Well, my time in the sun was much needed and very welcome. Mojitos flowed freely, the sun was plentiful yet merciful and the food was amazing. I had a great time. As such, the sun reminded me, it's about time for a costa deal. This is pm/text me (346-775-8363) with request for a price and I'll get back to you. Last time, I sent a price sheet out but... can't do that anymore. Explanation incoming.

So, again, costa deal. Contact me through pm or text. Also, warning... war and peace incoming.

Now, the other thing. Maybe it was just being able to get away from the store for a bit. Maybe it was the amount of alcohol. Maybe it was a lot of things, but being able to disconnect from the store for a few days allowed me to get a bit of a different perspective on the store. All in all, the Texian Firearms experiment has been pretty successful, and I can honestly say that Texags has been a huge part of that. However, and this is where hubris comes into to play, I think I've somewhat lost my way on what I wanted this store to be over time. I miss the "well, we're waiting" threads every month for my deal post. I miss a lot of the things that made me love doing this (which I still do love, btw)

It's time to fix that.

So, first off, again, thank you guys for the support. This venture may or may not have made it without you, but it sure wouldn't be what it is today without. That being said, I've let my business partner get too far into my head when it comes to running the shop. When I first opened, it was always about "put good service and product out there and the money will come." That was what I always intended to make happen and we did very well with that. However, my partner does not have the same mantra. It's not a bad thing per se, and there are quite a few things that I learned from him that were needed, but for the most part, he's pushed me to be more focused on the dollars and cents that roll in rather than the relationships that I've built. So, while we have made some great relationships over the years, I've also lost a few. For those, I'm sorry I didn't see it sooner. There are a lot of posters that were with us from the start and still around. There are a few that I don't hear from anymore. I would love to hear from them again.

It's time to change. It's going to be a lot of work, but there are some major changes to how I run this store going forward. It's going to take some time to implement them, but it needs to be done. In the coming months, you'll see my dad around the store a lot helping me get back on track.

On service, this is an area that when I look back, it's easier to see where I've been lacking. The biggest problem that I've had is communication. Part of that is I'm still trying to run this store like a small shop. We aren't. Even the ATF agent that did my audit was rather surprised by the number of firearms we move. As such, I need to change some things in how we communicate with customers. Part of that, which I don't like, but is necessary, is putting more of that communication on my staff. For the most part, I've always been the go to person on what is where and we just have too many jobs in process for me to be able to tackle all of them. As such, while we have jobs ongoing, I'm going to make it a point to have my staff keep customers apprised of where things are in the process. This isn't going to be an immediate change as I have to get a system in place to do so, but part of our problem is that when I come in, I spend 1/3 of the day answering questions that I have staff that should be able to answer. That takes time away from interacting with other customers, where I am much more needed.

Shipping has also always been an achilles heel of mine. It has gotten better and then regressed and come and go in waves. This is an area that I have to let my staff start handling more of the shipping out of stuff. Part of it goes back to the fact that I've had some very, very dumb employees. And it cost me money in shipping fees that it shouldn't. Things like putting a glock in a box nearly big enough for a rifle because "that's what we had." Then the cost goes up astronomically when it gets checked by fedex/ups and they charge me out the yinyang for the size of the item. It's dumb, it's stupid and has caused me to not trust my employees to do a lot of the things that they need to do. So, it'll take some training (and this was an area that I had already started pushing them on) but we're going to get it fixed up.

On the deals, I'm trying to find newer and better deals for you guys. You've been my support when I've needed it the most and I want to repay that. This Costa promo is a start, though it's not that new I guess, haha. I'm also going to be reevaluating exactly what the Texags hookup should entail. I am going to try to make it better. Now, the reason I can't do a price list like last time... There's a narc on the board. I have been getting a lot of "MAP violations" for things, which is why I haven't posted many deals lately. First off, if you are the narc and have a problem with me, please, contact me. If it's someone that I failed in some way, let me make it right. I think I may know who it is, but I'm not certain nor do I want to just arbitrarily call anyone out. Secondly, for everyone else, that means that the deals do have to go back to the "call in" type pricing on a lot of these deals unless I can get the narc situation figured out. It's annoying for all of us, I know, but I can't post prices up without worrying about someone going through and running to a manufacturer about how I'm not playing by the rules.

Finally, Dad and I are going to try to get this store completely under my control. This is the end goal that will really let me push my vision of what I want this store to be forward. I was hoping that we would have pulled that off by now, but it's taking a bit more to do than we've been able to manage on our own. There may be some opportunities to help out, if anyone is interested, but I'm trying to formulate how to do that best. This won't be an investment opportunity to own part of the store, but I think there may be a way of a permanent "mega hookup" type thing where I let a few people buy into a club of sorts where they get gear at or near cost for as long as I'm in business. For a couple of you who buy from me a lot, this could be a very good thing to think about just as a saving you money sort of situation.

So, anyways, five years in... it's been a complete blast. I've made some amazingly great decisions and some poor ones, but I will say that I have tried my best to learn from them all. Again, thank you guys for all of the support that you've given me. This board has made the ride so much better than it would have been without.

Thanks and Gig 'Em!

Running a business is really hard. I can't imagine running a business AND trying to keep the alphabet boys happy too. I truly wish you success because I know you are a good dude from my time in your shop.

Also, let's find the narc.

McDadeTXAggie said:

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Minimum Advertising Price?

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Yeah, when I hit deals, a lot of them are in a situation where MAP doesn't apply. However, there have been quite a few over time that there was a MAP still in play, whether I knew about it or not. My vendors don't always put MAP info where I can find it easily so I'd put a deal up and not realizing that I was selling it for less than I was allowed to. Sometimes, I would willfully be under MAP but it was a situation where I didn't think Texags was a big enough fish for them to find it. Which generally is the case unless it's reported. I've had black market hit on MAP pricing even and that is a site that is not advertised anywhere except here. So, for them to know that BM exists and then come around and nail me on MAP pricing.... well, doesn't take much to figure it out.

Happy to hear about the communication aspect. Like dealing with you guys but always thought that was something you could do better at. I'll contact you this week about my suppressors if I dont hear from you first haha.

Although I've only used you a few times (BCS is a little far from you), I have and will continue to enjoy doing business with you. Unfortunately/fortunately we are in the process of buying a home, so my play money is gone but when I am back in buying mode, you will be getting a call. I appreciate the information you can provide and that is what will keep me as a customer.

First and foremost, I wish you luck and success in making the store wholly yours. The downfall of our retail store in SA years ago was 100% due to differences in vision and opinions on how the store should be run. I got tired of the struggle and left. I've had successful businesses since then that proved to me the reward fornyournblood, sweat, and tears is much better when you are in total control.

On the MAP stuff...

TL/DR - MAP is a joke. If you are moving product the manufacturer / wholesaler is getting theirs so they will likely do nothing if you tell them to pound sand.

Not sure if you are having MAP violation issues with a particular manufacturer or with a wholesaler in general. Either way, something I learned a few years ago may help you out.

I used to have people contact me about night vision and thermal and would have an price from another dealer that was well below MAP. I would match it and then send my rep at the manufacturing level an email and ask why I cant advertise at these same prices if I'm forced to match them all the time. The answer was always "We'll look into it" and I would hear nothing further after that. I got so frustrated I sat down with 2 friends, one an accomplished corp attorney, the other ran a large oil company. They gave me some solid advice I will never be able to compensate them fairly for.

1) If you join the race to the bottom, you will lose every time because the folks alwaysn ooking for the the best price 1)are never loyal once the deals run out, 2) Dont value your time or expertise, and 3) Likely dont represent your company well when others are asking for advice on who to do business with.

2) Always look for ways to ride the line but not cross it.

On their first point, I still run specials on certain stuff here and there but dont try to be the cheapest on everything to everyone. I have also become comfortable turning business down when it's not right for me. You and I have talked several times about a certain poster here who has a history of blowing up our phones and email with question after question and then buying elsewhere. That proves the point that he neither values our time nor expertise, just wants the best price he can get. These are the people I turn away. I still answer his questions from time to time but do it in my own time rather than dropping what I am doing to help.

I don't think I've ever told you the story of how that same person basically asked me how to get set up to compete against me for sales... I'll share that gem with you another time...

On their second point, they suggested if I wanted to run a special on something below MAP, advertise it at MAP and issue a coupon code that reduces the price where I want it to be. The first few times I did this, I had a couple manufacturers contact me and "warn" me that I was in violation. I had my attorney buddy send them an letter telling them to pound sand because MAP only controls what you can advertise an item for, not the final sale price. In all cases, they backed down and not only allowed me to continue the sale, but continue to sell me product to this day.

I appreciate what you bring to the board, and you have been easy to work with. Keep up the great work, and I will continue to drive from Austin to buy from you.

Edit: **** the narc

Glad you had your epiphany and whatnot, but there are more important issues to discuss here. Did you catch fish and where are the creeper bikini pics?

I love your store and will continue to support it but I've always had the impression, in person and online, of "jack of all trades, master of none." Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, be great at one thing before moving along to the next. It may make your life easier. Just my unsolicited $.02.

Alright OB do your thing and out this narc!

So does this mean i might finally get my upper i paid for but never received when we did the class serial numbers back in the day?

gumgardener said:

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So does this mean i might finally get my upper i paid for but never received when we did the class serial numbers back in the day?

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Um... contact me?

Does this mean I might finally get my SCAR I paid for but never received back in the day?

TheEyeGuy said:

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gumgardener said:

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So does this mean i might finally get my upper i paid for but never received when we did the class serial numbers back in the day?

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Um... contact me?

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If that's your response you may as well delete your original post because it sounds like nothing has changed with you. I had to contact you numerous times in the past when things went south.

My advice, stop waiting for customers to contact you and contact them when things need to be said or straightened out. If its fault on your end its your job to pick up the phone