Zero Hour Arms - moving on...

Well, truth be told... usually when one shop goes down, another one appears, or something else fills the vaccuum depending on the
demand. Admittedly that armpit region down there (that nebulous area below Boston) where ZA is, has always been relatively under served, but that isn't exactly a new problem.

-Mike

armpit region? Yeah, we have Brockton right around the corner, but at least it isn't Leominster and Fitchburg [smile]
 
Maybe nothing. Fed Law requires the BBs to be available for any unannounced audit/inspection during any posted hours. I doubt they'd buy a story of "we're closed for renovations" as an excuse why they weren't available.

But would you just have them sitting out like that? I don't think I would.....

- - - Updated - - -

Not saying this is the case for ZHA and some others that I know that have closed, but in this state a lot of dealers are their own worst enemy never mind the state BS. I know a few that have moved on because of regulatory overhead but I'm aware of far more that closed simply because they sucked.

-Mike

This right here nails it
 
Too bad, I have been to your store a few times and bought an AK there. The place you want to move your store to is Cheshire County in NH. Some stores here sell guns but we are lacking in scary black tactical rifles like you had.

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Plenty of other shops are doing just fine under the same guidelines.

I wouldn't go that far... the smarter shops are, for sure, doing OK, but most of it is what I call serious blood money... those guys in put a lot of work to make their shops work. Not that you don't have to do that anyways but in MA its particularly challenging when you can't sell like 60% of what people want walking through the door... not to mention the whole licensing as a barrier to entry problem.

Imagine some tinfoiler walking in your door because Obama is braying about guns and wants to drop like 5K in your store buying shit before whatever he thinks the next ban is thats coming, and you can't sell him a damned thing because he doesn't have the stupid license from the state... not even a round of ammo goes out that door, unless you get lucky and he comes back if/when he gets his license. This makes the pool of buyers in MA a lot smaller to start with. Running a gun shop is blood money (in terms of the amount of effort invested) but in MA it's that much harder.

-Mike
 
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Олег,

I am shocked by this development, you had an excellent store!

Удачи Вам в Ваших последующих начинаниях!
 
Guidelines?[thinking][thinking][thinking]

They are laws and they are some of the most oppressive in the country and they are not doing fine, it sucks more every day.

Not arguing that. What i said was there are plenty of shops doing fine. I think it has more to do with how you run your business than the laws. Just my 2 cents.
 
I wouldn't go that far... the smarter shops are, for sure, doing OK, but most of it is what I call serious blood money... those guys in put a lot of work to make their shops work. Not that you don't have to do that anyways but in MA its particularly challenging when you can't sell like 60% of what people want walking through the door... not to mention the whole licensing as a barrier to entry problem.

Imagine some tinfoiler walking in your door because Obama is braying about guns and wants to drop like 5K in your store buying shit before whatever he thinks the next ban is thats coming, and you can't sell him a damned thing because he doesn't have the stupid license from the state... not even a round of ammo goes out that door, unless you get lucky and he comes back if/when he gets his license. This makes the pool of buyers in MA a lot smaller to start with. Running a gun shop is blood money (in terms of the amount of effort invested) but in MA it's that much harder.

-Mike
Wont argue any of that but with that said the people who do have a license are working people who will and do spend lots of money on guns and ammo. Perhaps they wont sell 50 boxes of ammo to 50 people but they still manage to sell those 50 boxes to 25 people because of the concern of those same laws. Im not saying thats healthy or even a long term business plan but it is what we have at the moment. As people like ZHA give up, more people will now shop at the other shops. Beauty of free market. Lets not kid ourselves. ZHA was definitely not the cheapest guy on the block. Granted they did have many odd firearms you can't find in MA but most gun owners arent looking to spend over 1500 on firearms.
 
I was hoping to finally get to this shop after the renovations... well I snooze I lose.

Best of luck for you in the future.
 
Good luck in the future boys. I visited the shop day it opened and loved to shop, shoot the shit, or just look around. Hate to lose a friendly gun store. Hope you all land on your feet.
 
Wont argue any of that but with that said the people who do have a license are working people who will and do spend lots of money on guns and ammo. Perhaps they wont sell 50 boxes of ammo to 50 people but they still manage to sell those 50 boxes to 25 people because of the concern of those same laws. Im not saying thats healthy or even a long term business plan but it is what we have at the moment. As people like ZHA give up, more people will now shop at the other shops. Beauty of free market. Lets not kid ourselves. ZHA was definitely not the cheapest guy on the block. Granted they did have many odd firearms you can't find in MA but most gun owners arent looking to spend over 1500 on firearms.

Yes, some of it is how a business is run, but lets face facts.... aggressive discounting is really only possible if you have volume, and theres a total of one "serious volume" dealer in MA. The rest are all tiny with 3-4 mid sized shops in the mix. Part of this problem is because in most parts of MA the pool of gun buyers is small... because of regulatory bullshit. If you don't think that has an effect on business then you're out in left field someplace. Look at NH for contrast, two gigantic gun shops (that basically make FS look like a closet) and several medium sized ones.... why? Less regulatory burden. MA does not have huge gun shops because the market conditions (caused by shitty regulatory burden) don't support it.

-Mike
 
Yes, some of it is how a business is run, but lets face facts.... aggressive discounting is really only possible if you have volume, and theres a total of one "serious volume" dealer in MA. The rest are all tiny with 3-4 mid sized shops in the mix. Part of this problem is because in most parts of MA the pool of gun buyers is small... because of regulatory bullshit. If you don't think that has an effect on business then you're out in left field someplace. Look at NH for contrast, two gigantic gun shops (that basically make FS look like a closet) and several medium sized ones.... why? Less regulatory burden. MA does not have huge gun shops because the market conditions (caused by shitty regulatory burden) don't support it.

-Mike

Bullcrap! If someone invested what it takes and chose the right location to open up a FS type or larger shop they'd do the business too. There are plenty of buyers down there
 
Bullcrap! If someone invested what it takes and chose the right location to open up a FS type or larger shop they'd do the business too. There are plenty of buyers down there

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get into the business to begin with? (without starving in the process) [laugh] I'm not saying it's impossible, otherwise the shops that do exist down there all would have gone under a long time ago. I'm just trying to tell mr bthn there trying to say that "the laws don't matter" is a bogus assertion. I've seen what the laws do to dealers firsthand. I think he is trying to argue "oh, well its a level playing field" Except he doesn't acknowledge that the ballfield is made out of matted excrement because it's located in mass.

-Mike
 
Move near Tiverton, NH is too far......

[rofl]

He said he wanted to move to a more business friendly state, not a worse one. Sure RI has no stupid licensing requirement in order to buy anything and has no AWB but it is not business friendly. There was a project that ranked states by "freedom" in 2013 - Mass got #30, NH got #4 and RI got #46.

http://freedominthe50states.org/
 
So sorry to see you go, bought 3 or 4 toys from you and plenty of ammo. Let us know where you end up, please.
 
Best of luck to you and your future new shop.


... in MA its particularly challenging when you can't sell like 60% of what people want walking through the door... not to mention the whole licensing as a barrier to entry problem.

... wants to drop like 5K in your store buying shit before whatever he thinks the next ban is thats coming, and you can't sell him a damned thing because he doesn't have the stupid license from the state... not even a round of ammo goes out that door, unless you get lucky and he comes back if/when he gets his license. ...

I wonder if a shop could survive without selling actual guns. In other words, sell holsters, barrels, grips, slings, sights, scopes, lights, knives, pepper spray, aftermarket triggers and other kits, all the AR and pistol parts, just not the ones with serial numbers. How much of a market is there for "everything but"? Then add in an ammo license maybe. That covers a LOT of territory, and I bet the margin on all the accessory stuff is probably at least as high as the actual firearm itself, with none of the overhead and government bookkeeping. Yes? No?




... a total of one "serious volume" dealer in MA. The rest are all tiny with 3-4 mid sized shops in the mix. ... Look at NH for contrast, two gigantic gun shops (that basically make FS look like a closet) and several medium sized ones.... why? Less regulatory burden. ...

In Central MA, we now have:
Bob's Webster
Pullman Worcester
Gun Parlor Worcester
Tombstone Brookfield
Bron Sturbridge
Red's? Brookfield?
Wayne's West Boylston
one in Clinton
that is all I can think of
 
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Best of luck to you and your future new shop.




I wonder if a shop could survive without selling actual guns. In other words, sell holsters, barrels, grips, slings, sights, scopes, lights, knives, pepper spray, aftermarket triggers and other kits, all the AR and pistol parts, just not the ones with serial numbers. How much of a market is there for "everything but"? Then add in an ammo license maybe. That covers a LOT of territory, and I bet the margin on all the accessory stuff is probably at least as high as the actual firearm itself, with none of the overhead and government bookkeeping. Yes? No?






In Central MA, we now have:
Bob's Webster
Pullman Worcester
Gun Parlor Worcester
Tombstone Brookfield
Bron Sturbridge
Red's? Brookfield?
Wayne's West Boylston
one in Clinton
that is all I can think of

I don't consider them serious volume stores
 
Best of luck to you and your future new shop.




I wonder if a shop could survive without selling actual guns. In other words, sell holsters, barrels, grips, slings, sights, scopes, lights, knives, pepper spray, aftermarket triggers and other kits, all the AR and pistol parts, just not the ones with serial numbers. How much of a market is there for "everything but"? Then add in an ammo license maybe. That covers a LOT of territory, and I bet the margin on all the accessory stuff is probably at least as high as the actual firearm itself, with none of the overhead and government bookkeeping. Yes? No?






In Central MA, we now have:
Bob's Webster
Pullman Worcester
Gun Parlor Worcester
Tombstone Brookfield
Bron Sturbridge
Red's? Brookfield?
Wayne's West Boylston
one in Clinton
that is all I can think of

Sure, you could call it Atlantic Tactical and have 90% of your floor space dedicated to 5.11 and other tacticool stuff. And just sell guns to LEOs', cuz yanno, they're better.
 
I don't consider them serious volume stores

No, I was saying that's all there is.


Sure, you could call it Atlantic Tactical and have 90% of your floor space dedicated to 5.11 and other tacticool stuff. And just sell guns to LEOs', cuz yanno, they're better.

Well, I would rather think of it like a Joebob's, but without serialized, FFL stuff.
 
Best of luck to you and your future new shop.




I wonder if a shop could survive without selling actual guns. In other words, sell holsters, barrels, grips, slings, sights, scopes, lights, knives, pepper spray, aftermarket triggers and other kits, all the AR and pistol parts, just not the ones with serial numbers. How much of a market is there for "everything but"? Then add in an ammo license maybe. That covers a LOT of territory, and I bet the margin on all the accessory stuff is probably at least as high as the actual firearm itself, with none of the overhead and government bookkeeping. Yes? No?






In Central MA, we now have:
Bob's Webster
Pullman Worcester
Gun Parlor Worcester
Tombstone Brookfield
Bron Sturbridge
Red's? Brookfield?
Wayne's West Boylston
one in Clinton
that is all I can think of
An ffl in CT tried this after the atf yanked their license. They couldn't make it. Not saying it can't be done, but guns are what get people in the door
 
No, I was saying that's all there is.




Well, I would rather think of it like a Joebob's, but without serialized, FFL stuff.

Problem is you still need an FFL to get any serious vendor accounts in the industry and at that point you might as well get an 01 or 07 and sell guns.
 
Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get into the business to begin with? (without starving in the process) [laugh] I'm not saying it's impossible, otherwise the shops that do exist down there all would have gone under a long time ago. I'm just trying to tell mr bthn there trying to say that "the laws don't matter" is a bogus assertion. I've seen what the laws do to dealers firsthand. I think he is trying to argue "oh, well its a level playing field" Except he doesn't acknowledge that the ballfield is made out of matted excrement because it's located in mass.

-Mike
Mr. drgrant
You are a very knowledgeable man, and I have to say you are 100 % right about opening a shop in Mass. Especially when you are in your twenties and town officials look at you like your a dumb kid. I got to say I did get through it and I have been open for a month. So far business has been great, the customers have been super friendly and I have been getting some positive feed back. Im not afraid to say there will be 2 high volume dealers in mass in the future. Sorry to hear about you closing ZHA. I wish you luck in your next business venture.

Shawsheen Firearms & Gunsmithing
 
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