I swung by Buck's furniture on Hwy 41 today and the sign is still there. So I emailed them, politely, asking if they could recommend a competitor.

Well, they did.

I got a very nice email from a store in Menomonie, WI, which is way too far for me to be driving, but as the guy took the trouble to write I'm posting it here. As for Buck's, it's a loss they don't seem to mind.

Dear Mr & Mrs...
I understand that you are in the market for some unfinished furniture. I was made aware of your disappointment that Bucks bans firearms in their stores. I would like to invite you to visit Furniture Your Way in Menomonie, Wisconsin. I am not exactly in the Eden Prairie neighborhood, but I do have 25 years in the business and am very knowledgeable about unfinished hme furnishings. For starters you could visit my web site at www.furnitureyourway.biz. I carry most everything available in unfinished, with my showroom primary focus on pine and maple. Much oak is available if that is your choice. Feel free to contact me by phone or email. I look forward to hearing from you and helping you with your unfinished furniture needs.


Sincerely,


Steve Kemna, Owner
Furniture Your Way


Steve Kemna
Furniture Your Way
715-231-1250
866-870-2399
www.furnitureyourway.biz

So he recommended a competitor because he did not want guns in his store. Well, you have to admire his convictions, and personally I have zero problems with that. He has rights and exercises them, ain't this country great, or maybe I should say, still great.

chinakay,

You should post the letter (and your story) on all the CCW websites and see if we can drum up some business for this guy. Of course it would be really nice if everyone who purchased from Furniture Your Way would send a copy of their receipt to Buck’s with a little note explaining exactly how Buck’s lost the business.

It'll be especially relevant once WI passes their CCW bill.

Of course... he DID recommend a store in a state that currently has NO CCW. For all we know, it's one of his stores under a different name or his relative.

Hate to be cynical... But that's just me.

1. WI allows open carry, so is this guy comfortable with open carry in his store?

2. I say seriously consider buying at least one thing from this person in WI. If for nothing else to give Buck's the finger for recommending someone out of state. Buck's probably did it to be a prick, and he doesn't think you'll actually go that far to spite him.

3. Post this on Packing.org, I'm sure there is plenty of people willing to give the WI guy more business. At the least, I'm sure someone will send the good guy a nice email or letter.

I'm not as hard core with avoiding posted places, but I will avoid places with bad owners/management, and with bad attitudes like Buck's.

"...it's not what you like, it's the consumer." -Joe Dirt

REALLY? I hadn't even considered the possibility. I have never seen one person try it, either. I wonder how the local LEOs would react...

(btw Pakrat- thanks a lot for all the work you did on the MCPPA post on the MN Carry Issues Forum. Great work.)

Pakrat- Right again. Here's what I found on packing.org:



Maybe I'll stop in to Furniture Your Way this weekend and see what they have, and how they react. It will likely be the ONLY place I open carry in WI, especially with the shall-carry fight heating up.

If we (the small group of second Amendment advocates) who carry concealed, do not communicate our wishes to the posted establishments at every opportunity, well then Hand Gun Control and all the others organizations like them, will eventually win the PR battle.

Look what they are doing with their mega money donations and deep pocketbooks with regard to the advertisements they are running offshore to discourage European and Japanese tourist from considering visiting Florida.

And exactly what do we have to counter the their influence here? Just about nothing, other than discussing it among ourselves, or occasionally influences an acquaintance or two.

We have no money to counter the constant carping of editorials the local papers or the extensive media coverage given to our critics. We don’t have an organization dictated to answering, or refuting all the tripe, that is daily, disguised as news and truth in the mainstream media. Nor do we have a publication that has a massive database of people whom we could send out the facts too, that might be persuaded.

What we do have is a group of individuals who feel strongly in a cause. As individuals we are attempt to teach others about the advantage of this cause.

How do we do it? We talk to a few people within our circle of influence.

Isn’t it worth the personal hassle to make a concerted effort to get rid of the signs as much as possible?

Every time I see one of these signs, I think of the message it sends to the non-understanding patrons. The ones who have never thought through or about the issue, but passively agree that “no guns” is a reasonable idea

Another thing we could do is make the individual, time-consuming (pain in the ass) effort of treating every posted sign as an affront to your rights and “get off your ass” and do something.

Just a thought….