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Optics Warehouse has been a fixture of the trade since 2007. Why take the leap into selling airguns now?
Lloyd Marshall: We’ve been wanting to launch Air Rifle Warehouse for some time – it’s been in the pipeline for the last 18 months to two years, but we’ve had other projects that kept skipping the queue. The premises we’re in, which we’ve occupied for two years now, has a basement, and when we moved in we simply never used it. So we’ve converted it into a dedicated airgun warehouse. We’ve built an armoury down there and installed a 20-metre range with a retail counter, so customers can handle the rifles and, if they decide to buy, we can set the gun up for them and zero it on the range before they leave.
An indoor range attached to the gun counter is quite a statement for a new venture. Is that the plan – service first?
LM: It’s not a unique selling point, because I know other retailers offer it, but it’s offering something that maybe some of the local shops around us don’t. We’re in Torquay, in Devon, and we’ve started off relatively small because we need to build the business. We didn’t expect to hit the ground running and be as big as we are with Optics Warehouse. But the foundations are all there for people to be looked after properly.
Why does airgunning make sense as the first move into guns, rather than rimfire or centrefire?
LM: We’ve never shied away from guns, but we’ve always concentrated on what we know and what we’re well known in the trade for. We’ve deliberately kept away from rimfire and centrefire because of the licensing issues in this country – it’s just easier, and airguns are a better fit. A big proportion of our optics sales already goes into the air rifle market, so it made complete sense to follow that route into air rifles, CO2 rifles and pistols.
Which brands have made the cut for launch?
LM: We’ve got the main players – Weihrauch, Daystate, Brocock, BSA and FX – plus some Walther bits and pieces and Umarex CO2 pistols. You can probably see from the Air Rifle Warehouse website that our product range is fairly extensive for a new business, but it’s probably not as extensive as some of the competitors out there. That’s simply because we’re starting the ball rolling and getting things off the ground.
At the time of writing you’re collection only. Is that a deliberate choice?
LM: No, not out of choice at all. We’re waiting for our Royal Mail RFD account to be opened, which should be any time soon, from what we’re being told. Once that’s up and running we can offer RFD-to-RFD shipment across the country. In the meantime, for the local guys, we’re offering £30 cash back for anyone who collects.
What does the long-term vision look like for the site?
LM: We’ve only taken up part of the basement so far. When business allows, the plan is to open up the rest and put in a proper range – somewhere between 30 and 40 metres, with a few different lanes. We’ve also deliberately kept the entrance to Air Rifle Warehouse separate from the rest of the building. Because Optics Warehouse is predominantly internet-based, we don’t currently open at weekends, but with that separate entrance, when we get to the point where there’s plenty of footfall, we can open Air Rifle Warehouse on Saturdays and potentially Sundays as well.
Air Rifle Warehouse isn’t the only new string to the bow, is it? What else sits within the group these days?
LM: There’s always something going on – Shaun, our director, has his fingers in all sorts of pies. As well as Air Rifle Warehouse, we’ve recently launched our own clothing brand, MRAD, and we’ve got South West Optics, which serves the birding community with binoculars, spotting scopes and rangefinders, and another website called Tactical Scope.
MRAD sounds a long way from scopes and pellets. What’s the thinking there?
LM: The name is a nod to the shooting community, but Shaun has deliberately kept it far enough away from the shooting world that if somebody knows nothing about the sport, it’s still quite a cool brand to look at and wear.
How do you stop all those optics businesses treading on each other’s toes?
LM: We’re in a transition period. Tactical Scope is slowly becoming what the old-school Optics Warehouse used to be – the value end of the scope market, concentrating on the more affordable optics, because not everybody wants to spend £500-plus on a scope for their air rifle. That frees Optics Warehouse to concentrate on the premium brands we’re well known for, rather than the two competing with each other.
Optics Warehouse built its reputation on keen pricing. Has the positioning changed over the years?
LM: In the early days we were very price-led. That’s how JP and Shaun, the owners – father and son – started the business and got it to where it is now: buying sensibly in volume and passing the savings on to the customer. But we like to look at Optics Warehouse as more of a premium outlet these days. Years ago we’d take clearance stock to the shows with everything at £10 a go; now the shows are about taking products people actually want to buy, and about the service and advice that go with them.
And where do you fit into all of this at Optics Warehouse?
LM: I’m an assistant director – I muck in with anything and everything. The day-to-day running of the business is left to me and Tess Preston. We’re equals and work very closely together – Tess leads on the operations side, looking after the staff and keeping everything running, while I bring more of the shooting and product knowledge, so I lean towards the sales end of it. I’m a shooter myself too, though I’m more centrefire; I love my deer stalking. Customers come up to me at shows and say, “You’ve got the best job in the world – you can go out shooting whenever you want,” and then you tell them that by the weekend you can’t always be bothered, and they look at you a bit surprised.
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