Firearm Industry Growing At Record Pace

For the first time in company history, Smith & Wesson’s net sales for a fiscal year exceeded $1 billion. The reporting period for 2021 ended April 30, 2021, and, according the firm’s “Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021 Financial Results” report, the total was closer to $1.1 billion. That’s double the previous year’s total, which came in at $529.6 million. Three hundred employees were added during the reporting period to meet demand. 

Industry legends don’t hold an exclusive on the trend, either. 1791 Gunleather recently added 40 percent more staff to its Miami, Fla., facility. Last October the company reported sales were up nearly 100 percent from six months before, and orders for its leather holsters and other goods designed for firearm enthusiasts has not slowed.

“There are many causes for celebration at 1791 Gunleather lately,” said Ramiro Romani, 1791 Gunleather CEO. “But few of them are as exciting as the growth we’re continuing to experience. It’s a real testament to the quality of goods we’re producing and the high standards our entire team has adopted for serving our growing customer base.”

During an earnings conference call on June 17, Smith & Wesson President and CEO Mark Smith provided details on the company’s increased sales for investors and analysts, “But,” he emphasized, “the most impressive and humbling thing to see was how our unbelievable family of employees came together to support each other throughout the most challenging times we've seen in our lifetime and made sure the company they love never missed a beat.

Whether as our order entry team working tirelessly to manage the influx of new orders, our operations team ramping production by over 60 percent in a few short months, our AP and AR teams keeping up with the immense volume of transactions that came along with this, our human resources team thinking outside the box to recruit almost 300 new employees in the midst of a pandemic.

Our sales team continuing to safely visit customers and make sure that their needs were met, our customer service team handling heavy call volume to ensure our reputation for world-class service never faltered, and every other employee and function in the organization, the impressive results that Smith & Wesson delivered this year, and the long-term success of the business simply would not be possible without them.”

Smith’s gratitude for that effort isn’t limited to accolades, either. “And in recognition of this milestone, we will also be awarding every employee who is not eligible for our management bonus program a special bonus of $1,200 for a full-time employee and $600 for temporary workers, prorated for the month of service during the fiscal year and to be paid next Thursday, June 24,” he said.