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Brazil Mark Kresser President and CEO Taurus International www.taurususa.com


The international perspective 1 2


Companies from all four corners of the globe were again present at this year’s SHOT Show in Las Vegas. US correspondent Rick Sapp dusted down his language skills to fi nd out who was there and why…


exhibitors who made the often very long journey to the Sands Convention Center. I asked them fi ve simple questions to get a fl avour of their hopes and aspirations for the event:


W


Question How many years has your company exhibited at SHOT?


Question What is the main purpose for exhibiting?


Question What was your overall impression of this year?


Question What do you love about SHOT?


Question What do you dislike – or what would you change?


1 2 3 4 5


alking round this year’s SHOT Show I was struck by the number of accents and even languages I heard. Intrigued, I decided to chat to some of the overseas


Taurus fi rst started exhibiting at SHOT in 1984, I believe, and has participated


ever since.


It’s a great opportunity for us to visit with our customers as well as press


partners to discuss future ideas, concepts, programmes, plans and projections.


customers seems to be very upbeat and positive going into 2012.


3 4


5


If we were to identify one thing we really love about SHOT it would be that


we can see nearly every aspect of our industry under one roof – from suppliers to customers and everything in between.


If we were to change just one thing it would be to screen the attendance a bit


better to ensure that we have qualifi ed buyers and sellers on the fl oor. Everyone is important to us and we want to make sure we allow the proper time at the proper venue for each. However, we fi nd that, with only four days, we spend a signifi cant amount of time with folks we would normally want to meet with at the National Rifl e Association Show and other consumer events. This would allow us to allocate our time and resources properly.


SHOT always leaves a good impression, and the mood with the purchasing


Canada Kath Troubridge Co-owner Excalibur Crossbow www.excaliburcrossbow.com


1


This was our second year. We attended around 15 years ago but crossbows just


weren’t popular enough to justify attending then. Now that crossbows are becoming widely popular and accepted as a viable hunting tool in the US and Canada it makes perfect sense.


2


Our main goal is to highlight our products in front of as many people


as possible. Although it is the SHOT Show, Excalibur and crossbows have become one of the hottest-selling products in the outdoor industry. As new states and provinces continue to


legalise crossbows in the archery season, more dealers are capitalising on the opportunities. All fi rearm shops are potential Excalibur dealers. These dealers love the simplicity of our


crossbows and the fact they do not need a bow press or have archery experience to sell Excalibur. SHOT also gives us a great opportunity to meet many new and existing dealers from around the world that we would not have had the pleasure to meet face to face otherwise.


overwhelmed by the size of the show and number of attendees.


3 4


Seeing dealers from all over the world and the vast array of vendor booths


and new products for 2012; also being able to take care of sales and marketing while here. This allows me to fi nalise many deals with customers and media face to face in a short period of time.


5


Dislikes would be the amount of unqualifi ed attendees who are not


representing a store. At times it seemed like we were at a consumer show. Only allowing authorised personnel from stores or media would cut down on the aisle traffi c, making the show more accessible for the real buyers and media to do their business.


34 www.guntradeworld.com


It was very busy. Dealers showed strong order commitments and I’m always


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