Atlantic Guns Closing

[rambling_one]

I have always been satisfied with the customer service and prices at the Silver Spring location, going back at least twenty-five years. Likewise, general conversation with the staff has always been pleasant. Never felt pressured or rushed. My last visit was about two months ago during which the gun smith corrected at a reasonable price the poor installation by another local outfit at a very reasonable price. This and the fact the Atlantic Guns have been consistently active in our dealings with the MGA. I wish them nothing but success.

 

[DanGuy48]

https://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=232761

Wow. Thanks for the link. That’s a lot of money to have sunk into that location and then up and leave. I have to say though, I doubt they anticipated having a major competitor right down the road, i.e. Hafer’s Gunsmithing. Anyone who saw his little shop underneath that general store would probably never imagine it could so quickly become what it is today.

 

[jollymon]

I always got the feeling that what ever involvement in MGA was self serving because they would ask staff to protest if they were off that day but never closed the stores to do it , Steve has gone but he own's the place and you don't want the tit feeding you to dry up.

 

[Mike]

AG in Silver Spring is an anachronism. It fit into the neighborhood perfectly forty years ago, before developers decided to make Silver Spring into the new Bethesda.

Now they're growing tax farms throughout the area; SS, Wheaton, any place within walking distance to a Metro stop. Get those 20-somethings into a highrise, put a Starbucks, shopping and a gym nearby, and start hammering them for their tax dollars.

The 2-story early 1950s-style town that once was is gone forever, as well as the people who used to live there.

For me, the biggest trauma was Dale Music closing on Georgia Ave. It was an incredible repository of sheet music, from popular through classical. I doubt that there's more than one or two shops in the US that could compete, in terms of the depth of their stock. All gone.

Times change, and people change within them. I won't miss the brave new world that's being built around me when I'm gone. The sad part is that so many will never know or understand what they missed.

You bring this old song to mind.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94bdMSCdw20

Atlantic is certainly retail, when it comes to prices. I don't know of another gun shop in the Metropolitan area that has sponsored or joined in on as many firearms laws challenge suits as they have. I think it was them that challenged MoCo banning mail order delivery of ammo. Think about that for a minute.

Yes, that was a big and important lawsuit. Thank God the MOCO loonies were stopped from making their own infringements.

 

[Postell]

DC area institution. Yes, they had a gun store in DC..

When was that?
George opened Silver Spring after he served in the Army in 1950.
Pretty much the third generation is running the business now with the Schneider bros are all 60 and over, well Bob is 59 I believe. They have been discussing closing the Silver Spring store for decades now, it all started when they closed the Silver Spring warehouse years back.
Their business has always been larger than most folks have any knowledge of.
Don't kid yourselves, the Schneider boys are well aware of what they are doing.

 

[Postell]

It's going to be hard on them if the new gun laws pass , Hendershots is moving and downsizing and putting more focus on the Ammo they make , Now Atlantic is downsizing to one store hope they can make a go of it , They have always been behind the curve with getting new stuff in stock unless they are pumping up for a sale like the S&W sale they just had , I popped in Saturday to look and they were busy but not a lot of staff Steve , Mark , Stephen and a older guy that I didn't know I asked for Frank they said he didn't work their anymore , I knew Jeff had gone not to long ago . Makes you wonder if the downsizing has started .

Lots of their staff has been with them 25 to 40 years, especially with the SS store, they have and are retiring.

 

[swinokur]

Although I find the place to be a local institution and many of the employees to be very nice, the business got used to being pretty much one of the “only games in town.” Over the years, competition and the internet have creeped in, yet their business model didn’t adapt.

Their prices are consistently high and sometimes retail plus, for items that are cheaper elsewhere. I once tried to get them to handle a transfer for me, for a gun I found online. They refused and said their policy is to “not do transfers for items they sell.” Translation: We’re not letting you get a better deal, pay more and buy from us.

Do you take your groceries to a restaurant and ask them to cook them for you?

I completely get the policy

 

[erwos]

Do you take groceries to a restaurant and ask them to cook it for you?

Plenty of mechanics will let you order in tires that you want installed. The overwhelming majority of gun shops exist because there's no system to mail order guns to your door like nearly every other product in America (including prescription drugs). The current law enables gun shops to even have their businesses be semi-viable. Let's be real, if you could get a Glock 17 mail-ordered to your door for $450, would you even consider spending $550+tax at the local gun shop? I'm sorry if this offends people, but I would not. I don't want to pay for "expertise" that I already have, or bad customer service I don't need.

Personally, I had no beef with Atlantic, and they had helped me out a couple times with gunsmithing stuff at a reasonable price. But if you're a gun shop, selling guns is kind of your business, and if you're pretending like the Internet and the transferring shops down the street don't exist, that is going to be a long-term problem for your survival.

 

[engineerbrian]

[/B]

When was that?
George opened Silver Spring after he served in the Army in 1950.
Pretty much the third generation is running the business now with the Schneider bros are all 60 and over, well Bob is 59 I believe. They have been discussing closing the Silver Spring store for decades now, it all started when they closed the Silver Spring warehouse years back.
Their business has always been larger than most folks have any knowledge of.
Don't kid yourselves, the Schneider boys are well aware of what they are doing.

I think they were on 2200 block of 14th St IIRC. There was a picture of there old store front on their web site a few years back. I just checked google maps street view and IIRC it was the vacant building 2 down from the Bank of America

 

[swinokur]

Some stores that handle transfers for on line sites have an agreement with those sites they are paid for.

That’s not publicized.

And that also includes on line auto parts sellers.

Nothing is free

 

[erwos]

Some stores that handle transfers for on line sites have an agreement with those sites they are paid for.

That’s not publicized.

And that also includes on line auto parts sellers.

Nothing is free

Did I miss where shops were doing the transfers for free? Because I know I'm paying $40-$50 plus MSP fee for them to do it. Not doing transfers denies you relationships with customers who might buy your guns in shop later on, assuming your prices are not so horrible that anyone with a clue would be completely repulsed by them.

A lot of shops, pre-Internet-era, also got away with being the local subject matter expert on prices, usage, etc. That era is dead with the Internet as well, and you can't make a living exploiting low-information buyers nearly as easily. (And, let's be real, that was also a core component of the pre-Internet-era gun sales model.)

 

[swinokur]

If this was an absolute wouldn’t they change the policy? I know my shop in Rockville won’t do transfers for guns they can get.

Are they so obtuse as to not align their thinking with yours?

 

[erwos]

If this was an absolute wouldn’t they change the policy?

Plenty of places are dumb enough to drive themselves out of business. Not limited to gun shops, either. Given that Atlantic is shrinking from 2 stores to 1, you can draw your own conclusions, I think.

Are they so obtuse as to not align their thinking with yours?

Maybe? Ultimately, their shop their rules, but that doesn't legitimize the rules as being good business rules. I remember one time when I was trying to buy a can off a shop. I made them do the math, and it was actually cheaper for me and the same money for them if I bought it from SS and had them do the transfer. Transfers are not a win-lose proposition even on things they can order.

 

[jollymon]

Lots of their staff has been with them 25 to 40 years, especially with the SS store, they have and are retiring.

That is true and you don't see that much in gun shops , It was Carl that got me interested in guns when I walked in out of curiosity when I was in college, Invited me to go to Ft.Mead for John Peppers pistol shoots, Back then it was Randy , Dale , Carl , Joel, When I came back to here to work temporarily I had just missed Carl he had retired Joel a few months before him Dale was still there then but he quit . Randy isn't there anymore too.
In all the years I was away all the LGS's I'd been in never had a crew that knew so much and really took care of you the way they did, My current dealing's with the newer crew have been ok , As in if it's was on the shelf your good but ordering stuff is a crap shoot as to when you'll see it.

 

[bbaick]

“Do you take your groceries to a restaurant and ask them to cook them for you?

I completely get the policy”


Negative.

I think you miss my point. I’m not expecting anything for free. My point is that some shops have policies that don’t promote customer relationships, especially when they apply these policies to their long-time loyal customers or customers that do a lot of business with them.

Local stores have every right to make their policies. I have no problem with that. Given what’s happening to AG, I’m pointing out what I think may be an issue. But, that’s just me.

 

[jollymon]

My overall view of them after returning here after a long time is I'm glad that they have weathered the storms thrown at all gun shops in the State , But as far as policies , pricing and use of technology they are in the dark ages , The Silver Spring store looks like it has been in need of a remodeling for years , Frank said to me once when I commented on the condition of the carpet and how old and worn out a lot of things were , That Steve won't spend a dime on anything that wasn't broken , I can understand not wasting money but some things need to be updated from time to time ,

 

[jollymon]

“Do you take your groceries to a restaurant and ask them to cook them for you?

I completely get the policy”


Negative.

I think you miss my point. I’m not expecting anything for free. My point is that some shops have policies that don’t promote customer relationships, especially when they apply these policies to their long-time loyal customers or customers that do a lot of business with them.

Local stores have every right to make their policies. I have no problem with that. Given what’s happening to AG, I’m pointing out what I think may be an issue. But, that’s just me.

Atlantic Guns has had that transfer policy forever but for Loyal Old Customers they would do them for them , Loyal Customers don't run to shop the internet for every thing and only show up wanting them to do a transfer , No one likes to over pay but building good will and relationships will require you to become a Loyal Old Customer . After all they have to pay for all the licenses to be in the gun business deal with ATF inspections and MSP inspections, all the record keeping just to be in business is huge .

 

[Dingo3]

Atlantic Guns has had that transfer policy forever but for Loyal Old Customers they would do them for them , Loyal Customers don't run to shop the internet for every thing and only show up wanting them to do a transfer , No one likes to over pay but building good will and relationships will require you to become a Loyal Old Customer . After all they have to pay for all the licenses to be in the gun business deal with ATF inspections and MSP inspections, all the record keeping just to be in business is huge .

Nope. Not buying it. Especially the Loyal Old Customer crap. Treat everyone with respect. It was their choice to drop everything and all of the staff talk to a Good Ol Boy when he came in and ignore me. I’d bought there before (AND NEVER WILL AGAIN) and my father had been going there since the 80s.

If they want to stay open after downsizing, they need to get rid of their attitude. As for prices, the market will sort that out.

 

[engineerbrian]

Nope. Not buying it. Especially the Loyal Old Customer crap. Treat everyone with respect. It was their choice to drop everything and all of the staff talk to a Good Ol Boy when he came in and ignore me. I’d bought there before (AND NEVER WILL AGAIN) and my father had been going there since the 80s.

If they want to stay open after downsizing, they need to get rid of their attitude. As for prices, the market will sort that out.

I agree with this post. I shopped there years ago, but found better service and prices elsewhere.

My FIL purchased a gun a few years ago and was going to make the purchase from Atlantic Guns just because he knew about them from driving by their shop for years. I mentioned that he should give Engage a shot, and after he stopped in, he called me up to thank me for the recommendation. He loved the service and attention the guys at Engage gave him. He went back and bought several more guns from Engage after that, all because of good service

 

[swinokur]

Engage seems to have a much friendlier attitude towards their customers and works hard to earn your business.

I bought one pistol from AG. Most of my other purchases are from Engage.

Just my experiences. YMMV