A Fading Tradition

 



Figure 1: see note.

As the door opens with the jingle of bells, a customer at Boop’s Sporting Goods is greeted by Chip standing at the counter (Figure1).  Chip is a yellow labrador retriever who likes to be part of the action. He is like a mascot to the shop. With a friendly “Hello" and "Chip get behind the counter,” Joe Noll greets every customer as they walk in the door. Personal customer care provided by some privately owned shops is something slowly dwindling in today’s world.

Joe Noll, a middle aged man dressed in blue jeans, a faded red t-shirt, and a red International farm tractor hat, has been selling firearms and outdoor sporting gear for years.  He grew up in a farm setting hunting and fishing with his siblings and later started a farm of his own.

“I had to recently help clean out my mother’s attic and found one hundred and twenty empty cases of shotgun ammunition. We had shot all that ammunition while hunting as kids. I couldn’t believe it when I finished counting. We didn’t sit at computers or play video games, we were always outside. I wish more kids today could have the opportunity to experience the outdoors like we used to,” Joe reminisced.

 Joe chuckled while telling this story to the customer standing on the opposite side of the L-shaped cases that line part of the store. Joe is very easy to talk to and appears to develop relationships with each customer. With a tall slender stature and big glasses, Joe's humble appearance allows people to feel more comfortable when in the shop.

Figure 2: see note

In addition to Joe is Linda Noll (Boop) leaning against a stool eating crispy potato chips.  Between the rustle of the bag and the crunch of her biting down on a chip, she smiles and laughs during Joe’s story.  Occasionally, she brushes the crumbs off her flannel shirt and blue jeans and tells Chip to clean it up. Chip eagerly licks up the crumbs with a wagging tail.  Linda and Joe were married 10 or so years ago and started running the shop together. Linda’s late husband, Mr. Boop started the shop in late 1977 and passed away around 1986.  Linda was forced to operate the shop for the next several years on her own.  Occasionally, her daughter or son would stop by to help out. Animal mounts covering all the walls and even a full brown bear mount right inside the entrance door, are trophies from Mr. Boop’s adventure hunts all over the world. There are Yukon moose, white-tailed deer, ducks, caribou, antelope, rams, and squirrels, just to name a few (Figure 2). 

Four aisles containing merchandise fill the shop's floor space. Common fishing equipment, such as fishing rods and reels, lures, and nets line the shelves of the first aisle. The strong aroma of deer lures fills my nose as I walk down the next aisle. Adjacent to the lures and attractants, there is a wide selection of firearm cleaning and maintenance supplies. Walk to the end of aisle number two and you’ll be looking at crossbows, firearm cases, and handgun holsters.

While rounding the corner of the firearm section which consists of rifles, muzzleloaders, and shotguns, the jingle of bells radiates through the store.  As the door slams, a short round man with grease stained coveralls walks through the door. He looks as though he has stopped in on his way home from work.

“Don’t slam the door,” Linda quickly responds. 

Joe follows by saying, “Hi Mr. Chris, how are your kids?”

“Good, thanks,” replies the new customer.

“How can we help you today?” asks Linda.

The customer answers, “I need ammo for the shotgun I bought from you last week. I want to go dove hunting with my son this weekend. What size shot should I get?" asks Chris.

            As Joe is walking around the corner of the glass cases containing all of the handguns and beside the case where the riflescopes are displayed, he begins showing the customer several options and recommends size seven shot. The customer grabs two boxes of shotgun shells and heads towards the door where the cash register is situated amongst a clutter of miscellaneous items.  He comments on how nice it is to be able to talk to someone with knowledge of what they sell. The customer comments on a recent experience at a large store where no one knew any specifics on the items in the store. This sparks the opportunity for Joe to tell another story.

            “I had a customer walk in and want to sell us a rifle. I asked him where he had bought the gun and he said Wal-Mart. I asked him why he doesn’t just take it back to Wal-Mart. The guy said they don’t do that. Exactly, we aren’t interested in the gun either.” Chris snickers and leaves without slamming the door.

       
    Standing between the air rifles and center-fire rifles, the muzzle-loading equipment and shooting targets are on the left. The rifle selection continues towards the front of the shop on the opposite shelf.  Muzzle-loading rifles require specific bullets, powders, and primers that need to be separated from the modern ammunition and powders.  The included video demonstrates several of the accessories available and how they are used. Behind me, towards the back of the building, is the clothing section. There are fishing vests, gloves, hats, coats, and shirts laying in rows on the tops of several tables. The last aisle is where the used firearms, shotguns, youth firearms, and rim-fire rifles are displayed. There are bright, handwritten signs posted around the long guns. The signs say “Do NOT touch!” I was told the signs were posted because of items stolen and dropped. Under the used guns against the wall is a large selection of reloading powders.

            On the way back to the counter, Joe is standing in his work area. This is behind the counter where the riflescopes are stored and beside the ammunition section.  He is cleaning and disassembling a used firearm. He continues explaining that whenever a firearm is traded or purchased by the shop, he thoroughly cleans and inspects for any issues before being placed back for sale. Due to this practice, there are many firearms in storage that are not for sale until Joe has time to work on them. The slow paced atmosphere of the shop and its owners explains the reason for a slow turn around time on the resale of used firearms.


Boop's Sporting Goods Overview

            Once a customer decides to purchase a firearm, there is process that must occur. For a long gun, shotgun, or rifle, an application needs to be completed by the buyer. After the information is filled in, Linda or Joe picks up the phone and calls for a government background check. If the buyer clears the background check, a confirmation number is then added to the application. The buyer then pays and can leave with the firearm. A handgun purchase differs slightly in that there are two applications to fill out. Joe always gives the new gun owner a free target with each firearm purchase.

            At the end of the target aisle sits two chairs, one for Linda, and a large hunter green recliner for Chip. By this time, Chip has relocated from supervising the counter to sleeping on the hair-covered and partially chewed recliner. While walking by the recliner, the smell of the dog radiates from the chair.  The relaxed and personal atmosphere of privately owned gun shops will hopefully never disappear. Generations of families have been able to experience the tradition of hunting and fishing along with stopping at the gun shop on the way to the woods. However, with technology advancements reducing our youth’s outdoor related interests,  large corporate stores, and the affect of the declining white-tailed deer populations in PA,  these stores are slowing fading away.

       

Farrand, Matt and Mertz, Kevin. "Locals Fear the Hunt is Hurting." Standard Journal. Web. 28 November 2012.