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  • avvidclif

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    3   0   0
    Aug 30, 2017
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    Van Zandt County
    I went to the Big Town gun show yesterday. That also had one last month. That's too close together for me. At the one yesterday they didn't even fill the hall with vendors, probably the last 75' was empty compared to last month. There were 3 vendors selling solar panel installs for your house, a large Scentsy booth in the middle, and so many jewelry and general junk dealers (not gun related) that I didn't even try to count. Probably 30-40% was not gun related. I informed the lady making reservations for the next show that there was too much junk that wasn't related to guns or knives and I would not be back to another of their shows. I asked she relate my complaint to the powers that be. She said she would. Then when I got home I e-mailed them the same complaint. I could recognize there were 5-6 usual vendors that were not in attendance this month.

    Reading the vendor rules there are NO restrictions on what you sell, but lots of warning about if you sell too many guns you need an FFL.

    Rant off.
    Military Camp
     

    majormadmax

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    9   0   0
    Aug 27, 2009
    15,839
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    San Antonio!
    You do realize that the promoters cannot do anything about the vendors that pay for tables but don't show up for the event, right?

    Also, while I understand the frustration of non-firearms-related vendors, without them there most likely wouldn't be a show, which is what happened to the Premier San Antonio Show.

    Now we are stuck with only SAXET, which has its fair share of non-firearms-related vendors as well (probably 25-30% by my estimate).

    While gun shows in general have gone downhill over the past years, what's even worse is not having any.

    When Premier was here, at least they brought in vendors that weren't at SAXET. Having a wider choice is always nice, and now that SAXET is the only game in town even going once a year, it's simply not worth the time or effort.

    SAXET attendance is way down as is the number of vendors, so I wouldn't be surprised when they close as well, and then where we will be?!?
     

    Glenn B

    Retired & Loving It
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    3   0   0
    Sep 5, 2019
    7,450
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    Texarkana - Across The Border
    I went to a gun show in Benton, AR yesterday. It was only supposed to be 280 tables and I am guessing that was about right. They had a main room and a room outside the main hall that ran along the front of the main hall. That area had almost all of the vendors selling other than firearms or knives. So, the jewelry vendors, the candy vendors, the waterproofing or roof shingle vendors were all outside in that area. There were a couple of T-Sirt/political cap vendors inside. Almost all the rest inside were guns, ammo, parts & accessories or knives. There were not too many knife tables. One thing I liked about this show, other than how they kept non-gun vendors outside for the most part, was that there were a lot of older guns for sale - lots of milsurp and lots of commercial old time guns. Of course, as with most shows nowadays, almost all of the prices were ridiculous.
     

    TexasRedneck

    1911 Nut
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    9   0   0
    Jan 23, 2009
    14,560
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    New Braunfels, TX
    We had a good show going here in New Braunfels, but the promoter did the same thing - tried doing it every month. Our market is just too small - I think if they'd stuck to every 6 month (max), it would have worked. As it was, they beat the market down so far that it'll be years before anyone else tries it I'm afraid. We tried talking to the promoters (we were running 6-8 tables at the shows), but it fell on deaf ears. We didn't even bother to try for the last two shows - just wasn't worth the cost.
     

    Reinz

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    5   0   0
    Sep 5, 2014
    2,255
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    East TX
    I went to the Big Town gun show yesterday. That also had one last month. That's too close together for me. At the one yesterday they didn't even fill the hall with vendors, probably the last 75' was empty compared to last month. There were 3 vendors selling solar panel installs for your house, a large Scentsy booth in the middle, and so many jewelry and general junk dealers (not gun related) that I didn't even try to count. Probably 30-40% was not gun related. I informed the lady making reservations for the next show that there was too much junk that wasn't related to guns or knives and I would not be back to another of their shows. I asked she relate my complaint to the powers that be. She said she would. Then when I got home I e-mailed them the same complaint. I could recognize there were 5-6 usual vendors that were not in attendance this month.

    Reading the vendor rules there are NO restrictions on what you sell, but lots of warning about if you sell too many guns you need an FFL.

    Rant off.

    Clif, I went to the Tyler show yesterday and there were a lot of normal venders missing. I just figured that they went to Bigtown.

    Maybe some other show was going on, or they were all out Christmas shopping.
     

    majormadmax

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    9   0   0
    Aug 27, 2009
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    San Antonio!
    We had a good show going here in New Braunfels, but the promoter did the same thing - tried doing it every month. Our market is just too small - I think if they'd stuck to every 6 month (max), it would have worked. As it was, they beat the market down so far that it'll be years before anyone else tries it I'm afraid. We tried talking to the promoters (we were running 6-8 tables at the shows), but it fell on deaf ears. We didn't even bother to try for the last two shows - just wasn't worth the cost.

    Wasn't the same true for the Austin Highway show? I didn't see it competing in what is already an over-saturated and disinterested market...

    But from experience with a militaria show that we go to that's only twice a year, if you miss one show then it's a whole year between attending. I've asked about quarterly shows, but the promoters and vendors won't support it. In fact, there was a noticeable decrease in attendance this past October from previous events. I just think with online buying and eBay, gun shows and the like have gone the way of the shopping mall...
     

    TexasRedneck

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    Jan 23, 2009
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    New Braunfels, TX
    Wasn't the same true for the Austin Highway show? I didn't see it competing in what is already an over-saturated and disinterested market...

    No - the market IS interested, but not to the point that they can recite the names of the guns on each dealer table. You have to either continuously churn the attending dealers (there's not that many that want to do shows), or else you're gonna bore your customers - which is what they did.


    But from experience with a militaria show that we go to that's only twice a year, if you miss one show then it's a whole year between attending. I've asked about quarterly shows, but the promoters and vendors won't support it. In fact, there was a noticeable decrease in attendance this past October from previous events. I just think with online buying and eBay, gun shows and the like have gone the way of the shopping mall...

    I have to disagree. I think there's still interest in shows that don't happen often, but there's a lot of competition for the attendee's, between home and work. And some shows forget to advertise and become complacent that "we always have a crowd, we don't need to spend the $$$".
    And there's just something fun about going to a GOOD show - and SAXET ain't one of 'em, IMO. When you have to worry about your vehicle being broken in to while you're inside the show, you ain't gonna enjoy it.
     

    majormadmax

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    Aug 27, 2009
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    San Antonio!
    I agree about SAXET not being any fun, other than talking to a few select vendors that I don't see otherwise; but the one thing that show has going for it is predictability. It is the first weekend of every month and I don't think a twice-a-year show is going to draw many people to it when there are more frequent shows with an hour or two driving distance that are held more often and are larger.

    I always looked forward to and enjoyed the Premier shows. Sure, they dwindled down towards the end; but they had better vendors than SAXET. Every other month was a good tempo for them, but in the end they simply could not compete with SAXET and Bexar County, which did everything within its power to push them out of Freeman Coliseum/Expo Hall...
     

    TexasRedneck

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    Jan 23, 2009
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    New Braunfels, TX
    I always looked forward to and enjoyed the Premier shows. Sure, they dwindled down towards the end; but they had better vendors than SAXET. Every other month was a good tempo for them, but in the end they simply could not compete with SAXET and Bexar County, which did everything within its power to push them out of Freeman Coliseum/Expo Hall...

    You're looking at it as an attendee - I'm looking at it as a vendor. Two different viewpoints. We know a lot of their key vendors that would travel down for the show. The monthly trips were a big drain for them - both in terms of time and costs. They saw the crowd drop first as folks opted to "not go this month - we'll go next month instead." Those smaller crowds translated to fewer sales, and fewer vendors willing to drive that distance to chase shrinking dollars and rising costs of gas, time, hotels, etc. Had they stuck to quarterly or 6 months, I think it'd worked out.
     

    HKShooter65

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    We had a good show going here in New Braunfels, but the promoter did the same thing - tried doing it every month. Our market is just too small .....


    Actually the New Braunfels Civic Center show was great.
    I almost always bought or sold something there.
    The Ruger 77/22mag I bought at the very last NB show and had threaded took a coyote a week ago with my thermal!

    Similarly, the Austin Highway show was small but invariably I found something to buy, be it a knife or case of ammo or a good deal on a scope.

    Trouble was......they often/usually coincided on the very same weekend.
    20 minutes apart is nothing to me so I'd usually do both shows.
    It split and diluted vendors at both shows though.

    I'm, hopefully not in vain, wishing one or the other to be resurrected!
     
    Last edited:

    skfullgun

    Dances With Snakes
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    7   0   0
    Oct 14, 2017
    5,430
    96
    In the woods...
    I occasionally work shows in Pasadena. Yes, some tables have the same guns, and prices, they did five years ago. Other vendors move LOTS of guns with minimal profits. Some sell one gun per show, others sell 100's per show.
    It's fun to watch people.
    You can buy knives, jerky, jewelry, holsters, carry insurance, safes, survival food, reloading components, hunts, flashlights, ceramic iguanas, AND guns.

    What more could you want?
     

    HKShooter65

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