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Retail Feature, continued I avoided the local gun store on eleventh street because of stories I heard of questionable business practices, and was quite pleased to finally enter the store to learn it had recently been purchased by Rick Hedrick. Rick was born and raised in Tracy, which is becoming increasingly rare. I first met Rick about twenty years ago when I assumed the loan on my home and he helped me to correct some paperwork issues related to the assumption. His personal touch in correcting the paperwork led me to do all of my banking there until it was bought by a larger bank. I had never forgotten the relief of having the branch manager personally handle the problem and get my loan back on track. Acquiring a company with a questionable reputation has not been a deterrent for Rick. He changed the name of the company to Tracy Shooting Supplies, Inc. to reflect the new ownership, and continues to take a personal interest in the needs of his customers. Rick could dwell on the issues of the past, but prefers to focus on his customers and to build a new store from his image of how a gun store should be run; with a very personal touch. Holding a business degree from a large west-coast university in business and finance, Rick has been slowly reforming the store as a place where responsible shooters can come in, sit for a while, and share a few shooting stories with friends who share their interests. "Education of customers is one of the most common tasks here in the store," Rick explains as he goes into detail about the complexity of laws surrounding the sale and transfer in firearms in California. It is not simple to buy a handgun in this state. The person wanting to buy a handgun must study a booklet issued by the state, take and pass a test, qualify with a background check, wait ten days before taking possession, and demonstrate an ability to safely handle the gun when it is in their possession. In addition, the gun cannot leave the store unless the it has a state approved locking device installed on it. The state laws create a lot of anger that is often directed toward the owners of gun stores. There are fees established and required by the state that must be collected and passed on to the buyer and these fees can become quite confusing to the buyer. I have witnessed customers accusing him of gouging them by forcing them to buy a gun lock, but the state requires the sale of an approved lock even if the gun comes with its own lock that has not been approved. This kind of regulation and enforcement causes Rick to take a fair amount of abuse from customers as they vent over the state laws. Rick has learned to take it in stride. Rick focuses on building a group of dedicated patrons who return to the store for advice and additional products. The personal touch and advice brings the customers back and Rick enjoys helping people select the gun that is best for their needs. These needs can range from home protection, trap shooting, cowboy action shooting, target shooting, varmint shooting, to big game hunting in Africa. Professional gun cleaning services are available and Rick can evaluate a problem gun and route it to a competent gunsmith who contracts his services to the locals store. During the last year Rick has ordered custom made Weatherby rifles that represent the only two of their kind. They were ordered by a local resident for an African Safari. Tracy Shooting Supplies, Inc. has also recently been selected to receive the west coast test rifle for American Western Arms. AWA has developed a new reproduction of the Colt Lightning rifle of the late 1800s. AWA has selected Tracy resident to test the gun in Cowboy Action shooting and it will be available at Tracy Shooting Supplies Inc. for those who would like to see it while it is not being tested. Tracy Shooting Supplies Inc. also carries the distinction of being the only dealer in the area for Les Baer competition pistols and for Cooper custom rifles. Rick shares the Tracy market space with two major competitors in the firearms business: Wal-Mart and Big 5 Sporting Goods. He does not consider either of these companies to be serious competitors. He feels the giants are attracting some people who are just looking for a bargain and those do not represent a significant portion of his customers. Rick likes to say that the excitement of a bargain fades quickly, but the product stays around for a long time to remind the owner if it was really a good or bad purchase. Quality is more important than price because it lasts a long time. Rick prefers to only sell products of a high enough quality to enhance his reputation and often steers people to a better value. Rick has always enjoyed shooting as a sport and bought the gun store to combine his shooting and business interests. His shooting is now limited by the demands of the store and the needs of his customers, but he occasionally spends a rare day off shooting one of his own rifles. His work days are spent helping his customers, listening to their stories of hunting or shooting, solving problems, and helping people to understand the laws that affect them in the ownership of their gun. Keith Chiles |