DuckSouth.com

Lately I've been interested in maybe starting up a little outdoors store that would carry hunting equipment and fishing tackle as well as a some other outdoor activity equipment like camping gear. Where I live, the closest place to get any hunting stuff, besides wal-mart, would be academy or bass pro which are both at least 45 minutes away so I think I would have a decent sized market. For any of you guys that may have experience with this, how do you find a wholeseller and how much would you estimate startup costs to be? I know I don't post here much but any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

I hope youre around yazoo city cause we need something of that nature here!

no, unfortunately I'm down on the coast...

Are there any hunting/fishing/camping stores 45 minutes on the other side of Bass Pro/Academy from you? If so, how are they holding up to the competition?[/quote]

where i live there is an academy 45 minutes to the east with a bass pro about 10 or 15 minutes past that, and an academy to the west about the same distance. i don't know of any "mom and pop" type stores anywhere in between or on the other sides of them. there are a few small bow shops scattered around but no solid store that serves various outdoor markets. for instance, if i wanted to get a box of shells i could try wal mart but usually would leave empty handed so i'd end up having to go to academy. i think there would be a fairly solid market here. i mean even academy has slim pickins most of the time in their hunting section.

thats exsctly the way it is here... Wal mart is about 45 minutes and their outdoors section has gone to crap, academy and bass pro are about an hour away. And Don's Little yazoo sporting goods doesnt even have as much as Delta Ace Hardware...

If I can recall correctly, Huntsober on here had a hunting store in the past. See if he can give you a bunch of info.

thanks. i sent him a pm. hopefully he'll have some info for me.

I don't know much about stores but I would think that being heavy on fishing and light on hunting would suit your clients. It would also be cheaper. Vans here in Jackson is out of the way for most who go there. I'd guess at least 50% of his clients PASS bass pro to get to his store. He does a good job of carring what people want and not alot of crap. Also you will need maximum products with minimal space. There isn't a group that is more price sensitive than hunters. There may be a niche market that u may stumble onto: reloading, fly fishing ect.

From my view i would discourage most anyone from getting in the sporting goods business. Low profit margins and seasonal. Most folks do shop Walmart, etc. but the internet is significant competition. With all that said nobody is spending money anywhere for anything right now.

Where on the Coast are you? Sounds like Pascagoula. Monte's went belly up as a sporting goods/hunting/fishing store. However, they did not try very hard to cater to a serious market.

yes i'm in pascagoula. montes' was a good place and i'm looking at trying to do something similar.

Big Bucks in Hattisburg is trying to compete with Walmart, Gander Mountain, and Academy.
My bet is that they would not want to be in retail in hindsight.