SHOT Show – Day 2

SHOT Show Day 2

Today is the 2nd day of the 2022 SHOT Show and my impression remains the same… WOW. I literally walked miles yesterday threw floor after floor of some really amazing stuff related to the firearms industry and met even more great people. But before I give you my thoughts on today I want to follow up on something from yesterday.

Yes, I said I was going to go have a big steak and well… judge for yourself! Few things go better with a day at a gun show then beer, steak and potatoes… I managed to pack it all in and even followed it up about an hour later with some banana ice cream. Okay, that was a bit much, I agree but it sure felt good going down! The only negative is my dog wasn’t with me to enjoy that tasty bone.

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Back to day 2 at the SHOT Show. Today I spent time with some manufacturers that are a bit more specialized and targeted at those with an eye for differentiated quality. Among those I spoke with, I spent time with Kevin from Taylor’s & Company. They produce some really high quality and aesthetically pleasing firearms and I took the time to handle quite a few of them. They all felt great and I can see why they are so sought after.

A wonderful customer of mine named Brian had been looking for an Alaskan Takedown for quite a long time and I’ve not been able to accommodate him. So I made it a point to stop in at Taylor’s booth and have a very nice conversation with Kevin who is one of their Consumer Sales Associates. Kevin and I talked for some time and in the end I became a dealer for Taylor’s and placed a few orders. including the one for Brian.

This was a very welcomed outcome as I believe they have some great products and I’m happy to be able to bring them into the Manno Firearms portfolio. Here’s a picture of just a few of them… now on order!

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I also had the chance to meet with a great partner for Manno Firearms and thats Zanders. For those that don’t know the name Zanders, they’re a top tier distributor and one that I’ve come to rely on to help provide a strong and diverse inventory of products for our customers. I met with Stephanie Zanders, President and COO of Zanders and it was a real pleasure. We talked a bit about the recent challenges in the firearms industry and shared some stories of impact to our respective businesses.

After the conversation I came to appreciate that however much the shortages impacted my company the scale of Zanders is massively bigger. I’m grateful to Stephanie and the entire Zanders team for working hard to keep products flowing, controlling prices and helping companies like mine to stay afloat while the industry gets back to normal. Those of us in this business relay on distributors to give us a variety of products at competitive prices – Thanks Stephanie!

One of the reasons I attend events like this is to look for new product lines to bring to our customers and yes, to grow the business. A new product line I’m excited to work with resulted from a meeting with Michelle, a rep from Barnett, a well known company for archery and crossbows. While I’ve known about Barnett for many years I was pleasantly surprised how welcoming they were to new dealers and they make it easy.

That’s important because bringing in new products can be a business risk, but they really help to mitigate that risk… and they have quality products. It will take us a bit of time to get this new line setup and hopefully some dedicated webpages where we can highlight their offerings. If you’re into archery and need something, let us know and we’ll get this thing jumpstarted!

The 2022 SHOT Show continues for another 2 days but this is where I tap out. It’s time to get back on the plane and get a few last hours of rest before jumping back into the scrum. Priority 1 when I get back is catching up on emails, getting out some more orders, rationalizing all the great new things I saw at the show and getting some new products into the website. 2022 will likely be a busy year and thats good for business and it’s good for you. It means things are finally coming back, you’ll get back to better selection, better availability and more fun on the range or the hunt.

It’s also time to get back our rights! That fight continues and it’s going to take all of us. While I’m a supporter of the NRA I told them today they have been MISSING IN ACTION and we’re disappointed in their recent participation in the fight. (They disagreed).

I met with Gun Owners of America and am proud to promote them. For me it’s not a competition between GOA and NRA… we need them BOTH. I hope the NRA gets their ass in gear and I hope GOA continues to fight the good fight. In the end however, it’s up to us… the American CITIZEN. We ALL need to get off our ass, protect our vote… don’t let it get watered down, offset by non-citizens voting or buried under a pile of ballot harvested votes. Get up… Get out… Go VOTE. It’s arguably the most consequential thing you can do to protect this country and our way of life.

Here are a few more pictures from today’s show…. some worth drooling over!

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