The Jig Is Up!

Once our eyes are open, some things just don't seem so great anymore.  That held true for the great and powerful Wizard of Oz and it holds true for old, worn out shooting ranges.

The fact is no matter how hard or how many times the clerk down the road clicks his pretty little ruby slippers, the range he works at will still be a tiny, cramped, loud, lead contaminated, 30 year old dump where people don't feel safe to shoot.

And no matter how much their clerks crow and strut, the truth is that over the past three months we're pulled back the curtain on their shoddy operation.

As a result, everyone knows or is finding out that Frontier really does have two great ranges - truly modern, state of the art computerized ranges built to safety standards unheard of 30 years ago when their ranges were built.

Here's another fact, when my wife and I opened our new range and store we kept it low keyed.  We sent no press releases.  Nor did we have a ribbon cutting photo-op for local politicians. Heck, we didn't even have a grand opening.

We just wanted to get back to the business of doing what we do best -- sell guns and train shooters.

But that wasn't good enough for the Knoxville outfit.  Oh no, they decided they wanted to "put Frontier out of business".  So they plotted with a current employee and devised a plan to destroy our business.

First the employee left without telling us but not before he filed false claims against us to two government agencies (one phone call took care of both).

Then they rented and reopened a tiny, dilapidated old range down the street from us.  

And this they did with great fanfare -- using military battle metaphors like "Boom! we've planted the flag" and "there's a storm coming to Roane County" (as in Desert Storm).    

Then they began talking smack, puffing themselves up as if they had accomplished some grand mission.  

They made no bones about their mission either. They made constant wise cracks about "the store down the road"; they're posted blog after blog making fun of my wife and I, and worse they crossed the line and began attacking our beautiful cats - imagine attaching our poor pets! LOL!

Indeed, they made no secret that they moved to Kingston with just one thing in mind - to put us out of business.

But they underestimated a few things things.  The underestimated:

• the extent of their horrible reputation
• the loyalty of the customer base we've worked hard to build over the past 10 years
• the intelligence of the people of Roane County who are steadfastly refusing to believe the ridiculous exaggerations and wild claims they make about themselves 

They also underestimated:

• the power of truth and the fact that at Frontier we don't pretend to be more than we are
• the fact that we really do have two of the best indoor shooting ranges in the United States
• the fact that we really do have a great gun shop with the best employees anywhere

So while we hate to talk down a competitor, we refuse to set still while being attacked - after they declared war on us. 

And it isn't our fault that they launched themselves into battle without reconnoitering the terrain and checking to see if they had any ammo with which to fight.

Thus, the jig is up - they are revealed, not because we sought to harm them or put them down but because in defending ourselves we pulled the curtain aside and everyone saw or is seeing them for what they are....and in case they haven't figured it out yet....

"Sorry guys, you're not in Kansas anymore."