by Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor
This year the nation was hit with a series of devastating hurricanes. The people of Texas and Florida, and to a lesser degree, Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina and portions of neighboring states, faced floods, power outages, homelessness and other hardships.
It is worthwhile remembering that the gun and outdoor industry joined the thousands of volunteer Americans who joined first responders in coming to the aid of fellow citizens. TGM noted previously that many firms donated services and products—from outdoor cooking tools to kayaks and john boats—to help their fellow citizens in the face of natural disasters.
And the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) provided financial aid to affected retailers to help them get back to normal business. NSSF and the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Institute also stepped forward with information and guidance to help individual gunowners in the devastated areas to salvage and restore flood-damaged firearms and ammunition.
It was good to see the industry step forward with a helping hand.
Among the other highlights of 2017, there was the completed acquisition of outdoor retail giant Cabela’s by another giant in the field, Bass Pro Shops. Since that deal was finalized, both brands seem to be moving forward.
As an indicator that the gun buying frenzy that swept the nation in 2016 has cooled somewhat figures from Sturm, Ruger’s financial report provide further evidence.
Ruger reported that for the third quarter of 2017 the company had net sales of $104.8 million and diluted earnings of 53¢ per share, compared with net sales of $161.4 million and diluted earnings of $1.03 per share in the third quarter of 2016.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2017, net sales were $404.0 million and diluted earnings were $2.32 per share. For the corresponding period in 2016, net sales were $502.5 million and diluted earnings were $3.48 per share.
Ruger’s Chief Executive Officer Christopher J. Killoy made the following observations related to the Company’s 2017 third quarter performance:
- In the third quarter of 2017, net sales decreased 35% and earnings per share decreased 50% from the third quarter of 2016. The decrease in earnings is attributable to the sales decline and the unfavorable de-leveraging of fixed manufacturing costs due to the decline in production volumes.
Sales of new products, including the Mark IV pistols, the LCP II pistol, and the Precision Rifle, represented $118.8 million or 30% of firearm sales in the first nine months of 2017. New product sales include only major new products that were introduced in the past two years.
The estimated unit sell-through of the company’s products from the independent distributors to retailers decreased 25% and 16% in three and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2017 from the comparable prior year periods. For the same periods, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System background checks (as adjusted by the National Shooting Sports Foundation) decreased 16% and 10%.
The decrease in estimated sell-through of the company’s products from the independent distributors to retailers is attributable to:
- Decreased overall consumer demand in 2017 due to stronger-than-normal demand during most of 2016, likely bolstered by the political campaigns for the November 2016 elections,
- Reduced purchasing by retailers in an effort to lower their inventories and generate cash,
- Aggressive price discounting and lucrative consumer rebates offered by many of our competitors, and
- Increased industry manufacturing capacity, which exacerbates the above factors.
In the first nine months of 2017, Ruger returned $85 million to its shareholders through the payment of $20 million of dividends, and the repurchase of 1.3 million shares of common stock in the open market at an average price of $49.10 per share, for a total of $65 million.
In October, Michael Kassnar, vice president of sales and marketing for IWI US, Inc., a subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd., announced his retirement from IWI, effective immediately.
“I’ve reached a point in my career where I feel comfortable enough to step back and let others take the reins,” Kassnar commented. “I’ve been very fortunate to have had such a long and interesting career in an industry that I am truly passionate about.”
Prior to bringing the highly successful IWI brand to the US, Kassnar’s history within the shooting sports industry began when he started to work for his father in 1976 at Kassnar Imports, Inc. in Harrisburg, PA. By the time 1989 rolled around, he had started his own business, K.B.I. Inc., importing IMI’s Jericho pistols, Russian and Hungarian small arms, Armscor 1911 pistols, and a few years later added the popular Charles Daly line of over & under, side-by-side, semi-auto and pump-action shotguns. In early 2010, the marketplace shifted and K.B.I. formally closed its doors.
Always the entrepreneur, Kassnar started a new company, Trans World Arms, LLC and continued with the Charles Daly Defense line adding his first American made MSR’s and carbines to the product line. In 2013, the public demand for Israeli made firearms, especially the much sought after TAVOR® bullpup, caught Kassnar’s eye and utilizing his many international contacts, he was able to bring the TAVOR to the US.
Michael Kassnar with Tavor.
And so, with the closing of TWA’s doors, IWI US, Inc., the subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries (IWI) Ltd. opened in the same facility that once held Kassnar Imports and K.B.I. As IWI US’s vice president of sales and marketing, Kassnar was responsible for bringing the iconic bullpup to market in an aggressively AR-style marketplace. With his industry-wide reputation as a fair and honest business partner, he was able to open doors in the distribution channels and media outlets that resulted in the TAVOR outselling its initial production run by 300% in its first year, as well as earning it American Rifleman’s Golden Bullseye Rifle of the Year for 2014. IWI US also won “Importer of the Year” from the National Association of Sporting Goods Wholesalers (NASGW) for two consecutive years 2014 – 2015.
“I am leaving IWI US in good hands with Casey Flack, our CEO, at the helm,” Kassnar added. “I look forward to catching up with friends and family and some long overdue personal projects.”
Kassnar expressed his gratitude to all of his colleagues at IWI US, IWI Israel, and within the industry and did mention the possibility of attending the upcoming 2018 SHOT Show to reconnect with old friends
Hot on the heels of Kassnar’s departure, IWI, an SK Group member, announced the introduction of the MASADA family of striker-fired pistols for military, law enforcement and civilian purchase scheduled to be available in the first quarter of 2018.
The MASADA has passive safety mechanisms, including a firing pin block safety and a crisp trigger reset with a built-in trigger safety. It features a fast, easy and safe takedown mechanism with no need to pull the trigger for disassembly. The pistol comes in another variant which utilizes a thumb activated manual safety. The slide comes standard with improved front and rear cocking serrations and enhanced ergonomics with an improved grip angle. The low barrel axis reduces recoil and improves sight recovery. The body is a glass-reinforced polymer frame with a polygonal cold hammer forged barrel in a 1:10RH twist.
Additional features include fully ambidextrous slide stop and magazine release with standard fixed 3-dot tritium illuminated Meprolight night sights. The weight without the magazine is 22.9 ounces. The MASADA will be available in three colors: OD Green, Black and Flat Dark Earth (FDE).
As the year moves toward a close, it is interesting to hear from the Outdoorhub.com and USA Today that Arby’s restaurants announced it will continue the success it had with venison sandwiches last year, and they’re even taking it up a notch this hunting season.
According to USA Today, venison sandwiches were back on the menu in all 3,300 restaurants in the US effective Oct. 21.
And, if you live in Colorado, Wyoming or Montana, you get a special wild game surprise!
This hunting season, Arby’s is rolling out a special limited-edition Elk Sandwich that will only be available in the three states mentioned above.
If you remember from last year, Arby’s venison sandwiches sold out in minutes, and will likely sell out again quickly this year, Arby’s Chief Marketing Officer Jim Taylor says.
“If people are interested in trying the sandwich, the only way to guarantee they can get one is to get there when we open or a little before and make sure they are in line, just like folks last year,” Taylor said.
Just like last year, the restaurant chain uses a New Zealand supplier that sells grass-fed free-range venison. Taylor said it took a little over a year to set up an arrangement with suppliers in order to secure enough product for what he calls “the biggest venison promotion in the world any restaurant has ever done.”
“We took a look at what hunters and wild game enthusiasts love to talk about eating, and elk was something that kept popping up, and we said, ‘this is another great tasting game meat we think our guests would enjoy,’” he continued.
