Route 9 West: Not Fully Loaded
Ware Gun Shop, 91 W. Main St., Ware
Weisser, a former technical manager at MassMutual in Springfield, has owned the Ware Gun Shop on Main Street in Ware since 2001. But just recently he refinanced in order to protect himself against a slowdown in such a way that he'll still have enough cash on hand for expenses even if revenues drop by as much as 25 percent.
And he's honest that sales for the first month of 2008 have not been stellar. In fact, they were down by 15 percent as compared to January 2007. For 2007 as a whole, he said sales were down by 4 percent when compared with 2006.
"And I'm told I'm lucky," he said.
Weisser first saw signs a slowdown starting with last fall when the normal bump from the start of the hunting season failed to materialize.
"The normal increase happened, but it was nowhere near as strong as previous years," he said.
However, he still sees the national economy as a very resilient "mixed bag."
"On Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I think it's overstated," he said of the hype around a possible recession. "But on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I think it could be bad."
Fewer Feet On The Street
Weisser also contends that the retail gun industry could be hurting in part because of slowdowns in the home construction arena, because he says, most of his customers work in the trades.
The average new gun in his 4,000-square-foot shop costs about $500, while specialty rifles can cost upwards of $1,550, like the limited edition Winchester engraved with John Wayne's face Weisser has stored behind one of the store's glass counters.
But at the end of the day, Weisser said, the real drain has been because of slower foot traffic.
The rule of thumb at the Ware Gun Shop is that for every two people that enter the store, one person buys a gun. Today, that ratio still holds true, Weisser said, but there are fewer people coming in the shop, meaning fewer sales. However, he has seen the average sale price per person go up.
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