Appalachian Armory & Off Road, a staple of the downtown Dawsonville community, is officially opened and expanded in its new, larger storefront next to where it was previously located.
Back in July, store owners Keith and Lynda Hudson purchased their new building, which is located at 46 Highway 9 North, directly next to their old location. Since then, they and their staff have been hard at work moving into the new space and really making it their own, and the business officially reopened right after Christmas.
According to Lynda Hudson, moving to the new location has nearly tripled the space the armory has, allowing them to add new products and expand their inventory.
“We’ve expanded on our hunting rifles selection; before we just didn’t have room so now we have room to add to those,” Lynda Hudson said. “We built on our inventory and we’re looking at taking on a few new lines, and I think the next endeavor is looking at increasing the off road selection.”
The added space has also allowed for the Hudson’s son, Zachary, to have more room to utilize his gunsmithing skills and to be able to serve more customers that way.
Another perk of the new building, Lynda Hudson said, is being able to spread the inventory out, making it more organized and easier to look through.
“Giving us all this extra room really helped us work on the layout to make it more welcoming,” she said. “We have a much larger selection, it’s much more spacious and I just feel like it has a more welcoming feel when you come in the door because it’s not crowded and you’re not on top of each other. Before, sometimes if somebody was at a case they’d have to move around to another one and come back when that one was open, so now there’s just plenty of room to browse.”
Keith Hudson added that they didn’t realize the full extent of how much the additional space would help their business until they moved all of their inventory in.
“We were packed over there and we didn’t realize until we moved it all,” he said. "We were able to spread out, have it nice and organized and make it flow better for customers.”
Since the armory has reopened in its new space, Lynda Hudson said that they have gotten a lot of great feedback from both their existing and new customers.
“People have been very excited and very happy for us, and glad we’re still in the same vicinity,” she said. “It’s going great; we’re seeing lots of new faces so word is getting out that we’ve expanded. What I’ve had the most fun with is when people walk in the door to see their facial expressions; they walk in and they’re so surprised and it’s been fun.”
While the Hudsons were renting their previous location, they now own their new location, something which she said makes the move feel even more significant.
“It was a huge project, and at this point we’re all breathing a sigh of relief that it’s completed; we turned the old building back over yesterday so kind of closed that chapter and now we’re just fully ready to serve the public,” she said. “We’ve worked hard on the interior renovations and just getting everything cleaned up and ready and it feels like home in here; we put a lot of sweat equity into it.”
“We’re very excited to be here and we’re very pleased with how it turned out, and we’re just glad to still be in the downtown area,” Keith Hudson added.
As the business continues to move forward, they hope to continue adding new offerings and are currently working on updating their website so customers will be able to see weekly specials and other news.
For more information about Appalachian Armory & Off Road, go to appalachianarmory.com, follow the business on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/people/Appalachian-Armory-Off-Road-Inc/100064866573013/ or call 706-216-2113.