Success Stories

Premium Partner Success Story: Arcadia Sporting Goods Arcadia Valley, Missouri

In a small town everyone knows your name. In Arcadia Valley, Missouri, located 100 miles south of St. Louis, one of the names that stands out above the rest is Butch Callahan’s. 

Callahan and his family are so well known because of Arcadia Sporting Goods, a store that has succeeded because of its employees’ deep sense of community.

In 1973, Callahan bought a small sporting goods and liquor store on Main Street in Arcadia Valley.  At the time, the store wasn’t much – it only had 10 guns in inventory. But to Callahan running a business wasn’t about inventory or thinking big, per se. He figured success would come from treating customers like neighbors. Callahan did everything he could to make sure his customers ended up with the product they wanted. “I remember one time taking a saddle in on trade from a customer who wanted a deer rifle,” Callahan said.
 
This attitude of treating customers like friends allowed Callahan to prosper. The business grew as far as it could go in that location. In 1977, Butch built a new store, and in 1988 added a full convenience store along with the sporting goods and liquor store.

One Big Family

Since its humble beginnings 35 years ago, Arcadia Sporting Goods has remained a family-run business. Vicky Reichert, Butch’s daughter, and her husband, Rob, now run the shop along with their knowledgeable staff.  Butch is still around, just not running the business.

“Over the last 35 years we have kept a family bible of training tactics to help guide our staff to meet all of our customers needs,” Vicky said. “It also helps that our staff loves to hunt and has a passion for keeping up to date with the newest technologies of the trade.

Nowadays, Arcadia has an inventory of more than 1,800 guns, a large variety of ammunition and an archery pro shop. 

“We carry an adequate supply of inventory so you’re not ordering everything a customer wants to see,” Vicky said. “You have to put money back into your inventory to build and maintain. You can’t take all the neat and rare items for yourself, customers want to see that type of merchandise, also.”  That is why Arcadia features a selection of collector guns for customers to view and purchase.

Arcadia also gives customers extra incentives when they purchase merchandise.  There is no charge for scope mounting or bore sighting, and no charge to customers for returning defective firearms for repair service. 

“This insures that we have all the necessities a customer would want and if a problem arises from a purchase, we know we can fix it,” Vicky said. “Another benefit to our customers has been the Premium Partners program, which has helped extensively to promote and sell the products that are continuously sought by customers.”

The Premium Partners program has certainly helped Arcadia give back to their customers.

“The Premium Partners program allows us to have a choice,” Vicky said. “We don’t have to buy products that don’t sell to get the deals on the products we do sell.  This lets us give our rewards back to the customer by giving away free T-shirts, hats, mugs and any other incentives we receive.”

Keep the Customer Satisfied

Arcadia’s first motto is, “the customer comes first.” “We are giving our customers the luxury of buying everything they need in one stop,” Reichert said.  “It’s all about customer satisfaction, we want every hunter in the area to know we have all of their hunting and travel supplies.”

Along with keeping the customer satisfied, Arcadia goes the extra mile to stay involved in the community. Throughout the year, the store donates to many local organizations. It supports the 4-H shooting sports, the Arcadia Valley archery team and helps sponsor local golf tournaments with the National Wild Turkey Federation. The store also supports non-hunting related groups such as local ball teams.

“We have many special events that we offer our customers and the community,” Vicky said. “We hold live radio broadcasts and evenings with the wildlife conservation department and every fall we have a wine tasting event accompanied with a sporting goods sale that is topped off with a number of prize give-a-ways.”

It takes a lot of hard work, long hours, and dedication, but Arcadia Sporting Goods has set an example of how a small town hunting and shooting sports store can be the center of the community.