A trip to a store for a wedding present brought me to a shopping complex that also held a Gander Mountain. Of course, I wandered in.
A look at the handgun offerings persuaded me to wander the fuck back out. They had a Beretta Neo for $320, which is a sub-$300 gun in almost every other gun shop. They had a Ruger 22/45 with molded grips priced at $330. That's also a sub-$300 gun almost everywhere else. Local gun shops sell the 22/45 with removable grips for $300 to $325.
I'd have expected a "big-box" national retailer to be able to beat the little guys on price. Guess not. Which is why I won't be going back to Gouger Mountain anytime soon.
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4 comments:
Avoid Bass Pro and Cabela's too... for the same reasons.
I believe what we're looking at here is "affinity fraud".
I was told a long time ago that in a mall complex the monthly rent generally starts at $40 per square ft. I'm not sure what the figure is now, but I imagine it is higher. That cost will be passed on to the customer. What you're paying extra for is the convenience of a big parking lot and the fact that all the shops are in one place accessed by a major road saving you time. Add in the advertising costs of the big chains, you're paying for that too.
Your local gun shop may be less expensive because they own the building/the rent is cheaper but you may have to make a separate trip to get there, the parking may be a hassle etc. Personally, I prefer to buy from mom 'n pop businesses where possible, they have a vested interest in every customer.
Al_in_Ottawa
Anon, yet a Wal-Mart was in the same complex and those guys clobber the LGSs on price. I know of a couple of LGSs that won't stock the same guns that Wal-Mart does because they can't get them wholesale for the price that Wal-Mart sells them.
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