S&J Hardware Store Closing

[u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

​

Simon posted this on CGN a few hours ago

Well...

I don't need to tell anyone how bad things have been in the gun business for small local shops.

More them 100 gun business have closed that I know of in the last years. Due to the government and the massive cost of living increases.

We have held out for many years longer than I thought we would.

With more then 80% of the products we would sell having been taken from us along with almost zero help from the industry wholesalers.

Along with our local economy being at a 70 year low.

No one can get a job here and any staring job is not offered to Canadians.

No one under the age of 25 can get a job

This puts a lot of financial strain on family.

In short we can not keep the store open.

We will be closed as of this coming Wednesday as we move everything into our wearhouse/manufacturing location in Trenton ON.

There is a small chance we will attempt to have a retail spot at our Trenton location.

But unlikely it will be viable.

Elbows up ER!!!!

BBB

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[u/IcySkyDream]

Dammit… 😞

[u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

Very sad to see any firearm/accessory business close down

My experiences have actually not been the best with them

I have ordered from them in the past only to encounter issues, wrong parts shipped, no returns of my phone calls or email, wrong mag tube extensions being sent, cross threaded, wrong pitch, whatever

Only to receive an "all sales final" answer back

No replies to emails for weeks/months, citing family issues, health issues

Im not going to go on and on

I hope things can turn around for S&J

Maybe focus on selling on Gunpost ?

[u/BrotherLefthand → u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

I had similar issues with them too. Shipping took 3 weeks for a simple ordered. I asked what was going on and Simon ghosted me. I commented on one of his CGN posts and he said I was full of shit and trying to slander his business. Like damn bro chill I just want to know when I'm getting my magazine extension and springs.

Doesn't seem like a storefront was good for their business anyway.

[u/Mysterious_Sleep7443 → u/BrotherLefthand]

I mean I understand health issues/family problems, but ive seen those excuses used like 30 times by Simon over 15 years

Once again not trying to blame and shame, I get it stuff happens in life

I dont appreciate getting sent Winchester SXP +1s with incorrect threads either, only to blame Winchester themselves for continuously changing the thread pitch

Then I have to take the loss and find something else it fits due to no returns let alone even hearing a reply at all

My Benelli M4 mag tube extension is excellent quality though and never had an issue with those

Its hit or miss I guess

[u/stranger_danger85 → u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

Had some pretty lackluster machining done on a Beretta 71 by them, turned me off buying anything else from them.

[u/Juno7 → u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

Ditto. I've been burned by them in the past. I dont want to see small stores close but sometimes karma bites back.

[u/LenOneSnipes → u/Mysterious_Sleep7443]

I had the same experience with them. Bought a lpk and fit and machining was very poor. The customer service that followed was just as poor. That was enough for me to not buy from them again.

[u/Agonizing-Stroke1812]

Hats off for holding out as long as they did. I actually have no idea how any of my local shops are surviving now that nearly everyone is selling the exact same stuff, with the exception of a couple of specialty retailers like Tactical Imports that get 'exclusive' items.

[u/Hot_Cheesecake_905]

The store might do better if it were in a major city; their booth at TACCOM had a lot of foot traffic. No one is driving out to Trenton to buy small parts. Canadian PAL holders are approaching 2.5M and gun sales are relatively strong too.

Online retail is the way to go.

Comments that Canadians can’t get jobs don’t help the image of the firearm community. Youth unemployment is an issue, but saying Canadians can’t get a job because of foreigners is a straw man argument, especially since I sure don’t want to build a career at Tim Hortons.

S&J provides decent parts, and it’s unfortunate they’re closing their physical location, but I’m going to continue throwing money at TacOrd. They seem more level-headed and haven't jumped off the political deep end - service and quality are great, too. RX Arms in BC also makes some very nice and unique shotgun parts.

[u/admin_bait14 → u/Hot_Cheesecake_905]

Word my brother...

[u/Big-Guitar-1979]

They’ve been pretty active on Instagram tho.

[u/22GageEnthusiast]

WTF.....I was just talking to these guys at Taccom. I wanted to let them know how much I enjoyed their products. I kitted out my Turkinelli with a lot of their parts/accessories.

Never been to their retail store......however, is it just their physical store closing? Are they gonna keep their online business running then? Similar to how TNA operates? I hope at least that they can keep their online store and warehouse/manufacturing location around.

[u/ExhaustedHero4]

Disappointing, but not surprising, I have been considering getting a couple of level IV plates for quite some time but never had the available funds. Looks like I'll be making a road trip up there this weekend now

[u/No_Armadillo2253]

I'm glad they'll still be manufacturing, selling online, and supplying their products to other brick and mortar stores.

But yeah, in this day and age, I can understand why they won't be running their own anymore.

I've bought their products for 870 builds in the past and they were top notch. More recently, I was lucky enough to win one of their sticker draws. Not saying for what, but the gun showed up in great shape with all the S&J bells and whistles attached. Couldn't be happier with it.

[u/NoGrapefruit1213]

Shit. I love their linear comps I’m gonna have to pick a few up. I actually just sent them an email last night asking about maybe making them in some other sizes. I really want one of those psr-9 that are supposed to be coming in November but they have silly 14-1 threads on barrel. This is sad I also really want one of the plus ones for my 590r

[u/epnk420]

That’s too bad they had tons of decent stuff, I’ve definitely bought from them a couple times over the years

[u/AdeptArt]

:(

[u/Canadian-Footy-Fan]

This is an unfortunate development that is being used to make political points.

“Any starting job is not offered to Canadians”?

Both my kids have jobs. I also do hiring and have hired plenty of Canadians.

“Elbows up ER”

The movement that so often gets mocked here and elsewhere is literally about trying to support Canadian businesses like this. It is about trying to find Canadian products at local businesses rather than American big box stores. I get that people don’t like Liberal gun policies, but mocking Canadians for trying to buy Canadian seems pretty dumb to me.

Anyway, I am sure I will get downvoted for not just piling on the criticisms but some of this seems like the same tired generalizations that get tossed out.

[u/admin_bait14 → u/Canadian-Footy-Fan]

Most definitely; hey, you got my up vote. 

[u/boozefiend3000]

The liberal party sure is cancer. Thanks a lot Canadians 

[u/Mochadon → u/boozefiend3000]

Pure political theatre… they knew that a whole industry including many small independent businesses and jobs would be lost along with shooting sports, shooting community, and a pastime as old as Canada itself. Knowing all this the Liberals still went through with their plan to get votes instead of actually improving public safety

[u/833psz]

I’ve used S&J Hardware for almost thirty years, 10+ orders and never had an issue. They will be missed.

[u/Mandalore001]

Man, this bums me out. As an American, my white whale for many years was the S&J 870 CQB Adapter. I finally got one, and it was a process. Sad to see that a company that ive given a lot of mental energy to for the last decade or so is gone.

Learning about the S&J Adapter made me curious about Canadian gun laws and culture, and was what got me here. Sad news.

[u/Daedalus-N7]

I hope he still maintains an online store and shipping presence so we can still buy his stuff. Brick and mortar stores are overrated anyways

[u/MostEnergeticSloth]

Better get the aratechs while you can

[u/Clover_Lawn_4440]

Bad business oractucss, overpricsd shipping charges, poor communication, lousy customer service, no customer service skill but blaming the economy a d gun laws for closing down.

[u/Davidflair97]

This is basically why I left the country and never coming back... The healthcare system of Quebec also ruined my life but hey elbows up guys!