Hickory Gun Show 2/10 - 2/11....

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GregB

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Kind of sucks that it's the same weekend as Salisbury. Two of the best local shows on the same weekend. With rugby Saturday in Gastonia, I don't know if I'll be able to make both. Overspent at the last Hickory show when I couldn't resist the 3" 625 and Kimber K6....
 
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GregB said:
Kind of sucks that it's the same weekend as Salisbury. Two of the best local shows on the same weekend. With rugby Saturday in Gastonia, I don't know if I'll be able to make both. Overspent at the last Hickory show when I couldn't resist the 3" 625 and Kimber K6....
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Ruuuub it in, ruuuuub it in.... :D

One of my dispatchers and her husband started a prepping business (Prep-n-Ready) and will be there-first time for them. Anybody that sees their booth say "Big Dave" said to check them out. Sorry-can't get anyone any discounts! 😏

I might slide down but I recall how bad some folks here said parking was at the last one... :confused:
 
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Hickory is closer for me, Salisbury is twice as far. With the parking situation at Hickory, the time from my recliner to the door is probably about the same for both.

.
 
Wait…Rugby?

I played a season at Michigan State. I’m still not sure if I’ve recovered.
 
I may try to swing by the Hickory show on my way to Gastonia.

As for rugby, I played at App 91-95 (club sport) and am still playing in a Men's League with a team in Gastonia. At 51, I'm one of the oldest. We had 4 guys over 50 at one point, myself being the youngest. The other 3 have all retired in the last two years. I've been playing full court basketball at lunch 3 days a week for @20 years or more. For a while we were playing handball on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well.

I'm trying to enjoy it while it lasts. I'm well aware, that eventually age or injury will force me to hang up the boots.
 
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That is somewhat of a faux pas scheduling them both on the same weekend.
Hickory is one of my all time favorites, but I wouldn't drive past the Salisbury show to get there. o_O:cool:
 
HawgBonz said:
That is somewhat of a faux pas scheduling them both on the same weekend.
Hickory is one of my all time favorites, but I wouldn't drive past the Salisbury show to get there. o_O:cool:
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And next weekend is free on the show calendar.
 
Professor9 said:
Let me disagree. This is actually a really good show. Lots of people, and lots of people are spending money.
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I’m glad it’s going well for you.
There is definitely a lot of people but not a whole lot of vendors.
 
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Damn_Yankee said:
I’m glad it’s going well for you.
There is definitely a lot of people but not a whole lot of vendors.
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The vendors are split between Hickory, Salisbury, and Myrtle Beach this weekend. I know vendors at both the other shows that would have been here had those shows not been running this weekend.
 
cubrock said:
The vendors are split between Hickory, Salisbury, and Myrtle Beach this weekend. I know vendors at both the other shows that would have been here had those shows not been running this weekend.
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Yeah, I kind of figured that was gonna be an issue this weekend. I stopped by your table but you were super busy.
 
I left the Hickory show feeling the same way. Looks like by now they would have the parking figured out. After a hike from parking, I was hit for 12.00 entry fee in stead of 10.00. Even with the coupon 11.00 is pricy. First few rows were busy and had nice firearms, after that they had spread the tables and had several empty which I’m sure some were at other shows. However saw more knives, clothing and accessories than ever before which brought it down even more. Just left disappointed. Hope to visit Salisbury after church tomorrow👍
 
Ik they increased vendor fee as well…… but what hasn’t went up other than our salary. Glad to have gotten to go though!
 
Tango1 said:
I left the Hickory show feeling the same way. Looks like by now they would have the parking figured out. After a hike from parking, I was hit for 12.00 entry fee in stead of 10.00. Even with the coupon 11.00 is pricy. First few rows were busy and had nice firearms, after that they had spread the tables and had several empty which I’m sure some were at other shows. However saw more knives, clothing and accessories than ever before which brought it down even more. Just left disappointed. Hope to visit Salisbury after church tomorrow👍
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I wonder just how much more they think they can charge before people just stop going? I would pay $11.00 but thats it for me and I know a lot of people who stop going when it went up to $10.00. As for parking I contacted the hickory metro center about it when they stated building the new addition and here is the response I got.

Mr. Gun Lover,

Thank you for your email and I will share it with the tourism board as well. I also appreciate your thoughtfulness thinking about how parking would hurt future shows. This is something that is discussed on a regular basis and not ignored.

Currently it may appear that there are no places to park during construction, but there are more than 700 parking spaces within walking distance. There are 352 parking spaces available by the building, in the parking deck and by the marquee. About 350 footsteps away from the convention center front door is yellow lot where there are more than 125 parking places. The blue lot is about 350 footsteps to the east entrance with 110 parking spaces. If needed, about 450 footsteps away from the convention center, our partners at the Piedmont Center and Crowne Plaza will allow guests to park at that location where there are more than 150 spaces available. The convention center is also paying for a shuttle service to assist with customers that would like a ride to the front door during this time of interruption.

Currently, a plan has been approved by the City of Hickory, as well as the tourism board to add 46 on-street parking places along 13th Ave. Dr. SE, which is the road that is between I-40 and the convention center. That is a good investment and one that our board has approved to pay for soon and hopefully it will be complete in the near future. Once the addition is complete, parking has been redesigned for the side of the building that is currently blocked off due to the addition. Yes, some spots are lost but we are also adding parking in other spaces as well as have lots in walking distance. The board is also discussing options for more parking in the near future once the addition and renovation is complete.

We work close with the hotels as well and they do not grumble when people park there for a public show. Almost half, if not more of the events we have, guests are staying in the hotels and walking over, which leaves parking spots open for day guests.

Parking is on the forefront of our brains and thank you for your questions. This link will tell you more about where we are in the construction process as well as you will see the parking map. https://www.visithickorymetro.com/construction/

If you are coming to the Gun Show this weekend, please let me know and I will ask them to add you to the VIP list, which will comp. your ticket to the show.

Let me know if you have any questions and hope you have a great day!

- Mandy
 
^^^^ response from Hickory...
nope i did not attend yesterday or today, but in the past..

was the shuttle service advertised or were attendees made aware of its existence ???
 
llaht said:
^^^^ response from Hickory...
nope i did not attend yesterday or today, but in the past..

was the shuttle service advertised or were attendees made aware of its existence ???
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We haven't seen the shuttle service since the first show after they started construction. If they are running it, I'm not aware of it.
 
Rather smeary response in my opinion. How does visitors really know where they can and can’t park. I seen many trucks/SUVs pulled over the curb and into the yard. Every nook and cranny had a vehicle stuffed in it. I did finally score my little corolla a space in their BLUE LOT and the 350 footsteps is 350yards. Footsteps does sound shorter. Uphill to the point a couple older gentleman had to get a gentleman go get their car for them.
I think I have decided to set it out until they get that figured out. 👍
 
Tango1 said:
Rather smeary response in my opinion. How does visitors really know where they can and can’t park. I seen many trucks/SUVs pulled over the curb and into the yard. Every nook and cranny had a vehicle stuffed in it. I did finally score my little corolla a space in their BLUE LOT and the 350 footsteps is 350yards. Footsteps does sound shorter. Uphill to the point a couple older gentleman had to get a gentleman go get their car for them.
I think I have decided to set it out until they get that figured out. 👍
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You're not wrong.
 
BTW, Cubrock had the best set up and selection at the show. I browsed by a couple times and as previously stated you were super busy which was a good thing…. Sweet SAA too 👍
 
$12? Outrageous. $8 prior to covid. Pushing the envelope huh. Damn people who work at the show involving tickets are a bunch of old aholes also. I assume our locals hired to work it. Sounds right.

As to parking- the show draws tons of people from everywhere. That’s just the nature of having a big turnout. Yeah it’s not ideal at all but I imagine it is one of the few events they rent out that exceeds close parking. This is a tiny building compared to other cities. And at least they responded and offered to comp the admissions. I think I’ll use this on everything and get a comp 😂😂😂. Oh, and parking at the hotels, no way for me. Owner of all is a prick and will tow your azz.
 
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BlackGun said:
$12? Outrageous. $8 prior to covid. Pushing the envelope huh. Damn people who work at the show involving tickets are a bunch of old aholes also. I assume our locals hired to work it. Sounds right.

As to parking- the show draws tons of people from everywhere. That’s just the nature of having a big turnout. Yeah it’s not ideal at all but I imagine it is one of the few events they rent out that exceeds close parking. This is a tiny building compared to other cities. And at least they responded and offered to comp the admissions. I think I’ll use this on everything and get a comp 😂😂😂. Oh, and parking at the hotels, no way for me. Owner of all is a prick and will tow your azz.
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The parking issue is that they demolished a huge percentage of parking to cover it with the new sports complex. They should have expanded parking first, then built the sports complex, in my opinion. They are greatly expanding the capacity of the complex while cutting close by parking. Not the smartest move.
 
cubrock said:
The parking issue is that they demolished a huge percentage of parking to cover it with the new sports complex. They should have expanded parking first, then built the sports complex, in my opinion. They are greatly expanding the capacity of the complex while cutting close by parking. Not the smartest move.
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What is the sports complex consist of. Haven’t been down that road in a couple months.
 
BlackGun said:
What is the sports complex consist of. Haven’t been down that road in a couple months.
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They are building a huge third building where the west parking lot used to be as an indoor sports complex. They want to attract more travel ball, cheer and gymnastics competitions, etc. They took out the biggest parking lot and the majority of the vendor loading areas to do it.
 
cubrock said:
They are building a huge third building where the west parking lot used to be as an indoor sports complex. They want to attract more travel ball, cheer and gymnastics competitions, etc. They took out the biggest parking lot and the majority of the vendor loading areas to do it.
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Nuts. Parking is going to be a mess for everything.
 
Had a decent turnout but it seemed kind of... poorly planned?

Bunch of random empty tables. No idea why they had the show the same weekend as Salisbury and Myrtle. Seems they are doing them too frequently too. Oh well.

I was happy with it and met some decent folks so I will call it a good weekend
 
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