Rays Closed - Story from MyCentralNJ

[Maksim 1,504]

NORTH PLAINFIELD

[rscalzo 3]

They didn't need financial help. They retired very comfortably. Sad to see them go. I've done business with them for over thirty years. Dwight was one of the more knowledgable people I've known.

[windsor21 0]

Man, thats a real shame. Ive called them a few times and never made it out there. I had no idea it was that big!

 

Wish Nissan would keep the range intact in the back!! Maybe an incentive, buy a car, get a gun, and get to shoot today!!

 

My hat goes off to Rays.

[Maksim 1,504]

Yes, Buy a nissan, get a free gun and lesson how to shoot out of a high speeding car. =P

 

It is a damn shame that a range, as populated as Ray's just closed down. cannot believe they could not find anyone to take it over. Maybe they wanted a big too high of a price tag.

[windsor21 0]

Yes with the economy being what it is, being in a business this brisk and in demand... it just doesnt make sense! I sell online and my business has been hurting. I actually looked into selling guns online as well, and found out I could do it pretty easily. Hard part is getting them cheap enough to still make a profit after all the fees, transfers, etc..

 

If anyone were to buy that store they would have a very sucessful turnkey biz. I wouldnt be surprised if NJ has just made it too hard for another person to get their dealers license and step in. Ive heard gun shop owners in Jersey say that the state is not even "giving any more out" . Not sure how this works though.

[Maksim 1,504]

On the site, someone mentioned 12 mil. since i take it it was just for the land... i would hate to wonder what he wanted for the business?

 

the business was fine, but the building, the range, was just stuck in the 70's, old, grimy, just like the attitudes of the employees there.

 

I would really love to know what is required to open up a public shooting range.

[tankcommander 4]

I shot there a couple of times and bought supplies, but they were too expensive as far as guns go. I sure do hate to see it go though.

 

TC

[alawsin 0]

just like the attitudes of the employees there.

 

Yea, I bought my first 2 guns from em. Overpriced but I didn't know you could buy guns on the net. When I bought from Ray's I didn't really appreciate the attitude from the salesman (same guy both times). I guess it was because I was young, because he didn't give the same look to older guys. Then I bought a new gun online, because even with transfer costs and shipping, Ray's was still more than 25% higher. And the same guy (wouldn't cha know) gave me such a hard time for the transfer. When he found out it was a glock, he almost tore up the paper, saying they don't transfer guns that they sell! Come on... they have just about every manufacturer there, so what type of gun would they transfer? Derringers? Anyways, I was lucky his supervisor was behind the counter who told him that he didn't know what he was talking about and to pretty much shut up and do the transfer. $50 for the tranfer... to pretty much take less than 5 minutes to make a call and fill out some forms, and they still have an attitude? They didn't even call me right away when my gun came in. I had to call several days after it arrived , and they were like "oh yea, it just came in". So when I found somebody who does transfers for $25 and genuinely liked dealing with ALL gun owners, not just those with a badge, that was it.

[Glock26 0]

Who does them for $25? including nics and all? Should post them up here.

[alawsin 0]

Yea, really great guy. Haven't purchased a gun since '06, but the guy's name was Joseph Rozman. He's listed here:http://fflclick.com/STATES/NJ.htm. Guns isn't his full time job, so he's only available by appointment. But he got me great prices on guns, cheaper than I was getting off Gunbroker. He only charges 10% above dealer cost, just had to give him a 25% deposit before it was ordered. And as far as his transfers go, they are done lickity split. When you show up to pick up your gun, he has all the paperwork bundled and tabbed for signature, very impressive compared to my *other* experience, where it took em 10 mins. just to get their head on straight about where everything was. Oh, and the NCIS is on top of transfer (so Ray's was $50 + $15, this is $25 + $15).

[Col. Mortimer 11]

"Who does them for $25? including nics and all? Should post them up here." Bruce Smith, Sr. of Lincoln Park True Value Hareward, 206 Main Street, Lincoln Park does transfers for $25 but the NICS is $16. I think the poster meant $25 for the transfer only and Ray's charged $50 plus the NICS fee. Anyway, Bruce is reliable and handles tranfers well. I have done several transactions and all well smoothly. I highly recommend him.

[Maksim 1,504]

Still waiting for someone to do transfers for $25 or $30 including nics. =P

[NJChiroDoc 0]

From what I hear Manny at the bullet hole was looking into taking it over. Here was the problem Ray would not sell unless the name never changed and you held all of the current employees for 10 yrs. Who would buy with those stipulations?

[rscalzo 3]

Ray was quite a character. Many years ago he was going to go ahead and buy Smith and Wesson, being one of the biggest S&W dealers in the country and the price was right. But the deal never went through. What he had on display was just the tip of the iceberg as far as stock went. His gun safe was great to wander through.

 

The sale almost went through but in the end he must have been offered more from the car dealer. I know his son-in-law worked enough for a lifetime.

 

As far as keeping on the employees, the only ones he would be that concerned about would be the office staff and a few other key people that had been with him for a lifetime.I dealt with the same LE rep. for the last 15 years. Just their contacts would be worth keeping them around.

[John Fox 5]

I started going to Ray's when he was on the other side of the highway. Don't remember what years that was.

[rscalzo 3]

That was the old barn like structure that burnt down. It had to be in the middle 60's. Back then he sold everything. He had basic scuba gear among other things. I had just started shooting in junior competitions and drove out there to pick up some items. I hated the trip on RT.22. Rt. 78 was a godsend as it cut the time down significantly. Back then Secaucus was a hotbed of pistol matches.

[John Fox 5]

At that time, I drove from Jersey City to Ray's on 22. Sounds like you are around my age.