Jerrell Dodson loves archery and bow hunting, he just wishes bow hunters weren’t such procrastinators. As an owner of Archer’s Advantage, he’s been selling bows and archery equipment for more than 20 years and “using much longer.” He does two-thirds of his business from now until mid-October, when deer bow season begins in the state, and December and January.
“November is gun season; we don’t do much,” he said. “February, hunting is waning, or everybody has got everything. March, April, May, June, they don’t know who we are. We could burn, they wouldn’t care. They’d be over here crying in the fall because I’ve got some really good people who do a great job.” Archer’s Advantage, the largest full-service archery shop in a five-state area, is among the top 50 dealers in the country for Hoyt and Matthews. They offer full lines of recurves, walls of compound bows and a large selection of crossbows. They carry accessories, provide professional installation, personal service and an indoor range.
Like any smart businessman, Dodson said he strives to work in the best interest of the customer so they’ll come back, and he offers some things bow hunters should know.
#1 Start preparing earlier
“The biggest thing with archers is, they tend to be somewhat procrastinators,” Dodson said. “Thank God they’re coming, but it would have been great if they were coming sooner. I should be slammed in June. July and August. and it should wane in September. But we’ll be slammed in all of September and first two weeks of October.”
If a customer comes in now with a bow that needs a trip to the manufacturer to fix, it’s probably too late to get it back in time. Dodson’s to-do list adds about 10 bows a day, some of which come from folks who just found an issue, and that makes it hectic around the shop.
“If they would get their bows out early and start shooting earlier — I know it’s hotter than heck but it’s hotter than heck now. It’s still better to get it out early and get it ready,” he said. Read more….
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