Green Top Purchases Winding Brook Indoor Shooting Range Next to Ashland Bass Pro

Green Top Sporting Goods announced plans today to purchase, rebrand, and assume operations of Winding Brook Indoor Shooting Range, which is located at 11547 Lakeridge Parkway in Ashland, Virginia. The new venture for Green Top, which is the largest independent outdoor retailer and firearms dealer in the Mid-Atlantic, will be called Green Top Shooting Range. “I am so excited to bring the Green Top brand along with our product knowledge, expertise,  and amazing customer service to the existing members of Winding Brook Indoor Shooting Range, as well as to our thousands of Green Top customers," said Blaine Altaffer, President/CEO of Green Top Sporting Goods. "We have thrived over the past 70 years in large part due to our steadfast commitment to above-and-beyond customer service. Green Top Shooting Range will provide a genuinely user-friendly experience where guests can try both before and after they buy and we think that is something that our customers will really appreciate." Besides operating the existing 24-lane, climate-controlled indoor shooting range, the new ownership is reestablishing 2,000 sq. ft. of retail space at the facility, as well the return of a stout training program, which will include classes for women, general firearms safety, beginners, and a full complement of training classes to be added in the near future. "Our immediate plans include bringing a large assortment of firearms to rent and buy along with a full complement of range accessories, ammo, and gear," Altaffer said. "I'm really looking forward to meeting all of the current members of Winding Brook Indoor Shooting Range over the next few months as well as extending an invitation to all Green Top customers to come give it a try.” Over the past 70 years, the Green Top brand has developed an extremely loyal following with outdoors and firearms enthusiasts, and Altaffer believes this expansion into the experiential side of shooting sports will help nurture that loyalty even more. "One of the core components of our go-to market strategy at Green Top is experience-based retail," he said. "By giving our customers a place to take training classes and experience shooting a firearm at a hands-on, safe indoor shooting range only two miles from the Green Top store supports that strategy."

The newly rebranded Green Top Shooting Range will be a big feature at this weekend's annual Green Top Outdoor Expo on Oct. 5-6, which is free to the public. Over two days, this event will host more than 180 of the biggest manufacturers from the outdoor industry’s most loved brands, including Ariat Boots, Sig Sauer, Daniel Defense, Elite Archery, Green Top Outfitters, Jackson Kayaks, Nikon Optics, Remington, Smith & Wesson, Seigler Reels, Penn, Parker Bows, Big Green Egg, Yeti, and more. These manufacturers are sending more than 250 representatives to the event who will be meeting with attendees, offering product demonstrations, giving seminars, and more.

Green Top's Ladies on Target Event

Do you know a lady that has expressed an interest in the shooting sports but doesn't know how to get started?  Green Top has just the event for you.  They will host a Ladies on Target Shotgun, Rifle and Archery event this Saturday, September 24th at Black Creek Gun Club in Mechanicsville.  Check-in begins at 8:00 AM and you can pre-register for the event in the store or online by clicking here.

The event is limited to 100 participants.

Richmond Friends of NRA Banquet Highest Grossing Event in Virginia in 2013

The Richmond Friends of NRA (FNRA) banquet was held last Thursday before the start of the 30th Annual Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show (VOSS). This is the second year the committee has partnered with the annual sportsman show and it has definitely paid off. Preliminary numbers are in and this year's event grossed $101,500. Not only is that the largest grossing FNRA event ever held in Richmond, but it is the highest grossing event in the state so far for 2013.

Richmond has always been had difficult place to hold the typical FNRA banquet. The area has been saturated with National Wild Turkey Federation banquets, Ducks Unlimited banquets, Quality Deer Management Association banquets and the annual Virginia Deer Hunters Association banquet (by far the most successful of all the outdoor banquet events). In the late 90's the original Richmond FNRA committee moved to an outdoor shooting event in partnership with Dance's Sporting Goods, Green Top Sporting Goods, and DeGoff's. That move paid dividends as average attendance increased from 75 to over 200 people. But by around 2003, with a change in the NRA Field Director and the committee members having been involved for almost 10 years, the event was discontinued. An attempted to revive the Richmond FNRA events was attempted but when they tried to transition back to the traditional indoor banquet, the same problem with lack of attendance surfaced.

Enter new NRA Field Director David Wells in 2011. Wells worked with local folks, including Green Top, to partner with the successful Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show. The decision was made to hold the first event in 2012 at the Richmond Raceway Complex the night before the start of the outdoor show and in two years, the result has been phenomenal. While there are still FNRA events scheduled through the end of the year, it's going to be tough to top what the Richmond Committee has done. What can be expected for this fledgling event next year? With the VOSS continuing to grow - they added a third building of exhibits - The Green Top Pavilion - this year, as long as they remain partnered, it would seem the sky is the limit.

Trying Times In Virginia for Gun Control Advocates

Picking up where the paper left off on Sunday,  today's Richmond Times Dispatch (RTD) editorial page points to the huge increase in firearm sales in Virginia and the reduction in gun related crime and notes it is indeed trying times for gun control advocates:

Time after time, progressives have greeted expansion of gun rights with dire warnings that the expansion would turn society into the Wild West, and the streets would run red with blood. They said so after the Supreme Court’s two major gun-rights rulings in Heller and McDonald. They said so after the expansion of concealed-carry laws across the country. They said so after Virginia eased restrictions on guns in bars and restaurants.

In every case, gun-related crimes fell.

The RTD points out that facts are stubborn, and the facts show that the liberal claim that mores guns leads to more crime is wrong.
However, the RTD should do a little more homework when it comes to determining just who is buying all those firearms.   

Foes of gun rights might point out, correctly, that the percentage of Americans who own firearms is declining — therefore, the increase in gun sales is owing to existing owners who are buying more guns, not more people buying a gun for the first time.

They should go up the road to Hanover just outside of Richmond and ask Green Top Sporting Goods, the retailer that the paper's database shows sold the most firearms in the seven year span, and ask them just how many were first time buyers.  Or go to Colonial Shooting Academy in the west end of Richmond, and ask just who is taking all of those firearm training classes they teach.  The RTD will likely find what those of us who pay attention to such things know, that, based on information from manufacturers who have compiled data from firearm warrenty registration cards, say that about 25% of the sales are to first time buyers.  That has also been a big reason why you can't find ammo - more people owning firearms mean increased demand for ammo.
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30th Annual Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show August 9-11

For the 30th year, Hugh Crittenden and the Virginia Deer Hunter's Association will hold present the Virginia Outdoor Sportsman Show.  As it has in the last two years, will again be held at the Richmond Raceway Complex.  The evening before the show opens, the Richmond Friends of NRA will hold their 2nd Annual Banquet.  Partnering with the VOSS paid dividends last year and this year's event should also be a success. Doors open at the FNRA event Thursday at 5:30.  The VOSS opens Friday at 4PM.

Gander Mountain Closing Richmond Area Store

The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported today that the Gander Mountain store located near Ashland will be closing in July and longtime outdoor retailer Green Top Sporting Goods will move into the location.

Gander Mountain has struggled to acquire a dedicated customer base since locating a short distance from Green Top several years ago. Not long after Gander Mountain opened, Bass Pro Shops announced they would locate a store just off of I-95 one exit north of Gander. Bass Pro Shop has enjoyed great success in the location without negatively impacting the business of Green Top. The same cannot be said for Gander Mountain.

Green Top has wanted to expand its thriving business and this offers them an opportunity to see those plans become reality.