Greentop - New location review

acfreddie · Oct 18, 2012

The wife and I had the chance to get out to Greentop's new store location today and I thought I would give a small review of our visit.

The Positives

The store is significantly bigger than their previous location

They have expanded their gun selection (vastly rifles) now its easy to be able to reach, hold and examine them without hogging up the entire isle

The isles are actually passable without having to bump into other customers (even if they are pushing a cart)

They seemed to have more staff on duty. This is a positive for my visit but only time will tell if they keep the same number of staff. I do note that the staff they did have were always busy, it was that crowded on our visit.

The Negatives

They are still over priced.

I can find better deals from an assortment of vendors online, even after shipping costs are added and without taking into consideration sales tax. $2 here, $4 and $7 there might not be much, but when I go shopping, I have a list of items and said list can have 20+ items so in the end that amounts to a significant amount (more than a range outing cost for sure). I would like to support local shops but they must be reasonable for me to do so.

They are still lacking variety.

They still lacked the variety that I was hoping for and needed. Considering they expanded their store size significantly, I was hoping that the selection of items would also have expanded, but for my lists (comprised of my commonly used and bought items) they still are lacking far behind. Maybe it will serve others better, but for me I will not plan another venture there until the second or third week in December (so as to give them time to possibly stock up on items and have items priced reasonably.

Hope this helps

peter nap · Oct 18, 2012

acfreddie said:
The wife and I had the chance to get out to Greentop's new store location today and I thought I would give a small review of our visit.

The Positives

The store is significantly bigger than their previous location

They have expanded their gun selection (vastly rifles) now its easy to be able to reach, hold and examine them without hogging up the entire isle

The isles are actually passable without having to bump into other customers (even if they are pushing a cart)

They seemed to have more staff on duty. This is a positive for my visit but only time will tell if they keep the same number of staff. I do note that the staff they did have were always busy, it was that crowded on our visit.

The Negatives

They are still over priced.

I can find better deals from an assortment of vendors online, even after shipping costs are added and without taking into consideration sales tax. $2 here, $4 and $7 there might not be much, but when I go shopping, I have a list of items and said list can have 20+ items so in the end that amounts to a significant amount (more than a range outing cost for sure). I would like to support local shops but they must be reasonable for me to do so.

They are still lacking variety.

They still lacked the variety that I was hoping for and needed. Considering they expanded their store size significantly, I was hoping that the selection of items would also have expanded, but for my lists (comprised of my commonly used and bought items) they still are lacking far behind. Maybe it will serve others better, but for me I will not plan another venture there until the second or third week in December (so as to give them time to possibly stock up on items and have items priced reasonably.

Hope this helps

Wait until after the 1st of the year. I expect the inventory will increase dramatically. It wouldn't make lot of sense to really stock up the store right before they have to take inventory.

They have as much as they always did for Christmas.

acfreddie · Oct 18, 2012

peter nap said:
Wait until after the 1st of the year. I expect the inventory will increase dramatically. It wouldn't make lot of sense to really stock up the store right before they have to take inventory.

They have as much as they always did for Christmas.

I was thinking/planning/hoping more for the opposite (the good customer shopping experience), in that they would want to fully stock the new store to the rafters before opening it, thus leading to a higher chance at impressing and/or having happier customers, not to mention having higher sales and not having so many like us who walked away empty handed and/or disappointed in their offerings (and prices). Its retail 101 in that its far harder to recruit new customers than it to retain previous customers. Maybe they are happy with their current customer base and are not looking to expand it?

I know they just lost out on $375 in sales today (plus highly likely future $) as I placed my order with a different company. If that happens even 5 times a day I would be concerned if they are a publicly traded stock or if I were an investor.

Ric in Richmond · Oct 19, 2012

I went yesterday not looking for anything in particular.

The parking lot was jam packed, the store was brimming with shoppers with carts full.

Things that I am interested in they had plenty of on hand.

Didn't see any fudge shops/ restaurants/ piper cubs/ driving simulators/ monster catfish slowly circling in tanks....but there are a number of really nice animal mounts. The shop looked well designed, but not flashy.

I don't miss the crowded aisle, jam packed, getting swept by rifle barrels experience of the old store.

There were not enough clerks to handle the demand, but I don't expect them to staff for max capacity, so that isn't an issue.

On pricing I didn't see that they were out of line for a brick and motor store in this day and age. You will always pay more for service and floor space. It is to be expected, but it shouldn't be excessive.

This combination of cost/service is know as value and as long as they offer a reasonable value overall people will still shop there and they will thrive. It is a different world these days with smart phone shoppers scanning UPC codes in the aisles and shopping price real time vs the net. I am sure GT will adjust and meet the challenges of the new shopping world.

I wish them well and plan on spending several thousand dollars there over the next few years!!!!

Bob1 · Oct 19, 2012

acfreddie said:
...<snip>They are still over priced.<snip>...

How are their prices compared to other sporting goods stores in the area?

Based on their sales newsletter I received late last week, I noted that several guns I comparison priced could easily have been purchased online 10 - 15% cheaper than GreenTop's grand opening "sale" price. But then you've got shipping costs, FFL transfer fee and the time delay. Offset by state sales tax although the VA state individual income tax return has an area for taxpayers to calculate/pay their use tax liability. So, if you're totally honest, there's no sales tax benefit by buying out of state.

As long as they are priced competitively with other similar brick & mortar stores in Richmond, I'll continue to stop by when I'm in the area. For one thing, they are one of the few VA stores selling the particular brand of reloading powder I use in my bench rest and long-range-precision rifles. When I need a one-pounder to work up a new load without ordering in and paying the $25 HazMat fee, GreenTop is the go-to place.

Plus, I get a substantial discount as a credentialed NBRSA competitor. Active-duty and retired military, cops, firefighters, first responders and customers associated with other shooting-related organizations receive smaller discounts which more than offsets the state sales tax.

So I think GreenTop will do fine and I wish them all the best in their new location.

Tanner · Oct 19, 2012

To bad so sad!

I was hoping they would fix the crowded thing. Im sure its still crowded but at least they have expanded the space. I will be taking a trip there sometime in a few months after I save some $$ that is if I can save $$. Thinking of a nother rifle and a XD.

cptstoney · Oct 19, 2012

if i didn't kill a stupid high amaount of gas rolling down 95 from nova i would check it out, but as of now it will be a pit stop on my tips to the OBX and anywhere below richmond.

our selection for stores like that in nova has never been the best. the only place that really rocked was galyans, but alas they shut down 8 years ago(maybe more)

acfreddie · Oct 19, 2012

Bob1 said:
How are their prices compared to other sporting goods stores in the area?

Based on their sales newsletter I received late last week, I noted that several guns I comparison priced could easily have been purchased online 10 - 15% cheaper than GreenTop's grand opening "sale" price. But then you've got shipping costs, FFL transfer fee and the time delay. Offset by state sales tax although the VA state individual income tax return has an area for taxpayers to calculate/pay their use tax liability. So, if you're totally honest, there's no sales tax benefit by buying out of state.

They were in line with bass pro shops for the very limited item that I was interested in that they actually had in stock.

I did notice that their guns were high(er) in price, in a similar range as you mentioned (12-18%) and although there is usually a small delay with an online purchase (shipping time). For 10+% (which could easily translate into $50 to $125 for many guns) I find that to be well worth the extra 3-5 days, if it was of extreme importance I could always choose to pay the extra percentage.

I only wish that I had a similar experience to that of the others who have posted here.

Greentop - New location review

acfreddie

Regular Member

peter nap

Accomplished Advocate

acfreddie

Regular Member

Ric in Richmond

Regular Member

Bob1

Regular Member

Tanner

Regular Member

cptstoney

Regular Member

acfreddie

Regular Member