Industry Insider: Patriot Armory

Patriot Armory is one of those airsoft stores that has been around to see the growth/changes of airsoft on the east coast. When you think about longevity in airsoft some fields/retailers don’t make it past threes years because of the lack of interest and keeping your customers coming back. Patriot Armory, even during a pandemic is fighting the good fight. Jeff , the owner, will tell us a little bit more about it.

• Can you tell the readers a little bit about your company? (what services you provide)

Patriot Armory opened its doors on October 4th, 2014 in Middletown, Delaware with the goal of establishing itself as the “go to” retailer for anything Airsoft related in the region. With a combined over twenty-five years of industry related employment and even longer as die-hard Airsoft enthusiasts, Patriot Armory quickly leveraged its staff’s experience to grow beyond its planned brick-and-mortar store. Patriot Armory now offers its products for purchase online through an e-commerce website and wholesale directly to local law enforcement and military organizations.

Additionally, shortly after opening its doors, Patriot Armory partnered with Outdoor Xtreme Chesapeake City (OXCC), a 100 acre paintball facility located a short drive away in Chesapeake City, Maryland. This partnership included the opening of an Airsoft Proshop stocked by Patriot Armory, the operation of a Mobile Retail Store by Patriot Armory during games and the planning, hosting and reffing of Airsoft events on a regular basis.

Over the next several years Patriot Armory shifted many of these field-related responsibilities back to OXCC to further increase their success and to allow its focus to shift back to our core retail operation. Patriot Armory maintains a close relationship with OXCC and various other fields and stores with the shared mission of growing the sport of Airsoft in the area.

In addition to offering both in-store and online retail services, Patriot Armory also offers repair and upgrade services. If you have something in need of repair or perhaps you’d like to increase its performance, reach out to our staff to discuss options, cost and a timeline.

• With the emergence of Covid-19 how has it affected your business? (good or bad)

With the COVID-19 related restrictions imposed by the state government, Patriot Armory was forced to halt normal retail operations for over two months. While we continued to offer online services, our business – as were thousands of other small businesses across the United States – was drastically impacted. We were thankfully able to resume limited in-store retail operations in June and we were welcomed by our loyal customer base that was eager to dive back into their favorite hobby plus tons of new players. We’ve seen a surge in business over the last couple months that has thankfully offset the negative impact of the initial closure.

• In your opinion do you think that Covid has helped or hurt the industry you provide your services to? (In what ways?)

While this may not be the same situation for every business in this industry, overall the COVID-19 pandemic seems to have boosted overall revenue and involvement in the sport. With that increased interest however, and coupled with reduced inventory availability from overseas, a shortage of product has begun becoming a problem. Overall however it seems that stores are seeing increased sales and fields increased attendance from both prior customers and scores of new players looking to get outside and do something after months of quarantine.

• Do you feel that your company provides adequate customer service to those customers who are purchasing your product?

One of the main things that makes Patriot Armory stand out from other stores is our high level of customer service. Whether it be our detailed explanation of all of our products to our customers, our quick and detailed responses to phone calls, e-mails or messages or our ability to resolve warranty issues quickly – we receive an overwhelming amount of positive feedback. Our goal is to ensure that all of our customers enjoy their time with us and are confident about their purchase. At the end of the day while we are a for-profit business, our main goal is to educate both the public and players about Airsoft using our extensive knowledge and experience in the sport.

• What are your current hot products that everyone is grabbing?

The absolute hottest item we’ve seen over the last several months is the PolarStar Kythera HPA System. This new HPA drop-in conversion requires no battery and is the most affordable PolarStar HPA system to date.

• Where can people reach out to you?

We can be reached via phone at (302) 376-0978, Facebook, Instagram, E-Mail (customerservice@patriot-armory.com) or online at www.patriot-armory.com.