They used to have some smoking deals on Tikkas. I picked one up there quite a few years ago for about $250 less than I could find locally, including shipping and transfer.
Still alive and kicking. Maintaining inventory has been a struggle. The shelves will fill back up this fall. The online ads don’t always mean we don’t have it in the store. We just don’t have the quantity in the store that we move online. Upper end goods have been a struggle to maintain and shipping has been dismal. 9-12 days on most restock. We probably have 4-500 guns in transit all the time. What most don’t realize is the capacity of the new store is far greater than the old store. In times past we’d get 10 of an item on allocation. That means a gun on the shelf would be there until we sold the last from overstock. Now we get one or two of the items on allocation and they’re gone the same day.
Covid was tough on us, but we’ll be around for a long time.
I think they had a great relationship with Volquartsen and CZ. They could get Volquartsen when others could not. And Cz they had a super great inventory in stock on all models and configurations. I used to always watch their used guns also.
Remember Benelli taking guns & dealership away from them because they were selling under MAP. They were the best place to buy a Benelli BTW. The rest of the story was:
After a year or less, Benelli seeing the number of lost sales from Whitakers they went to them & said here's your distributorship back & sell them however you want to, we just want you back.
Them being not that far from the Mississippi flyway & with the reputation they had, Benelli boo booed by messing with them in the first place & they knew it.
I've bought several from Whittaker over the years and they've always been great. I remember when they had mrc build some campfire special models that were twisted correctly. I bought 1 of the 8 twist fluted 260s. I also got some tikka specials and my first howa minis. The best was the Barrett fieldcrafts for just over $1100. I wish I would have bought more of those.
I was there about two weeks ago and the in-store inventory was way down. The gun racks were as bare as I've ever seen them. Other inventory seemed to be pretty much as it usually is. I asked one of the guys there about the lack of guns, and he said they'd just had a big run the past few months, hunting seasons and Christmas combined. He said the restocking proccess was running weeks behind, and that they hoped to start getting the inventory back to normal around the time that people started getting their tax refund checks, as that was another big season for them. That should be soon.
That new store that's referenced in the OP is going to be close to Whitakers curent location. A guy can kill two birds with one stone............three if he's inclined to eat at the Moonlite.
I can agree with your post except for one part. Why would anyone want to eat at the Moonlite? Boniest word test Barbeque I ever tried to eat. The fiddlers were pretty good though. Take care! Rick
I didn’t say that I ate their BBQ, only that I ate there. Truthfully, I don’t care for the BBQ they serve, but I do like the buffet and the choices one has. The BBQ that is cooked in my part of Kentucky and western Tennessee is what I prefer
Most folks I know who are big time BBQ lovers say Old Hickory BBQ restaurant (located there in Owensboro too) has Moonlight's BBQ beat by leaps and bounds.
Moonlights biggest claim to fame was Bill "Slick Willy" Clinton ate there once. Don't know if they still do but they did have photos of him eating there displayed on the walls.
In my opinion the biggest thing Moonlight has in their favor is their breakfast and lunch buffet choices.
Most folks I know who are big time BBQ lovers say Old Hickory BBQ restaurant (located there in Owensboro too) has Moonlight's BBQ beat by leaps and bounds.
Regardless of the situation, I wish SAS (Darrick) well. He treated me well each time I dealt with him.
Same here. I bought 5 guns and several scopes from them, and liked supporting them. It seems that about the same time they changed their website to the one that was just horrendous, they kinda lost some of their momentum. They also have serious competition in the form of Buds and KY Gun Co.
I hope Darrick comes out of this okay. He's one hell of a good businessman.
I hate to hear this. They were my go to for Howas for several years. I bet I bought a dozen from them. When they switched their website and stopped accepting layaway they stopped enabling my addiction. They were great people to deal with thoug.
Always remember that you are unique, just like everyone else.
Original owner, Darrel Whittaker (deceased - 2014) son and partner will be opening a new gun shop in a different location but not far. Comments on Facebook regarding the inventory at the original Whittaker's Guns say last time they were there about all they saw was pretty much just fishing gear...
Chris Whittaker (left) and Luke Kuegel stand on the site where they will be opening a new gun store on the west side of Daviess County. | Photo by Ryan Richardson
A new gun store is coming to the west side of Daviess County, under the ownership of Luke Kuegel and Chris Whittaker. The duo promises a unique shop that will offer upwards of 2,000 guns.
The business, which they’re calling KWG, will be located on Worthington Road next to the Kuegel family’s farm shop. Worthington Road is across from Southern Star Central Gas Pipeline, just west of the roundabout that connects KY 56, KY 81, and West Parrish Avenue.
The building — a 7,200-square-foot pole barn — will sit about a quarter-mile off KY 56 on Worthington Road, across from Wyndcrest Drive. It will be on a 5-acre lot, with Kuegel saying there will be plenty of parking.
The owners expect groundwork to begin in the coming weeks and hope to be open by the start of summer.
Asked why they decided to open the store, Kuegel said simply: “We felt like there was an opening in the market.”
He said the inventory will set KWG apart from other retailers within a day’s drive. Both owners said that’s about how far away their primary market will be.
“My friends and I have traveled down to Bowling Green or Greenville to shop for guns. Within an hour’s radius, you’ll pull that market easily because that’s a day trip,” Kuegel said. “… But Bowling Green’s store concentrates mostly on tactical and Greenville concentrates mostly on hunting. We’re looking to combine that into a one-stop shop.”
The owners said they plan to stock about 1,500-2,000 guns.
“From a $200 gun to a $10,000 gun, we plan on having it all,” Whittaker said. “Maybe not in the beginning, but we plan on doing the whole gambit. We want somebody to walk in here and be able to find anything they want to find. And if we don’t have it in stock, we’ll be able to order it.”
They’ll also sell ammo, holsters, reloading equipment, components, and more.
KWG won’t include a gun range at this time. They said they’re open to trying to add one in the future, but if that were to ever work out it would likely be built at another location, they said.
The owners said they’ll be creating a Facebook page closer to an opening date, and they’ll consistently post information about the business there.
For now, they are just focused on getting the store up and running.
Whittaker said, “We’re already ready for people to come down and see us.”
OWENSBORO, Ky. (WEHT) — A new gun store could be on its way to Owensboro in July. Luke Kuegel and Chris Whittaker, the co-owners of KWG, say the idea is a joint effort with deep family roots.
The duo says they hope to offer an inventory of nearly 2,000 guns to the city’s gun users and have plans to break ground at the end of March. The co-owners say the 7,200 square foot building will sit on Worthington Road.
“We want to run the entire gambit of guns, some special guns that a lot of people might only see online and have never seen in person. We hope to have those in the store,” says Kuegel.
“[We’ll have] concealed carry purses, holsters, reloading supplies for the gun enthusiasts that go out and shoot competition. We hope at some point and time to run concealed carry classes. Everything from from a $100 22 rifle for your granddaughter all the way up to a $10,000 Barret rifle,” says Whittaker.
The duo say the idea was a joint effort. Kuegel says they realized there was an opening in the market.
Kuegel and his family work in the meat industry. While Whittaker’s family is known for, at one time, owning the largest gun store in the state of Kentucky.
Whittaker says its been months since he’s worked in that environment, and he hopes to bring with him his love for the business, his knowledge of guns and his dad’s legacy.
“I’ve been selling guns since I was 11. Everything that I’ve learned in the gun industry…whether it be from my parents, reps, whatever… it’s going help us build a great gun store,” says Whittaker.
One person says the new store will help keep the commute short for gun users.
“It’s really the only gun shop that’s available other than, you know, academy sports. That’s part of the problem with Owensboro…You have to travel to get things a lot of times,” says Joseph Yazvac, a local resident.
Officials say once they break ground, a Facebook page will be created to help give updates as the project moves forward.
I hope that the new store is as good as it's being advertised. I plan on visiting it just as soon as they open. It's quite the coincidence that as Whittakers was in the process of going bankrupt, the new store was in the process of being formed. I suspect there is a good story there. I won't pass on Facebook gossip, but it sure doesn't sound good about the Whittakers deal.
I've been to Owensboro several times over the last year, but only went to the Whittaker's store once, and then, the inventory was down so bad I pretty much turned around and walked out. I used to get down there pretty often, because it's only a two-hour drive, and it made a nice day trip. Too bad they've closed up shop, but you could kinda see it coming, they never really recovered after the plannedemic.
IF the new store is where I think it's going to be, that will be even better, closer to Owensboro and easier to get to. A better location, by far, although I like the country drive from Owensboro.
It's closer for me to go to Bud's or KY GUN CO, but not enough to matter, really 100 minutes to Bud's or 120 minutes to Whittaker's. KYGUNCO has two locations, one is an hour away, and the other, original store is only 40 minutes. Yeah, I got it good! There are others, but those are the biggest within two hours. Heck, I've got a great store just 13 miles away. They can match, or beat, the others, and usually do.
Last edited by ratsmacker; 03/13/24.
You can roll a turd in peanuts, dip it in chocolate, and it still ain't no damn Baby Ruth.
![[Linked Image from cdn.owensborotimes.com]](https://cdn.owensborotimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/KWG-750x375.jpg)