Benchmade going brick & mortar only

[rhino]

So . . . who in central Indiana sells Benchmade now? And what kind of selection do they have?

As far as warranty stuff goes, I usually deal directly with the manufacturer unless I bought it from a dealer/retailer that I know will handle it for me without issues.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Dealer search of within 25 miles of 46202:

STEVEN R. JENKINS CO

WHITTLER'S BENCH
10202 E WASHINGTON ST

EXTREME OUTFITTERS, THE - IN
14620 N MERIDIAN ST
CARMEL, IN

THE OUTDOORSMAN-IN
1010 S STATE RD 135
GREENWOOD, IN 46143

WYATT'S SPORTING GOODS
40 E BUCKEYE
CICERO, IN 46034

 

[Fenway]

This sounds like an absolutely horrible idea on benchmades part

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Dealers within 25 miles of 47933:

LAFAYETTE GUNS & GEAR INC.
2420 GLICK ST

SPORTSMANS WAREHOUSE #157-IN
100 S CRENSY LN SUITE 1600
LAFAYETTE, IN 47905

 

[rhino]

Thanks, Josh. Sportsman's Warehouse is a fun place. I didn't know about the middle three places in your first message:

WHITTLER'S BENCH
10202 E WASHINGTON ST

EXTREME OUTFITTERS, THE - IN
14620 N MERIDIAN ST
CARMEL, IN

THE OUTDOORSMAN-IN
1010 S STATE RD 135
GREENWOOD, IN 46143


I'm ambivalent toward the two cop shops listed (Jenkins and Lafayette Guns and Gear), but Wyatt's won't get any of my money.

I wonder what kind of selection any of them have. Whittler's Bench sounds like a cool place, but being a demure small town boy, I get nervouse when I see an "E" in front of an Indy address. The east side frightens me.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

I do find it a little ironic how often people complain about mom and pop stores going out of business, but are now upset when a company decides to support their mom and pop outlets.

again, I dont know that this is the best idea for BM as far as sales goes, but to a point I respect what may be their reasons for doing so. I do feel for the internet dealers that are losing out because of this, and for the customers who will suffer availability issues.

Hopefully BM has a plan in place to recruit new storefront dealers with incentives for them to stock and sell BM products. Also, it may be interesting to see what they consider a storefront. If you sell via the internet out of your house, what limits you from calling your house a storefront?

 

[am94pm]

Hopefully BM has a plan in place to recruit new storefront dealers with incentives for them to stock and sell BM products. Also, it may be interesting to see what they consider a storefront. If you sell via the internet out of your house, what limits you from calling your house a storefront?

BM told me that you have to have a viable storefront (no residential), be open at least 5 days a week, and if they question that you have a store front they will send a local rep to check it out. How true all of this is, I don't know.

 

[Britton]

BM told me that you have to have a viable storefront (no residential), be open at least 5 days a week, and if they question that you have a store front they will send a local rep to check it out. How true all of this is, I don't know.

It's all true. I talked to them yesterday and the sales rep today. They have to do a physical inspection to make sure it is a store front and then you write your first order right then and there. The rep told me that you had to be, "there kind of store", just not any retail establishment.

 

[rhino]

It would be interesting to know what "their kind of store" means. I don't know what kind of politics Les de Asis has, but he could be one of us, or he could be a total pseudo-liberal/socialist-statist. If he's one of us, it will be interesting if he pulls his product availability from lefty outdoors/climbing/hiking/backpacking shops.

And Mike . . . now we have Mom & Pop internet business too! Like . . . ShooterBasix!

 

[CarmelHP]

Down economy, sales down, respond by depressing your product availability, and only offer your line in upscale full retail locations where fewer likely customers are now shopping. Don't forget to drive away your loyal repeat customers in the process.

I think it's a brilliant strategy, don't you? They're obviously trying to make their current product collector's items after they've driven themselves out of business.

 

[Mike Elzinga]

Rhino, dont think I forgot who the foremost internet retailer is, I am well aware and ShooterBasix will continue to get ALL of my business.

I just find a couple things to be ironically inconsistent. Everyone complains that mom and pop shops are out of business, then complain when internet availability is down. I'm guessing that BM feels none of their true storefronts can compete with internet pricing and there is no justification for being a storefront dealer, with this new idea being an incentive to keep current storefront dealers or add new ones.

I personally think BM is shooting themselves in the ass on this idea, but I've been wrong before. I hope I am wrong again as BM offers a great product. However, if BM dealers are gonna have to go under some crazy personal inspection and play nice just to be allowed to sell the stuff, then BM is on its way down the shitter.

 

[Soundslikejosh]

Well, in order to support the "mom and pop" they actually have to exist in the first place, and then stock the product. Using the "dealer search" on the website made me realize that they have more so called dealers than I thought, but it is still more inconvenient for customers. Hopefully BM customers are loyal enough to seek out the retail outlets. I hope that JL Waters in Bloomington lowers their prices in response to the new batch of customers that have to purchase BM there. JLW is pretty pricey, at least when I was there last. I am all for supporting mom and pop, but not if they insist on charging outrageous prices. I know they don't do the volume, so I don't expect them to be as cheap as the internet. So it's not just a matter or making customers work harder to actually find the product, but now they are likely to pay more to do so. I hear ya Mike, but in this particular instance I think it sucks.


As for the mom and pops, +1. Kleindorfers is the best damn hardware store, period. Black Lumber Company is good people too. Between them, I haven't be in a Menards in quite a while. Good riddance to them!

 

[waloidian]

id expect full MSRP at the B&M stores. maybe they have a death wish, who knows...im looking for 3 mini griptilians, and will more than likely go with another manufacture now that they are pretty hard to find anywhere.

 

[cosermann]

A lot of times you go to a so-called "dealer" listed for a particular brand only to find they carry just an item or two of that brand. Not all dealers are "full-line." My experience has been that most are not. Sounds like a stupid strategy in this day and age, as does having a mom & pop brick and mortar store that doesn't ALSO HAVE a web presence. I mean, you already have a shop. The variable cost of a web site is nothing in comparison to the fixed costs associated with your store. Having a web site ought to be a no brainer for the mom and pops out there.

 

[jdhaines]

I love Benchmade now that I own a full sized Grip. I would never have heard of them if I hadn't done research online. I probably would have ended up with a Gerber from Lowe's or something silly like that. If I can't order online, I may not buy Benchmade again. I guess I'll cross that bridge if and when my grip ever wears out.

 

[Mikeh82]

agree

 

[tyler34]

JL waters in bloomington is a benchmade dealer and while they aren't full line they do have a fair amount and told me they would order whatever I wanted.

 

[waloidian]

i guess their b&m strategy is working...picked this up from the Cabelas up north..couldnt pass up their exclusive color combo...

 

[KokomoDave]

This is how it used to be when Benchmade first came out as I was the exclusive dealer in Kokomo and no-one within 25 miles of your location could be a Benchmade dealer.You had to sell within a few points of MAAP pricing too.Only discounts were to LEO,FF's,EMT and Military with a copy of the I.D. going to Benchmade.Guess they are going back to the 'old way'.Too bad their product isn't made the 'old way' as they have lines made overseas (Taiwan,China,etc).Blech!

 

[nk1124]

JL waters in bloomington is a benchmade dealer and while they aren't full line they do have a fair amount and told me they would order whatever I wanted.

I have done exactly that, called them up and had them order something from BM, but I ended up paying full retail for it.