* Paintball guns and accessories have been a highly successful niche for Buckingham PRO Hardware & Great Outdoors in Croghan, N.Y. The store's top floor is dedicated to products for outdoor enthusiasts, including hunting and fishing gear and, of course, paint ball gear and accessories.
Storeowner Todd Buckingham says, 'Paintball is one of the hottest outdoor recreational sports these days, and it's a very popular activity with our customer base. We added this niche so our customers would have a source for their paintball needs here in town.'
Buckingham PRO Hardware & Great Outdoors added the paintball category to its extensive sporting goods department in the fall of 1998 and it has been beneficial to store traffic and sales. Understandably, the paintball merchandise sells best from May through August.
Buckingham says paintball products appeal to a broad range of customers, from 12-year-olds to grown men. Chad Hirschey, the store's manager, is a paintball enthusiast himself and advocated adding the line of products in response to customer requests.
To enjoy paintball, gamers are required to wear proper body armor and face protection, all of which are sold at Buckingham PRO Hardware & Great Outdoors. Buckingham encourages his staff to coach customers on the proper safety techniques for the game. Buckingham merchandises paintball guns, a variety of colored paintballs and accessories such as paintball masks and hats, prominently in-store and promotes the products in his ads to tie into customer interest in outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing and camping. Buckingham also sends out mailers to key customers with special offers on paintball products.
Bob Reiling, merchandise manager for PRO Group, says of Buckingham PRO Hardware's success with the paintball category, 'Any time retailers can sell a product that dispenses another product they sell, it's great for repeat business because customers are likely to come back to you for the dispensed product.'
Buckingham suggests that any retailer considering a new niche, such as paintball products, must merchandise them in high-traffic areas to get people to notice them. 'Once you are known for them you can move them around in your store,' he says. 'I include paintball guns and balls in my 'flex' circulars as well. Something that I haven't done yet but would be a good idea for paintball would be to set up a course and leagues for people to play in.'
