The Archery Specialists in Maple Grove closed. What happened?

[1eyeReD]

A guy at the range told me The Archery Specialists in Maple Grove is now closed. I called and phone disconnected so I drove over there to verify. They are closed.

They were my goto shop. Though I only went a few times per year mostly pre-bow season for accessories, arrows etc. they were "my" shop. I'd use their range every once in a while too during winter time especially.

If I found a need for any tuning, re-stringing, buying a new bow, I'd hit them up. Jason and the rest of the crew has been nice to me and provided me good service in my experience. Bought a bow from him and I think they did a great job setting it up.

Anyhow, anyone know what's going on or if they are still planning to provide service maybe through a different name?

[Powerstroke]

I didn't even know they were closed. Brian was one of the guys who opened that shop several years ago and he had moved on from another shop. Who knows. 

Its tough to be in business for yourself, especially in such a niche market. Hopefully they reopen somewhere else, but it has to be hard. I can't imagine rent on a space large enough for a bow range comes cheap. 

[hockeybc69]

Midwest Archery in St Michael shut their doors too.

Are we losing archers because of low deer populations? How can we have archery shops in border metro areas like this shutting down?

What is the root cause?

I have hunted Ottertail county for 30+ years and I have one hell of a time getting my kids hooked to bowhunt.

Our harvest in 240 is down nearly 40% in less than 10 years. Yet our Wildlife manager(Don Schultz) tells me we have stable populations over those same 10 years.......There is a HUGE disconnect in what our DNR "experts" say, and what people in the field see in many areas.

Coincedence that archery is losing ground?

[Powerstroke]

I don't think it has anything to do with the lack of deer or archers. I think the main problem is the casual bowhunter is perfectly satisfied with  buying what they need at Cabelas or Gander. 

I'm trying to make that statement without a negative connotation, but I feel it does carry a negative stigma of the state of society. Its more of the trend of making our purchases at the big box stores. 

I think Archery shops have a very specific purpose that any archer should utilize. Unfortunately, too many archers buy an off-the-shelf bow, then get equpiped with the arrows and broadheads that the store recommends. They don't get or seek any kind of expert advice. Its similar to the mom and pop auto mechanics. Everyone just uses the dealership now. 

[MUSKY18]

I couldn't agree with you more Powerstroke.  When you go into a Archery Shop, the patrons that you meet are more likely to be the "serious" bow hunters.  The "casual" bow hunters or those who think they want to get into the sport, find it much more easy to get into the store where they can be hand fed everything they need to be hunt ready and don't have to spend a big amount of time learning the in's and out's of bows, arrows, arrow weights, etc.  Walk in, buy their stuff and at home shooting in probably a little over an hours time.  Rush rush rush is what they want.  Personally, I'd rather spend hours in the shop getting the professional to dial me in and make sure I am hunt ready. 

[nofishfisherman]

I just started shooting a bow this year.  I was given an old bow to use while I decide if I want to make the investment in a new bow for myself.

My first thought when I was handed the bow was that I needed to talk to some experts and have them help set the bow up for me. I went into Bwana Archery in St. Paul and they were great to work with. I spent about an hour with one of the guys and we tinkered around with the bow getting things adjusted and letting me shoot it in between to see what else was needed. Being new to shooting a bow he also took a few minutes to give me some pointers and gave me some ideas on how to get hunting as soon as possible.  Thats all of the stuff that you won't get at the big box store.  In the end I bought a new peep and 5 new arrows that fit the new draw length. An hour of his time, many adjustments, some coaching, a new peep, new arrows, and practice tips cost me $45, I would have probably paid double and felt ok with the price.

I do agree that running a niche business like this has to be tough even without the big box competition.  Your business will always only appeal to a small segment of the population.  I was never in the other stores that have now closed to see what they were doing but one thing that Bwana seems to be doing right is that they are running leagues, hosting kids b-day parties, holding classes for all ages and abilities and generally being very active in promoting the sport with youth and new shooters.  This keeps a steady stream of people through their shop all year long.  And all of those league shooters, class participants, and birthday party attendees are future customers.

I know when I do upgrade to a new bow I'll walk into Bwana and let them set me up.  Maybe I'll spend a few dollars more upfront on a bow but I'll make the money back by using the great service that they provide.  

[aanderud]

To those tho look down on 'big box' -- think about what they bring.  You need a bow what, every 10 years?  Between that you just buy accessories, or maybe pay for a restring or something here or there.  And when you do want that bigger purchase, you want a store that can afford to stock the shelves with lots of new bow options for you, and let you shoot them all out if possible, find the one you want, etc.  I'd say "big box" could very well be a good thing, in the long run -- depending on who they're hiring.  There can be experts in play at the big box store who just don't think it's worth their stress and time to open their own store.  It's expensive to own a business, maintain inventory, keep the lights on, pay the employees, pay the taxes, etc.  Add in the seasonality of archery, and it starts to become a question of whether a store that does JUST archery even makes sense, versus one that does fishing, hunting, and other outdoor stuff that's more year-round?

An hour of his time, many adjustments, some coaching, a new peep, new arrows, and practice tips cost me $45

So, $45 is what the store grossed, minus the cost of goods sold.  Figuring maybe a 30% margin, they are at maybe $15 net. With that $15, they had to pay rent, keep the lights on, and pay the employee (even if it was himself) for an hour.  After rent/lights/business payroll taxes, unemployment insurance, etc, let's say the employee gets to take home $10 for that hour.  That's a $20k per year salary -- to own the store and deal with all the headaches that come with it.  In today's competitive job market, I'd guess Gander would pay an archery expert between $15 and $20 per hour to man the archery section of their box store, or even more if he's handling managerial duties, ordering supplies, etc.  

Personally, if I was skilled at archery, I would go market my skills at Gander before I'd try to open my own store.  They can hire me and deal with the headaches, and back up my archery store with a bait store, a gun shop, a tackle store, and the midwest's biggest women's sweatshirt inventory  Honestly, the diversification and large-ification that come with "big box" might be a good thing.  They can more absorb the costs like lighting, rent, etc.... and they might even be willing to take a loss on some parts of the store, at least during some seasons, to keep them open for the betterment of the store altogether -- as the person who walked in there to buy the bow or the arrows at a 30% margin might also want to buy the wife a sweatshirt or rain gear with an 80% margin, or some night crawlers at a 75% margin.  One stop shopping is good for both the consumer (convenience) and the store (diversification) in most cases. 

 

 

Edited September 14, 2015 by aanderud

[deerminator]

What he said. It's not as simple as choosing a pro shop over a big box store. Its more about how society has transformed. It seems like its fashionable to gripe about Walmart because its cool to do so. But at the end of the day, the majority of people shop there versus the mom and pop grocery or general store if any still exist. People want as much as they can get for as little money as they can possibly pay in today's society. And if they tell you otherwise, they're more often than not lying.

BTW, not trying to sound too negative toward people in general. Its just that many people say we should support the mom and pops but few actually do when it comes down how many of them can actually make it. Granted, it also comes down to the mom and pop's business plan. But they have to have a REALLY good one in today's society of more, more, more for less.

 

[Josh Heuckendorf]

On March 18, 2015 at 1:06 PM, 1eyeReD said:

A guy at the range told me The Archery Specialists in Maple Grove is now closed. I called and phone disconnected so I drove over there to verify. They are closed.

 

They were my goto shop. Though I only went a few times per year mostly pre-bow season for accessories, arrows etc. they were "my" shop. I'd use their range every once in a while too during winter time especially.

 

If I found a need for any tuning, re-stringing, buying a new bow, I'd hit them up. Jason and the rest of the crew has been nice to me and provided me good service in my experience. Bought a bow from him and I think they did a great job setting it up.

 

Anyhow, anyone know what's going on or if they are still planning to provide service maybe through a different name?

Jason opened up his own new shop in Brooklyn park. First choice archery. 

On August 1, 2015 at 1:39 AM, hockeybc69 said:

Midwest Archery in St Michael shut their doors too.

Are we losing archers because of low deer populations? How can we have archery shops in border metro areas like this shutting down?

What is the root cause?

I have hunted Ottertail county for 30+ years and I have one hell of a time getting my kids hooked to bowhunt.

Our harvest in 240 is down nearly 40% in less than 10 years. Yet our Wildlife manager(Don Schultz) tells me we have stable populations over those same 10 years.......There is a HUGE disconnect in what our DNR "experts" say, and what people in the field see in many areas.

Coincedence that archery is losing ground?

They both closed after archery country moved into Rodgers. They took away to much business

[leech~~]

On Saturday, August 01, 2015 at 1:39 AM, hockeybc69 said:

Midwest Archery in St Michael shut their doors too.

Are we losing archers because of low deer populations? How can we have archery shops in border metro areas like this shutting down?

What is the root cause?

I have hunted Ottertail county for 30+ years and I have one hell of a time getting my kids hooked to bowhunt.

Our harvest in 240 is down nearly 40% in less than 10 years. Yet our Wildlife manager(Don Schultz) tells me we have stable populations over those same 10 years.......There is a HUGE disconnect in what our DNR "experts" say, and what people in the field see in many areas.

Coincedence that archery is losing ground?

I hear what you are saying about trying to keeps kids going when they aren't seeing Deer and can stay home all warm and play video games. My son still gun hunts but gave up bow hunting and just this year my buddy who I have hunted with for about 38 years and his son gave up Bow hunting this past season because they just were not seeing any Deer anymore. The funny thing is in the last 3 years his son had a Bear, 2 Bob Cats and 8 wolves go by his stand but no Deer to shoot at!