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July 3, 2025
Why I Still Go to the NSSF Range-Retailer Business Expo
I’ve been in retail for almost 30 years—15 of those in the firearms industry. I’ve helped open and grow two of the leading gun shops and ranges in New England. At this point, I’ve got a handle on what I’m doing. But you’ll still find me roaming the exhibits and sitting in the classrooms at the NSSF Range-Retailer Business Expo® every year.
Here’s why.
The Training Program We Thought Would Make Us
When we opened Granite State Indoor Range back in 2014, the prevailing wisdom was that training would be the key to success. Big margins. High demand. Customers lined up to learn from us. That’s what we were told.
And for three years, we chased that dream. We built a serious training program and poured time, energy and money into it. We hired a chief instructor who seemed like the right fit. But the truth? It was hard. Labor intensive. Tough to scale. It burned us out.
A Burnout Cycle—and a Wakeup Call
Keeping customers in the training pipeline was a constant battle. We’d work hard to get someone into a basic handgun class, only to find we had to work five times harder to get them to come back. We’d schedule classes on busy Saturdays hoping for 20 students, only to end up running them with five. That meant tying up an entire bay for four hours—for five people. We were struggling to find where these “massive margins” were supposed to come from.
Still, we kept at it. We thought eventually it would all click and we’d be living high on the hog.
It never happened.
We did everything we could to make it work. But ultimately, our focus shifted—from training to membership. All because of an NSSF conference. That shift was the best move we’ve ever made.
Now, our training department exists to support the membership program. We use training as a tool to drive engagement—keeping members coming back, building loyalty and giving them new reasons to use the range. And it works.
The Game-Changer: One 5-Minute Conversation
In 2017, during lunch at one of those NSSF events, we had a five-minute conversation with a successful range owner from out west. His business was thriving thanks to one thing: a strong, recurring membership model. Monthly memberships. Predictable revenue. It was simple—but effective.
Up until that point, we treated our membership program like an afterthought. We offered annual and monthly options with barebones benefits. And we bought into the myth: “members don’t spend money.”
Every time we brought up memberships with our staff, we heard the same line: “They don’t buy anything. They come in, shoot and leave.” Worse, many of our members didn’t use their memberships at all—and we thought that was great. Free money, right? Most chose the annual plan and we loved it—money up front from someone who might show up once or twice that year.
But when renewal time came around, they didn’t re-up. Why would they? We barely followed up. We didn’t make an effort to retain them. We thought the real money was in walk-in customers.
We were wrong.
That one conversation flipped the switch.
Shifting from Training to Memberships
We went home and overhauled the program from top to bottom. We eliminated the annual plan and committed fully to monthly-only memberships. We hired dedicated membership sales staff. We created meaningful benefits. We set clear goals for member growth. We increased lane availability and prioritized member access.
And no—it didn’t work immediately.
Building Value into Our Membership Model
At first, we offered minimal perks: a couple guest passes, some rental coupons. We thought that’d be enough. But the next year’s growth told us otherwise. If we wanted loyalty, we had to give real value.
So we built it. Our premium membership includes early access to classes, exclusive events and even the ability to buy new firearms at cost.
The Truth About Member Spending
We stopped looking for the cheapest benefit and started building the best member experience we could.
It worked.
That pivot—sparked by a five-minute hallway conversation—completely changed our business. Today? We’re closing in on 5,000 active members.
Marketing Challenges—and Real Solutions We Found at NSSF Events
We struggled—like every other gun shop—to get our name out there. We tried everything: radio ads, TV spots, mailers, newspapers. But at every turn, we were shut down because we sold firearms. Social media? Same problem. Ads rejected. Accounts suspended. Traditional marketing was stacked against us.
The NSSF was where we learned how to work around that. We heard from other operators who’d figured out how to “cheat the system” legally—how to navigate the terms and conditions of platforms that didn’t want our business. That community forced us to think differently. To get creative. That made all the difference.
We’ve been spending money with Google and Facebook for years while other shops in our area still can’t crack the code. Want the secret? It’s not an ad agency or a special plugin—it’s attending these NSSF conferences. It’s sharing ideas with people in the trenches. It’s the little stuff like this that changes everything.
Why the Expo Is Still Worth It—Year After Year
That’s why I keep showing up to these expos. Not because I don’t know what I’m doing—but because there’s always someone out there solving a problem I haven’t cracked yet.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to running a range. Local politics, state laws and your customer base all shape the decisions you make. But if you’re not learning, not networking, not exposing yourself to new ideas—you’re falling behind.
What You’ll Learn Just Might Change Everything
See you in July.
Want to Dive Deeper?
If your range is struggling to grow a sustainable membership program—or if you’re ready to turn monthly members into long-term loyalists—don’t miss my session at this year’s NSSF Range-Retailer Business Expo. Join me on Wednesday, July 17, from 9:30–10:00 a.m. for “More Than a One-Night Stand: Turning Monthly Members into Lifers.” I’ll walk you through exactly how we transformed our membership strategy, reduced churn and built a program that actually makes money. No fluff. No theory. Just real-world tactics you can take home and use.
About the Author
Jack Leuchtner is the general manager and EOS Integrator at Granite State Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Hudson, NH. With nearly 30 years in retail and over a decade in the firearm industry, he’s helped build two of New Hampshire’s most successful gun stores from the ground up. At Granite State, he led the development of a membership program that now serves over 4,500 active members, creating the sales and retention systems that keep it thriving. Jack got his start in retail at his family’s toy distribution and retail store at an early age and entered the firearms world in 2009, where he helped launch the pro shop at the SIG Sauer Academy. Jack’s approach to sales and retention is hands-on, practical and built entirely from real-world experience.
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