Success Stories

Premium Partner Success Story: McBride's Inc.  in Austin, Texas

Listening and Learning = Success

It's the simplest thing. Yet, it's the most complex. Listening to customers. It's the key to why McBride's Inc. in Austin, Texas, has grown from a $200,000 gun shop in the 1960s to a $10-million, 23-employee hunting, shooting, apparel, footwear and fishing retailer today. They're awfully good at listening.

It's also crucial to allow the manufacturers to help you sell product. Whether you are selling ammunition, cleaning accessories, pistols, rifles or shotguns, you have a valuable resource in your manufacturer rep, said President Joe McBride. "You have to know your merchandise," he says, simply. And that comes from talking to reps and getting the features and benefits on every product from them.

"You need to be able to explain the differences in how (products) work and their purpose," he said. "Pricing is not as important as information and inventory."

Information, inventory and service are the keys to taking on the mass merchants, McBride said. It is hard to compete with their ability to offer low prices but you can retain, and add, customers by becoming experts on everything you carry.

With the growing popularity of mass merchants, successful dealers like McBride's have learned the importance of merchandising and displaying within the dealership.

"You need to display with purpose," McBride recommended. Products need to be organized in displays that are easy for the customer to understand so they can recognize what they are looking for and what they need. "You have to see it from their eyes," he adds. In other words, displays should not be thrown together haphazardly. Put a lot of thought on how your customers will approach your display and arrange accordingly.

Along with emphasizing the importance of merchandising, McBride recommended taking part in manufacturer promotions as often as possible plus creating your own.

McBride also recommended that dealerships advertise. There are a number of ways that McBride's likes to get its name out into the community. First, there's co-op advertising with the manufacturers, which he strongly recommended. The dealership also regularly runs radio ads on two local stations. "We try to feature something different every week," he said.

The retailer also uses television commercials to advertise specific store promotions, he said.