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POSTED: Monday, Sep. 14, 2009

Yeager's Sporting Goods selling guns again

BELLINGHAM - After a three-year hiatus, Yeager's Sporting Goods has a license to sell firearms again - and sales in the run up to hunting season haven't disappointed.

The store lost its federal license to sell firearms in 2006 because it missed the deadline to renew it, costing the store hundreds of thousands of dollars, sporting goods manager Mike Sytsma said.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives issues those licenses, and when license holders miss the renewal deadline they have to start over and re-apply, said Mark Leiser, an agency spokesman.

Sytsma said the missed deadline was a mistake, but general manager Kym Welch reapplied this year.

Welch became the general manager in 2008, and owner Frank Uhrig Sr. wanted to wait to get a new license until she could be the one who applied, Sytsma said.

The store received its new license July 1 - just in time to outfit hunters for seasons that started in August.

"It showed up just barely in time," Sytsma said. "It's a huge draw. Just going off word of mouth, we've doubled our foot traffic."

Sytsma said the store has about 150 rifles, pistols and shotguns in stock, fewer than he'd like to have.

The store was unable to place orders at trade shows held in January and February. Instead, it has to purchase from wholesalers, which caused it to miss out on hard-to-get items, he said.

Buying from trade shows also would have given the store more flexibility in paying for the firearms, as the shows' dealers give one to two more months for payments than wholesalers.

"To sell something you haven't paid for yet makes the most sense," Sytsma said. "We missed the boat."

Still, firearm and hunting equipment sales have been brisk, and coupled with strong fishing equipment sales for salmon fishing in Puget Sound rivers, the store's profit margins have been healthy in the poor economy, Sytsma said.

Joe's sporting goods closing its location off Meridian Street also has helped, he said.

"I bet we'll see a solid 10 percent increase across the board," Sytsma said. "We're doing all right."

While the price of firearms has remained stable in the past several years, ammunition prices have steadily risen and could temper gun sales if they continue to climb higher, Sytsma said.

He checks with the store's ammo wholesalers constantly to see if they have any in stock.

"If they've got anything in stock I have to purchase immediately," Sytsma said. "It still is a concern. There's no end in sight, but people are still buying as available."