Make Food Your Next Course

Selling food can serve everyone well

By Tom Carpenter

The idea of combining a shooting range with an eating establishment makes sense on many levels. People have to eat. Why not generate that revenue instead of letting it go down the street? If your range is isolated, food is a particularly attractive service for shooters. Either way, a restaurant, cafe or snack bar can boost profits. Furthermore, providing a place where customers can sit down and rest while eating a snack or meal keeps them around for more shooting afterward. Your range becomes a complete destination.

Of course, opening an eating establishment is easier said than done. Some ranges have done it successfully, however, and their examples provide important ideas and guidelines for other ranges that are considering adding food to their offerings.

Miles Hall, founder and owner of H&H Shooting Sports Complex in Oklahoma City, Okla., took the food plunge and found success. Another range with food in its offerings is Arizona Shooter's World in Peoria, Ariz., managed by Don Gallardo. Let their experiences and insights guide your foray into food service at your range.

The idea stage
How did the idea to combine food and shooting happen?

"We began to look at our shooting range as a place for entertainment," said Hall. "When you think that way, your business goes in new directions. And entertainment usually includes food.

"We started by looking for places to park soda and candy machines," Hall reflected, "but the concept grew from there. We were lucky: We had a chef who liked to shoot here. With his help, we started small, but then it took off."

For Arizona Shooters World, the idea for serving food came early in the facility's young history.

Bull's-eye! "Our most popular item is our famous grilled onion burger," said Miles Hall, owner of H&H Shooting Sports Complex, in Oklahoma City, Okla.. "It features grilled onions on top of a big burger. And folks love our fries and onion rings." Remember, all ingredients are fresh, never frozen. No wonder the 4U Cafe's food "hits the mark" for shooters.

"At Arizona Shooters World, we started back in early summer," said Gallardo. "We were just opening this location, and we knew it would be busy, with waits for lanes. People would need something to do. Why not someplace to eat? It's also great for people taking classes -- they can have a meal or break right on site instead of having to drive somewhere and come back."

Beginnings
The H&H eatery started small in 1999, with a snack-bar area, grill and limited menu.

"In less than three years, we went to phase two, with a larger area," said Hall.

The most recent expansion to the eating area was in March of this year, to the full-service 4U Cafe.

"The floor plan is open," he continued. "You can see right back to where the cooks are preparing the food. We use only fresh meat, potatoes and onions. Nothing is frozen."

The H&H commitment to excellent food is important.

Laughed Hall, "Now we get some people who come here just to eat!"

The current Shooters World presentation is smaller, but makes customers happy.

"I would call it a small cafe," said Gallardo. "We have items like cookies, bottled drinks, fountain drinks, coffee, chips and snacks, hot dogs, brats and fruit smoothies. We keep things simple and basic, but good."

Challenges
Like starting any business, food service has its own set of challenges.

"The most important concept is to do it right," said Hall. "Don't cut corners with equipment or fixtures. Go beyond the minimum and get the recommended equipment. Commit to quality. You're dealing with issues of health."

Just as you keep your range safe, so must you need to keep food safe.

"You can save money by buying good used equipment," Hall advised. "We bought 'used' equipment, but it was clean and up to code--like new, and saved us a lot of money."

Hall said many good used-restaurant- equipment companies with which you could do business are out there.

"We already had an experienced chef," Hall said. "That helped in the setup process. He knew what we needed to do."

Gallardo echoed that sentiment.

"We got help starting up," he said. "You don't need to do it alone."

Bottom line? Get help from someone who has been through this.

"It's not hard to get set up as a restaurant with the basics -- cooking areas, sinks, refrigerators and freezers," said Hall. "Putting in the vents and venting is probably the hardest part. You need to have sinks, good water and a sewer."

At Shooters World, with a smaller and simpler food counter, setup was not as involved.

Regulations
Food service is a highly regulated industry.

"We got great support from our state health department," said Hall. "It wanted us to succeed, but any such department's priority is that you to do it right, and with food safety always in mind. Our state's department was great to work with. It was not hard to exceed the basic health requirements."

Halls best advice?

"Make the health department your ally. You can't do it without them, so you might as well get their help and support."

Gallardo has similar feelings.

"The health department is your friend," he said. "Everything went so smoothly with them. It's the easiest part of the process."

Added Hall proudly, "To this day, we have yet to have a code violation or write-up."

Staff
"Equipment and food are important to food service, but good, quality people are the key to everything," emphasized Gallardo.

Hall agreed.

"The people creating and serving the food make the difference," Hall said. "You need good food, but you also need an inviting, friendly and fun atmosphere. Good people--from cooks to service personnel--make that work. Customers come to the 4U Cafe to see the people as much as to eat the food."

Hall strongly advises getting help from people who know the food service industry. Setting up a menu and training cooks, counter personnel and wait staff takes a knowledgeable professional.

"Staffing is your biggest concern," Hall added. "A restaurant operates on good people. We have a good core here, but you have to also keep that important support staff productive and happy. Those positions tend to be transitory."

Customers Must Wash Their Hands Whenever someone is going to eat after shooting, he or she must thoroughly wash their hands, and a range is responsible for having prominent signage to deliver that message. You may request a poster, the concept for which originally appeared in the Fall 2005 Range Report. In fact a set of five different posters for ranges are offered free to NSSF members as catalog item #7040. Nonmembers may purchase the set for $15. Visit the Publications Catalog in the Range Resources section of www.nssf.org.

Marketing
The saying, "If you build it, they will come," certainly applies here. The key is getting them to come back. Both ranges have their own approach.

"We run specials every week," said Hall of the 4U Cafe. "Things like meat loaf, French dip, Tex Mex. The specials work. They attract customers."

Specials also let you add variety to a small base menu of sandwiches and burgers.

Another great idea: Combination passes for shooting and lunch.

"That's a great approach," said Hall. "It keeps people in the building, and spending money there. They shoot, eat, feel good, then go back to do some more shooting or perhaps more shopping."

The Shooters World cafe has taken a simpler approach.

"It's been working for us," said Gallardo. "I would recommend it as a good way to start. Keep everything main line and simple, see how it goes and really listen to the customers -- what they like and don't like, what else they want. Listening is key to ongoing success."

Good food, good service and the positive word of mouth they combine to generate comprise your best marketing. People will try anything once. Give them a great meal and service, and they will spread the word and come back again.

Conclusion
You may have never thought about food service as part of your shooting range's offerings. The different eating experiences created at H&H and Shooter's World, however, prove that food can indeed become an additional customer service at your range … and a profit center as well.