Viking Arms put on a full shooting line and a ‘concept shop’ for its dealers at an exclusive trade- only event on 22-23 May.
Attended by representatives from manufacturers including Merkel, Ruger and Leupold as well as dealers and press, the event – taking place for the fourth time overall and the second at Swinton Estate – allowed Viking Arms’ stockists to handle new and key products and test them out on the range, giving them a better feel for their strengths and allowing them to sell more effectively.
A new feature for this year’s event was a ‘concept shop’, which turned a room in the main house at Swinton Estate into a display space for all Viking’s brands, showing off their potential for visual merchandising.
Among the many attractions on the range were a boar target shoot with the new Merkel Helix Speedster, and the ‘Breda challenge’, a timed six- round shoot on a metal plate.
Viking Arms’s Rob Macarthur said the event had been well received once again: “It’s been very positive. The key product is the Ruger .22LR Precision. That’s been shot umpteen times today – we can’t get anybody off it! It’s great fun and it’s got some fantastic features. We are just getting the first container-load in from the States – it’s got to go to proof but they will be in retailers very shortly.
“We’ve got guys over from America from Ruger, from Germany from Leupold, and one of our main new products is the new Merkel hunting gear and we’ve got the guys over from there too.
“It’s a great event where we can invite our main dealers to try our main products and have our manufacturers present at the same time. It gives us a great opportunity to talk about ideas, have a roadmap ahead of what’s going on, and for everybody to talk about new products and the best way to get them into the hands of customers.
“The concept shop is a new idea that we’ve used. And it shows the retailers how you can advertise, how you can display your products to the best of your ability. It gives them a sense of what they can do in their shops.”
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