithaca introduced its most famous product in 1937, a pumpaction shotgun based on a design by famed firearms developer John Browning. The original Model 37 is actually a re-issue of the earlier Remington Model 17, manufactured between 1921 and1933.

Remington sold 73,000 Model 17 shotguns, available only in 20 gauge. The patents on Remington's Model 17 had expired by 1937, allowing Ithaca to manufacture its own version of the Browning design.

Ithaca does make one major concession to modem manufacturing technology. The company's Legacy Edition stock engraving service uses a laser to etch a handwritten personal message onto a gunstock. The message, written in the customer's own handwriting, allows customers to personalize a new purchase or their old Ithaca shotgun.