Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9411290066
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CLAUDINE WILLIAMS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The proprietors of Bryansteens Gun Shop, on U.S. 220, and Capital Gun and Ammo, on Peters Creek Road, thought it logical that the shooting and archery supplies sold inside the new CMT should be theirs.
They asked to rent space in the superstore, and CMT's owners agreed.
"We were drawn to this idea because we knew there will be heavy traffic through the center," Steen said. "Traffic is the name of the game. Once you get them through the front door, that's the main trick."
They expect to increase the customer base by at least 75 percent with the third outlet.
"We are looking for a totally new clientele," Steen said.
Bryant said the sporting goods mall will help pull people into Bryansteens who may not normally shop in the gun store.
"We are more than just guns," Bryant said. "We are hunting boots and outdoors clothes, like what kids are wearing to school. You don't have to have a gun to buy these things, they are just good rugged clothes."
Steen has a decade of experience in the business since opening Capital Gun and Ammo. At that time, Bryant was vice president of operations for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Southwest Virginia.
In 1988, Bryant quit that job and went to work in Steen's store.
"I had always collected guns, and I always enjoyed hunting and the outdoors," said Bryant, who used to sell guns with Steen in gun shows. "The bottom line is that this is just fun. We enjoy doing this."
In 1989, the two men rented space inside Trebark Outfitters Complex, an outdoor clothing and equipment store on U.S. 220 at Buck Mountain Road, so renting space is "nothing new to us," Bryant said.
In addition to the usual shooting and archery goods, the new store will also have a 60-by-30-foot archery range, which should be ready early next year.
The Bryansteens on 220 and the Capital store will remain open. Combined, the two stores sell more than $1 million in hunting goods and guns, Bryant said.
The stores each have 5,000 square feet of selling space. The new store will have about the same amount of space and inventory.
by CNB