Dennis Huspeni writes:
“The owners of the Centennial Gun Club couldn’t get the business’ new shooting-range facility open fast enough.
Virtually since the day the business opened in February 2012 as the Gun Store at Centennial, near the busy corner of Peoria Street and Arapahoe Road, its six existing lanes were completely booked at all times.
So the company immediately sank $10 million into building a 35,000-square-foot facility, with 28 shooting lanes, a lounge and a 5,000-square-foot retail store. It opened at 11800 E. Peakview Ave. this month, adjacent.
“That should really ease up the pressure on the lanes,” said Richard Abramson, general manager. “As soon as we feel the pressure on those lanes, we have room to add 10 more — which should be a cushion for a long time to come.”
The business’ growth has been rapid: It started turning a profit after the first year of operation and have doubled year-over-year revenues in the second year of business, Abramson said.
“The business has grown a huge amount in the past year,” he said. “We don’t know what the new normal is … We’ve had so many first-time gun buyers in the last year, the complexion of the industry has changed in the last two years.”
It’s a business that seems to turn on a dime with political changes, news of mass shootings and supply-and-demand challenges with ammunition.
Abramson said the number of memberships has “more than doubled” in the last year and retail sales have tripled.”
Read more at: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/01/21/centennial-gun-club-opens.html?page=all
