Events + Classes In 2021

Think back to last year — before the coronapocalypse. If someone told you we would have over 8 million new gun owners (many from traditionally hard-to-reach demographics) how excited would you be for the opportunity to sell to them?

We all know the issues in front of us are many: strained ammunition supply; state, county and even city laws prohibiting gatherings; limits on the number of customers in your store or range at one time; fierce attacks on the Second Amendment; and on and on. For our sanity, let’s be thankful the NSSF, and others, fought on our behalf to have our industry classified as essential and look at ways to host events and classes in this day and age from a glass half-full perspective.

How exactly do you hold events in 2021 at a store or range? Who the heck knows? Certainly not me, as so much is up in the air as this is written, and of course different locations all have different laws. What I do know is events, especially classes, are hugely important to your bottom line moving forward — so consider putting in the extra effort to overcome the obstacles and hold them regardless of how tough it is.

Events For Youngsters & Their Parents

To see how events were doing during the pandemic, I checked in with one of the kings of events, Vance Ewing, who, along with Michael Ryen and families, owns Bow and Barrel Sportsmen Center in Saint Robert, Mo. Vance has been hosting events nonstop since opening his operation eight years ago; it’s one of the keys to the ongoing success of the business.

A top event is a monthly Kids’ Night held the first Saturday of every month. This event runs from 6–9 p.m., and starts in the classroom with a 15-minute safety class covering range rules and firearms safety. Kids’ Night makes each child’s parent the primary trainer, with Bow and Barrel staff serving as RSOs. A new class starts roughly every 30 minutes throughout the evening. The cost for a youngster to attend Kids’ Night is just $20 and it includes 50 rounds of .22 LR, eye/ear protection and range time.

Bow and Barrel hosts a monthly Ladies’ Nights a little differently than most, as some nights it’s a beginner night, other times it’s a very basic “Introduction to Defensive Shooting” night. The class held nearest to my latest conversation with Vance included 16 women who had never been to his range (seems like a home run with this fact alone).

“Whether you have a range or not, you still have to be concerned about making the public “feel” the rest of your business is a safe place to go spend money.”

Men are not left out as they host a monthly Men’s Night as well, with steak and guns. Guests get a steak dinner (rumor has it Vance is the best griller in Saint Robert) and unlimited use of the range for $50.

The last Friday night of every month is Date Night at Bow and Barrel. Of course, Vance takes this to a higher level as well. He turns the classroom into a childcare area where parents sign their kid(s) into the children’s activities room before they enjoy an hour on the range as part of their date. Snack bar combo meals are part of the $30 nonmember/$20 member cost. There’s just one stipulation: Parents must take their kids home with them. It’s not hard to understand why this event is extremely popular and helps Bow and Barrel to keep growing.

Safety, Safety, Safety

As we all know, firearm safety is not the only important safety issue these days. We must deal with all the government mandates and pressures of public opinion. Operating a business in these unique times takes a lot of thought and effort to apply special measures — especially during events and classes.

If your business has a range, it is probably one of the safest places a person can be due to the constant flow of hospital-quality air (recirculating system) or fresh outside air (purge system) flowing past a shooter’s breathing zone at 50 cfm.

Whether you have a range or not, you still have to be concerned about making the public “feel” the rest of your business is a safe place to go spend money. Whatever your thoughts on the pandemic, we’re fighting public opinion to show our businesses are a safe place to shop.

One owner with an NSSF 5-star rated range, as well as retail and classroom component to his business, is Dr. Keith Ruter, a retired dentist. Doc owns Smokin Gun Worx in Forreston, Ill., with one of the coolest logos in the business and home of Wheel Gun Wednesday (discounted range fee for revolver shooters). He took one of the solutions from his dental practice and applied a version of it to his firearms retail business. He operates an ozone-generating, HEPA-filtered UV-light machine to combat viruses in the non-range part of the building. Doc feels this has helped keep his customers and employees safe. He’s continued hosting classes with reduced student counts over the past year.

There’s an art to teaching a class while presenting products in a way the student will buy right then. The “right then” part is extremely important: You must have the products on hand and conveniently placed for sale to get the students while the adrenaline is high — and before they start checking Amazon pricing.

As you can see from the Ed Santos example, one of the best ways to entice students to buy more merchandise from you is to have instructors wear the gear you sell. At my range, our instructors started each concealed carry class with 12 firearms on them, which they pulled out from concealment as the class went on. As a result, we sold a lot of ankle and pocket holsters, plus many North American Arms tiny revolvers.

Value Of Employees As Instructors

One lesson I learned after only two months in business was the benefit of having your employees serve as instructors of your classes — especially the beginner classes.

An outside instructor was teaching a class one day, and when I happened to walk by and hung out near the open door to observe, what did I see and hear? The instructor was writing a website address for cheap Kydex holsters on the whiteboard (that I bought, using markers I paid for) and explaining the class didn’t need some expensive leather holster to carry a gun (I had a huge display of Galco leather holsters I was still paying for right outside the classroom door). Instead, he advised they should order a holster from the website.

“One of the best ways to entice students to buy more merchandise from you is to have instructors wear the gear you sell.”

Another benefit of having your employees teach classes is the synergy with the sales floor. For example, Sally takes an introduction to pistols class on Monday from Instructor Julie. She uses a Ruger SR22 and is shown how to clean the gun using a Pro-Shot cleaning kit with Break Free solvents. Sally comes back to your store Friday, sees Instructor Julie behind the counter and asks her if she sells the gun used in the class. Instructor Julie knows it was the Ruger SR22, and with the sale can ask if Sally wants to purchase the same cleaning supplies used in the class.

Counter this with a student coming in from a class taught by outside instructors; your staff may not know the instructor used a Mossberg MC2c. Worse, your store may not carry the model or the cleaning solvent of the week the instructor was so hyped on because he got it at the last gun show.

Keep Pressing On

Reach your share of the over 8 million new gun owners by continuing events and classes. Even with reduced capacity, social distancing and coronalusional public opinion, the extra effort made will pay off down the road.

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