January 22nd, 2009

SHOT Show Wrap-Up: Attendance Good, Orders Strong

2009 SHOT ShowThe National Shooting Sports Foundation’s SHOT Show wrapped up Sunday in Orlando with strong attendance and a cautiously optimistic outlook for the coming business year. Though many trade shows have seen a decline in attendance, SHOT Show attendance increased 3% when compared to its last visit to Orlando in 2007, and was down just 6% when compared to last year’s record-breaking show in Las Vegas. According to preliminary figures, this year’s show attracted 25,384 attendees, 22,098 exhibiting personnel and a record 1,425 members of the media for a total attendance of 48,907.

Many manufacturers’ representatives confirmed that the show was very good from a business standpoint. Despite the troubled economy, orders were being taken and demand seemed strong for a wide variety of products. High-tech rifles and handguns, in particular, have seen a jump in sales heading into 2009.

Steve Hornady, president of Hornady Manufacturing Co.:
“Response to our new products has been good. Some of this, of course, is in anticipation of a problem down the road. This year will be determined primarily by what happens in Washington, and is for the most part out of our control. We hope that common sense will prevail, and the fact that further regulation of our industry is not the solution.”

Scott Grange of Browning:
“It’s been a good show. With all of the interest in high-tech arms, it good to see that the interest in our over/under shotguns was also up. The SHOT Show specials we laid out for retailers were very well received. The success here has helped position us for the expected upturn in the economy.”

Al Russo of Remington Arms Co.:
“Our meeting rooms were booked, and the quality of the buyers at the show was very good. We saw good volume in our law enforcement booths, and we’re very pleased with the media turnout.”

SHOT Show
SHOT Daily Available Online
All four issues of SHOT Daily, the magazine printed each day of the SHOT Show, are available online in PDF format at www.shotshow.org. SHOT Daily is printed for NSSF by Bonnier Corp., publishers of Outdoor Life, Field & Stream and SHOT Business magazines.

January 15 | January 16 | January 17 | January 18

Story and photo © 2009 by NSSF, used with permission

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