New NSSF Benchmarking Report Helps Firearms Retailers Assess Their Financial Health

For immediate release

August 26, 2014

For more information contact:

Jim Curcuruto

203-426-1320

New NSSF Benchmarking Report Helps Firearms Retailers Assess Their Financial Health

NEWTOWN, Conn. — Most firearms retailers are small businesses that have limited opportunity to compare their financials with similar companies. Now that is changing, thanks to a new report issued by the National Shooting Sports Foundation^® (NSSF^®) on financial benchmarking that gives firearms retailers the ability to compare their business performance with companies similar to their own, take advantage of trends in the market and plan for growth.

NSSF, the trade association for the firearms, ammunition, hunting and shooting sports industry, has released the 2014 Shooting Sports Industry Financial Benchmarking Report for Firearms Retailers. The report is based on surveys completed by 70 shooting sports locations.

“This study responds to requests from NSSF retailer members for benchmarks that companies can use to gauge their company’s operating strengths and weaknesses and to make improvements,” said Randy Clark, NSSF managing director of business development. “This report alone is worth the price of a retailer membership in NSSF.”

Information in the Financial Benchmarking Report can help retailers . . .

• Monitor and manage expenses
• Measure and improve productivity
• Protect the bottom line
• Evaluate employee effectiveness
• Compare their business to others in the industry

Important benchmarking data includes comparative financial ratios on key performance measures, such as return on asset, asset turnover, cash cycle and inventory turnover; employee and space productivity measures; income and balance sheet breakouts; sales mix data; and advertising and marketing information, among other metrics.

Key data categories such as profitability, shooting sports revenue, retailer square footage, community size and geographic location, and seasonality will help retailers see how their business stacks up against similar companies. Also included in the report is 2011-2013 trend comparison.

To make the contents easy for retailers to use and benefit from, NSSF has included guidelines on how to best utilize the findings and provided a text and graphical executive summary. Jim Curcuruto, NSSF’s director of industry research and analysis, says that not only is this report valuable to existing retailers, it is also very helpful to those planning to open a retail establishment as it allows them to estimate what returns they can expect, which is useful when trying to obtain funding.

The report was prepared by Industry Insights Inc., an independent research and consulting firm that specializes in customized financial and market research. Michael Becher, a certified public accountant, managed the project.

The NSSF 2014 Shooting Sports Industry Financial Benchmarking Report for Firearms Retailers is priced at $250 for members and $2,500 for non-members. To purchase the report, go to www.nssf.org/research/FinancialBenchmarkingReport. For membership information, go to www.nssfmembership.com.

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About NSSF^®

The National Shooting Sports Foundation^® is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 10,000 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, visit www.nssf.org.