Where did all the Trad Stores go?

[Denes]

12 years ago there were at least 4 Trad stores in the NE Ohio region. I get divorced and hurt, stop shooting for 12 years and they all disappeared.
The Archery Bug has bit me and my son is showing interest again and it's time to buy materials to Bowyer and Fletching arrows.
I don't want to order on line!
I want to be able to inspect and pick the things I need.  I want to converse with a Human being that shares my interest in Archery,  Bowyer in and Fletching.
WHERE DID THEY ALL GO?

[Wandering Archer]

Where in NE Ohio? I wasn't shooting trad back then, but I was in the Warren/Niles, Middlefield area from '99 to '05. I was hunting wheel bow back then, and can't remember ever stepping foot inside of a trad bow shop, or seeing anything related to traditional archery in any store I ever visited. Of course, I wasn't exactly looking either.

Personally, I didn't know trad stores existed. Here in CA is the only place I've ever seen a store that even sell trad stuff, but it's mostly limited to recurves. You won't find any wood shafts or cresting supplies...
The only time I've ever been able to handle products and talk to people is at 3D shoots, when a lot of the bowyers and craftsmen come and set up shop.

[old_goat2]

Internet sales killed them especially after 2008 and the recession. I'm fortunate to live just a few miles from Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear, sponsor on here, if you want to shoot trad, probably your only recourse is to order online or make it yourself!

 www.rmsgear.com

[McDave]

I would guess they went the same way as all the local hardware stores.  I used to feel guilty sometimes when I would look through the open bins for whatever screws, nuts, nails, etc., I wanted and be charged 28 cents or so for them.  Of course, I would buy more expensive tools from them from time to time too, but I guess that business model doesn't work anymore.

We have a sponsor on this site, Raptor Archery in Hood River, OR, that is a wonderful trad only store.  More like a combination store and museum, really.  If any of you are ever anywhere near Hood River, OR, it would be worth your while to stop in.  I know this doesn't help you much with your problem in Ohio, but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

[danbow]

Try Wagner archery he is in northern ohio

[LBR]

It's a hard row to hoe if you plan to run a traditional archery store.  There's just not that big of a profit margin, especially with the items everyone needs and everyone (including stores like Wal-Mart) carries.

Specialty items, like custom strings and arrows, take time to do correctly--there's just so many you can make in a day, and doing custom means you can't make up a bunch ahead of time.

The internet has been a blessing and a curse.  I figure it's put some stores out of business, but it's been the lifeblood of businesses like mine.  If I had to rely on local sales I would never have got started to begin with.

[damascusdave]

I buy most of my traditional supplies from people who do not have a storefront operation and sell as a sideline...they have regular jobs to make a living and the archery supply business to mostly support the same habit we all tend to share...there may be similar operations in your area

DDave

[Bladepeek]

We just lost ours. A sad, sad day. Seems trad archers make such a small number compared to wheel guys and then they have to compete with the big box stores and on line sales. It's a mighty tough row to hoe, but it sure was nice while we had one within a couple of miles. I will certainly miss them.

[Ron Vought]

Technology in all aspects seemed to put them out of business. We have the Internet for sales that seem to attract people. We also have cross guns and speed bows that make life easier for people now a days.

Ron

[Lefty]

Your best bet if you want to handle before you buy, is to attend one of the larger trad shoots and buy from the vendors that attend the shoot.

[David Mitchell]

What Lefty said is about as good as most of us will get any more.  The trad shops have gone the way of lots of mom and pop operations in the last decade--internet!  Our local outdoor backpacking, fly fishing, etc. store was a great place to get gear because they didn't sell anything they didn't have staff who did that activity on a regular basis so you could always figure on knowledgeable information.  But they could not compete with catalog and on-line sales.  They tried to match prices for a while but just didn't have the volume of business to support that and so had to fold up.  I would much rather pay a bit higher price and see stuff hands on, but the only way I can do that with archery gear is to go to the big shoots and support the dealers who go to the effort to go there.  There are even some trad dealers I used to buy from who have stopped going to the shoots--so I usually throw my business to those who show up and act like they want my business.

[elkken]

There is nothing in my area any more since Glenn St Charles closed Northwest Archery. I used to spend hours in there BS'ing with Glenn or the kids, that was a great time back then. Suzanne still makes mighty fine arrows under the Northwest Archery name and I believe she carries a few accessories also but if you are new to Trad Archery the choices are very limited for an in person experience. A knowledgable person can do fine on the internet and as mentioned before there are some great vendors at Trad only 3D shoots and club events.

Trad Gangs sponsor list is a good place to start, lots of products and some very good folks to deal with.

There has never been any "trad" store anywhere around these parts! If they were there, I bet the internet did then in!

Bisch

[Bladepeek]

Another aspect that I've been considering since the closing of my favorite trad store is that we have become a nation of marketeers. I mean we can sell anything. If there is no rational market for the product, we create one. A different face cream for each hour of the day; different gun oils for each gun you own; exercise gimmicks for every part of our bodies; etc, etc. Whether the market is male, female, or mixed doesn't really matter.

By nature, I think trad shooters (and therefor, trad businesses) tend to be more laid back and don't market as aggressively as the wheelie/sideways bow companies and stores.

That, coupled with the smaller market audience seems to make it really tough for a trad store to make a go of it. A real shame, but probably just a sign of the times.

[T Folts]

You can visit 3Rivers archery in Indiana, or go to the Kalamazoo,Michigan expo in January. Just make a mini vacation for you and your son.

[Krex1010]

This is definitely a sad topic for me. Growing up in se PA we had dozens of mom and pop sporting goods stores. When I was a kid we would hang out there, looking at all the hunting and fishing gear, the mounts on the walls, and listen in on the men that were telling stories about their hunting and fishing trips. There was a familar list of characters that we would always see in the stores. Kinda like Cheers but in an outdoors setting. It was great, we learned a lot, had guys we looked up to that we would listen to. Really fueled our love for the outdoors. Looking back those shops didn't have much of a selection, but back then we didn't care about that. The online movement and big box stores killed the little guys. It's sad, another slice of Americana that is just a memory.

[kill shot]

Ron, I know what you mean. With Tom closing his doors it's almost like a death in the family. He had a wealth of info that comes from experience. A new trad archer could go in there and get his/her stuff tuned in. The big thing with trad is to have tuned equipment and without that you can quickly become discouraged. I very much liked the fact that when I needed something I would just run over there and get it.