Need Input for Staying Open On Sunday

[Indyvet]

Just wanted to get some opinions on if we should continue to keep Indy Trading Post open on Sunday. I see on the boards where a lot of people wish that gun shops would be open on Sunday. We began being open on Sunday when we moved to our current location. We are open from 12-5. Since we started this we have had maybe one decent Sunday. Most of the time we only have a few people come in and it is from drive by traffic. Myself and my business partner are discussing just closing on Sunday. It has been hard to get help to run the shop on Sunday and sales are extremely weak at best. Basically in a nutshell we may close on Sunday as it does not appear that anyone wants to stop in a gun shop on Sunday even though I read differently. Not trying to sound rude but I could better spend this time with my family or sleeping. Let me know what everyone's feelings on this are and we will take the next few Sundays into consideration as to wether we remain open on Sunday or not. We will take the general consensus of opinions into account when we make our decision. I realize today was father's day and we expected to not be busy but actually had more people in today than in most all the other Sundays put together.

 

[Scutter01]

Might be summer, too. I know I like shopping gun stores on the weekends, but my weekends are pretty booked up every summer. I don't have a lot of shopping time.

 

[jclark]

I wish there was a good shop in Evansville that was open on Sunday.

 

[Que]

I can't say that I've made it over there, but whenever I make a major purchase I do it on Saturday. I've made one purchase on a Sunday that I can recall, and that was ammo. It's not that I purposefully buy on Saturday, but it seems fluid to purchase, clean, and head to the range on Saturday morning/afternoon. Buying a gun on Sunday, after I get our of church, would leave me with days before I can get to the range.

 

[cornfused]

I didn't even know you were open on sundays.

Sometimes sunday is the only day I get to go shopping, so only the few open shops get that business. But I do understand if you're not getting much business then you're not getting much business.

But it can't be any worse than a monday can it?

 

[pudly]

It's a business and personal decision. People will say they want everything if you ask them "do you want this". You have to judge if it brings in enough additional business and if it is worth the time out of yours and your families lives. It sounds like you may have already answered those questions.

 

[4sarge]

It's a business and personal decision. People will say they want everything if you ask them "do you want this". You have to judge if it brings in enough additional business and if it is worth the time out of yours and your families lives. It sounds like you may have already answered those questions.

I agree. Everyone needs a day off for personal or family time. You owe it to yourself to have at least one weekend day off especially in the Summer. God Speed on your decision.

 

[skyscout]

evansville open on sunday would be great

 

[Field King]

That Sunday cruiser could be next Fridays spender?

 

[Indy317]

For the most part, guns aren't cheap. While a lot of folks talk a good game about shopping, they really just mean stopping in and looking. If you don't have bodies in the door, I would have closed on Sundays weeks ago. I think it would be better spent staying open an hour later or so during the week during good shooting weather months. If you already stay open late during the week, then just close on Sundays and relax.

 

[Indyvet]

I appreciate the input so far. We will be discussing whether to stay open on Sunday or not over the next few weeks. It is tough trying to figure people out. When I first started the store we were open 12-5 Monday through Friday. WHenever we tried to close at 5 tons of people would show up so we extended that to 6. Opening at 12 I would have people waiting at the door so we listened and are now open at 10 but usually sit around with no customers until around noon. Also closing at 6 when we are leaving there are people pulliing up at 6:30 and I have had the neighbor tell me that people pull in all the way up to about 8 o clock. It is tough trying to figure out when to be open and when to be closed. We want to try and accomadate everyone but I really believe that is impossible no matter how hard you try.

 

[Que]

I appreciate the input so far. We will be discussing whether to stay open on Sunday or not over the next few weeks. It is tough trying to figure people out. When I first started the store we were open 12-5 Monday through Friday. WHenever we tried to close at 5 tons of people would show up so we extended that to 6. Opening at 12 I would have people waiting at the door so we listened and are now open at 10 but usually sit around with no customers until around noon. Also closing at 6 when we are leaving there are people pulliing up at 6:30 and I have had the neighbor tell me that people pull in all the way up to about 8 o clock. It is tough trying to figure out when to be open and when to be closed. We want to try and accomadate everyone but I really believe that is impossible no matter how hard you try.

My shop has specific opening and closing times. I adhere to their times, because they give great service, and that's just common courtesy to respect that people want to go home. All I hear are good things about your shop. If you try to adjust to every whim of customers, you will become inconsistent and tick off the people who really spend money there. Post your hours and stick to that. When people come in late, let them know they only have 10 minutes and you would appreciate them coming back tomorrow. Just from a consumer and someone who respects the small business owner.

 

[Sgt Rock]

Agree with Indy317. It's a business decision If sales are not there on Sunday, why be open? You losing money. Go to church or enjoy time with family on Sunday. Don't let the business own YOU.

 

[pudly]

Don't worry about satisfying everyone's needs. You'll never get there because you don't have unlimited resources. Sounds like you are on the right track. Find the sweet spot where you will cover the vast majority of your potential customers. I'm one of those late-hours drive-bys. I wasn't surprised that you weren't open, but just drove by to check your hours.

Being open at least some part of the evening to allow 9-5 workers to get to your shop during the week and at least one day on the weekend to allow most everyone access is a great start. The rest is merely tweaking.

 

[top hat 45]

post your hours and stick to them. family time is a lot more important than a box of ammo. how about the first sunday of each month and remind us here each month......daryll

 

[snuffy33]

People don't expect a gun shop to be open on Sunday, most are not.

Enjoy your day of rest.

 

[thompal]

Being open at least some part of the evening to allow 9-5 workers to get to your shop during the week and at least one day on the weekend to allow most everyone access is a great start. The rest is merely tweaking.

I would agree with this. If there isn't enough business on Sunday to at least break even, it doesn't make any sense to remain open on Sunday at all.

I would also agree with pudly that it's more convenient for your customers to stay open slightly later during the week so people have a chance to get there after work. And maybe slightly shorter Saturday hours (9am-3pm??). I don't think anyone seriously expects a gun store to be open late on Saturday, but morning and early afternoon hours would be nice.

Just my

 

[tuoder]

I don't live near Indy, so take my advice what it's worth.

If you ask a customer if you should be open for some additional amount of time, they will usually say yes. If you ask them if you should close, they will usually say no. We want to to be open as much as possible.

You've got to just look at the bottom line and see if whatever profit you are making is worth the time.

I'm in school for Sociology, which overlaps market research significantly (though, TBH I don't know much about business), and I'll tell you what I would do for this little bit of social research. I'd grab the tapes for a security camera pointed at the front door. Watch the tape. What time people show up while the store is closed? Write it down.

Also, keep track of traffic on Sunday while you are open, and the average profit/hour. If you know what your traffic pattern looks like, and how much money you are making, you'll know what time you should be open. Then you can say "If we aren't averaging 4 customers/hour, it isn't worth being open", or "If we aren't making $75/hour, we shouldn't be open.", for example.

Another thing to consider, is that if you are not open on Sunday, you may not actually be losing that business, just moving it to another day. If you aren't open on Sunday, and neither is anyone else, you may not be losing anything. That business might just move to Monday. In fact, you might get more mileage out of staying open later, than being open on more days of the week. Here's a great article on the idea:

Most state workers in Utah shifting to 4-day week - USATODAY.com

They switched to a four day week of 10 hour days. Since they were open later on their 4 days, they were able to catch more people when they weren't busy at work.

Anyway, just a few thought on the idea.

 

[singlestacksig]

where are you located? how have you gotten the word out that you are open?

unfortunately big retailers have gotten my $ because they are the ones open on sundays..

 

[Ten Yard Fight]

Part of the issue you're dealing with is that you customer have not all heard you're open Sundays. They expect you to be closed. If you stay open, I suspect Sundays will get gradually better. 1-2 years from now you could quite possibly be doing booming business on Sundays. How much can you afford to lose while building that up? Are you CLOSE to breaking even? If you are, I'd say keep it going. There's one argument for staying open.

On second thought, keep in mind that some of your Sunday sales come from people that would have bought the exact same thing on Monday. You might have to analyze your weekly sales to make this decision.

Also, +1 for staying open later on weeknights. Good luck!