Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that I must share the news that, after almost exactly 25 years in business, The Shooting Edge must cease all operations effective immediately.
This result comes after relentless efforts to navigate seemingly unending roadblocks that have left us financially drained and simply unable to continue. We fought through every challenge forced upon us and tried to pivot where we could, but the impact of COVID-19 hit us hard. Overwhelming regulatory changes, including the rifle ban through OIC in 2020 and the handgun ban under Bill C-21 in 2022, have resulted in a staggering loss of over $3 million annually in sales.
As we watched our sales and membership numbers dwindle, it became increasingly clear that there is little need for a shooting club when purchasing handguns is no longer an option for our customers. Compounding our struggles, our infrastructure costs have surged. Our rent has soared from about $61,000 per month to a staggering $95,000 per month over the last three years, and despite our best efforts to re-negotiate, we have been advised by our landlord that this will escalate to more than $100,000 per month in 2025, with continued increases and special assessments on the horizon. This amounts to over $1.2 million annually in rent alone.
When we consider the cumulative effect of lost retail revenue, declining memberships, and skyrocketing overhead on a dilapidated building, it's remarkable that we’ve managed to stay afloat this long.
As we close our doors, I want to express my deep gratitude for the incredible memories and connections we’ve built over the years. The experiences and opportunities provided by The Shooting Edge have enriched my life and the lives of many in this community. I will always cherish the moments we shared and the support you’ve shown us throughout this journey.
Thank you for being a part of this chapter in our story. Though this is a painful farewell, I will hold onto the memories we've created together.
With heartfelt appreciation,
JR Cox
The Shooting Edge
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
I am sure this news will be upsetting to many, will anger some and will raise countless questions for all. We take each question very seriously and will try to be as transparent as possible, keeping in mind we cannot disclose certain things pertaining to our insolvency and we need to respect the privacy of our staff. We have tried to anticipate as many questions as possible.
We recognize this short list will not answer every question arising so we are going to open up as many opportunities as possible for you to reach out to get the answers you are looking for.
JR's availability and how you will be able to reach him is listed below.
QUESTION:
We were told by your staff that the business had been sold. What’s
the current status of that situation? Was this not true?
Answer: We tried vehemently to sell TSE for over two years and sought out multiple potential investors to secure a positive outcome. We engaged a broker and had several discussions with interested parties locally, nationally and internationally. We were working on potential deals up until the end of August. Unfortunately, all negotiations came to a halt when the building owner (The Telus Corporation Pension Fund), would not make the concessions on the lease we needed to close any sale. This stopped every potential agreement in it's tracks. We deeply regret that we couldn’t find a solution that would allow us to continue as a viable business in the location we currently reside.
QUESTION: I have a locker and/or firearms in storage. What will happen to my belongings?
Answer: Please rest assured we have worked through and executed our plan to secure your property properly and return it to you safely.
Throughout our shutdown process we have been in communication with the CFOs office and they are aware of the situation and have been very supportive. It has been a priority for us to secure your items at an offsite location which has passed all required inspections and is fully licensed as a temporary secure storage.
We will send out the address of our storage location Sunday evening with our operating hours. We anticipate pick-ups to commence Monday, October 7.
We will have signs placed around the building to help you find the correct location.
QUESTION: What do I do with my restricted / prohibited firearms if I do not have a membership to a shooting range?
Answer: First and foremost, there is no legal requirement for you to have a shooting range membership in order to maintain ownership of your firearms. that said, you still legally hold a membership to a non-profit shooting club. All memberships at TSE fall under "The Calibre Shooting Association", which is still operational. The CFO is aware of our situation and knows the Shooting Edge is now closed. They are able to answer any additional questions you may have. If you have any further questions or concerns specific to the CFO, please don’t hesitate to reach out to them at 1-800-731-4000 Ext 9146.
QUESTION: Do I need to contact the RCMP about a new storage location?
Answer: Not until you pick up your firearm from us. The CFO knows that the firearms using The Shooting Edge as an alternate storage location have been moved to this location. Once you collect your firearm, you need to either cancel the alternate storage or change it to a new location.
QUESTION: What happens to my firearms if I am out of town/country and not able to collect them.
Answer: Please reach out to us either by email [email protected] or by phone 587-997-6244 so that we can ensure we keep all of your contact details current. We have no intention of causing any of our storage clients grief. But eventually this service will cease and your firearms will be deemed abandoned. Please arrange pickup as soon as possible.
QUESTION: I am booked to take the Firearms Safety Course at The Shooting Edge. What do I do?
Answer: The space we have secured gives us access to a proper classroom. We will be honouring all course bookings at this new location, which is a short distance from our original store with plenty of parking. Our long-term plan is to hold courses in this location moving forward under a different business name. We will be reaching out to all students enrolled in a class to ensure they have all the information they need to have a successful course with us at the new location.
QUESTION: If I placed an order recently, what is happening with it?
Answer: All of the orders received by Sunday, September 29th will be fulfilled and shipped.
QUESTION: Will you be opening a new shooting range at this new location?
Answer: No. There are no plans to open a shooting range at the location where you will be picking up your personal items and/or taking courses in the future. We will continue to explore every commercial opportunity that may become available to us to enrich the vibrant gun culture in Canada, however an indoor shooting range is not being planned for this space.
QUESTION: Why couldn't you have refinanced the business to keep it afloat?
Answer: As the sole owner I've reached the limit of my resources. With our current monthly rent at $95,000, I’ve borrowed from friends, family, private lenders and the bank to keep the doors open this long. I’ve used all available funds from my other businesses to subsidize TSE for years. Over the past year, I have had to cash in my RRSPs, investments, and my military injury pension to keep things going. There are no further resources available to sustain the business.
QUESTION: Why couldn't you renegotiate your lease?
Answer: We have been working with the landlord to renegotiate our lease since 2020. Our last attempt was met with a stern 'if you don't like these terms, then leave' message from a senior representative of the building owner. The most recent negotiations also included a new personal guarantee clause plus building remediation obligations and special assessments that were simply not financially viable.
QUESTION: Why couldn't you raise membership costs?
Answer: Many of you will recall, we last raised our membership fees $50 a year from $575 to $625 in April 2018. Our members were extremely vocal about how unhappy this made them. With our current rate of member attrition between 20-25% per year our membership fees would need to be in excess of $2000 per year to keep the range running. A membership increase necessary to meet the rent and operational costs was simply not viable.
QUESTION: Why was no notice given about the closure? I would've picked up my belongings earlier.
Answer: We were dealing with a multitude of issues as we began the process of shutting down the business. Throughout the process our main concern was to protect our staff and their best interests which is why we needed to keep our business affairs confidential.
QUESTION: What will happen to my membership that hasn't yet expired?
Answer: We are not able to refund outstanding funds owing on annual memberships.
QUESTION: If you know the store was closing, why did you sell me an annual membership?
Answer: In order to mitigate our members personal losses we halted selling annual memberships as soon as we knew what the future held for TSE. We tried to lessen the burden on outstanding membership fees for most members as we reduced the options available for purchase and halted all membership sales when the final decision was made to shut down the company. As of immediately the Shooting Edge is insolvent. I am funding the temporary secure location privately in order to allow members and clients temporary storage. I do not have capacity offer refunds on memberships.
QUESTION: What will happen to my outstanding store credit and gift cards?
Answer: Unfortunately, due to the insolvency of The Shooting Edge, all outstanding store credit and gift cards are considered part of the bankruptcy proceedings and are no longer accessible.
QUESTION: Will another shooting range be opening in your current location?
Answer: We do not have any way of knowing what will happen to our current location.
QUESTION: Is JR retiring?
Answer: No.
DO YOU WANT TO TALK TO JR IN PERSON?
We know that many of you will still have questions abut the closure of our business so we have arranged to be LIVE on the BALLISTICALLY SPEAKING PODCAST via Facebook this Friday, October 4 at 6pm.
JR is committed to answering as many questions as he can about the status of The Shooting Edge and the future of his role within the Canadian Shooting Community so please join in on the discussion via Facebook or the Ballistically Speaking Webpage.
HERE: https://www.facebook.com/bspodcast.ca or
HERE: https://bspodcast.ca/
We ask that you remail respectful. Abusive commentary will not be tolerated by the hosts of the podcast.
COMMUNICATION MOVING FORWARD
We will be sending out the location address and operating hours of the firearm pickup via this email by SUNDAY OCTOBER 6, 2024
JR Cox email moving forward is [email protected]
A temporary phone number for you to reach JR and other senior staff in person (between 9am and 5pm MST) is 587-997-6244