DeKalb Sportsman: Hunting and Serving

DeKalb Sportsman in Fort Payne is a great local alternative to the big box sporting goods stores. They carry a huge variety of hunting supplies, clothing, and boots, as well as firearms, knives, and gun safes. At DeKalb Sportsman, you get more than these items; however, you also get personalized service, advice, and answers to any questions you may have. Brian and Tracy Jones, owners and sole employees, work hard to make it that way.

DeKalb Sportsman was started by Brian’s father, Wayne, in 2006. They opened next to the Fort Payne theater. Soon after the business opened its doors, Brian left his previous job at Heil to work for his father, then purchased the business from Wayne in 2008. DeKalb Sportsman grew quickly, and soon they needed more space. They moved to their current location four years ago, then, just a year ago, Tracy left her job at Coca-Cola to help with the business. The two now run the business by themselves, though they do hire part-time help in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Because of this, they don’t get a lot of time away from the store or to take vacations, but when they do they are involved with the Will’s Valley Model Railroad in town, and the Main Street Program. They also keeps bees, selling the honey in the store. They attend the First United Methodist Church and also love to help out with local schools and charities.

All small business owners face challenges regularly, and Brian and Tracy are no different. Undoubtedly the biggest challenge DeKalb Sportsman has faced is competition from big box stores: always with Wal-Mart and more recently with the newly opened Dunham’s, among others. Even so, they aren’t worried, because some things are just better at small businesses. Tracy explains:

“You walk in a lot of these big box stores and you don’t get people helping you, giving you advice on what scent may be working best currently, for example, but we do that constantly. It’s almost like social hour in here sometimes with hunters coming in and sharing their stories with us.”

You just don’t feel at home when you walk into a big box store, but a small business can be much more than just a place to pick up something you need, it can be a place to socialize, to learn, and also to pick up the items you need, often items of a higher quality and for a better price. According to Tracy:

“Their prices are a lot higher. We are either at their price or lower than their price, and that’s our everyday price, not our sale price. You can also find a lot of better brands that you can’t get at some of the big box stores. We carry Millennium Treestands, Drake, Mountain Khakis, and more.”

When you shop at a small, local business, you can get a lot of value, including better prices, a better selection of higher quality items, advice and personalized service, and just plain convenience, but when you spend your money at one, you’re also giving value back to your community. I’ll let Tracy explain:

“It’s not corporations that money spent at a small business is going to, these are families that are raising children in the community and giving back to the community. We give to every school that comes in here, every girl scout troop that comes in here, the Children’s Advocacy Center, we try to help out everybody here locally with donations.”

You can use the Native Rewards app to support the local small business community. You get great deals and a chance to win money every time you shop with local businesses like DeKalb Sportsman!

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