Trip Report: Ellett Brothers Show

Ellet Brothers Showing off the Goods

At the moment, I am working for a small hardware store in central Texas and we happen to sell firearms. We buy a lot of our products from a wholesaler called Ellett Brothers based out of Columbia, South Carolina. Every year they have an exclusive dealers show. I was lucky enough to go in the to this year’s show at the beginning of 2016. By going to this kind of trade show, we are able to set up our orders for the year, so we know we won’t run out of product.  It’s just like pre-ordering.

Father-son shenanigans

My dad and I were able to fly out of Austin, TX without a hitch; however, the trip became a lame layover in Houston, TX. We finally made it South Carolina and took a cab to our hotel. I don't mean to sound rude, but the taxi cab was the nastiest and most expensive taxi cab we have ever been in. after an awkward ride, we get the hotel and make ourselves at home while we waited for our store owner to fly in. He arrived a few hours after us. We all met up and made a game plan for the show the next day.

Day One

The next day we linked up with the boss man in the hotel lobby for some sweet continental breakfast. Luckily, they had buses running for the show because taxis are super expensive in South Carolina for whatever reason. As we got on the bus the boss man had to have the bus turn around really quick because he left his phone at the hotel front desk.  I thought this was kind of weird but was just happy to be finally going to the show. When we eventually made it to the show they had a catered breakfast.  So of course we had second breakfast because who doesn’t love two breakfasts.  This might have been a mistake because it was pretty nasty.  Even BeeGee wouldn't eat it and she is savage. So we conclude eating gross second breakfasts thanks to Leopold.  I just kept telling myself, it’s the thought that counts and I am grateful but it was a rough time. We then used the rest of the first day to look around and take notes about all the booths and things we want to order. Also, we talked to a few guys at some booths that had some free time like Noveske, Glock and Wise Foods.  Wise Foods was kind enough to hook us up with some freebies (check out our review).

Checking out all the crazy products

Day Two

We came back the next day with our game plan to buy all the guns and ammo. Luckily most of all the buyers had done their buying the first day so they could fly out to Vegas, where the shot show was happening in the next few days. We got to meet a lot of the reps for different companies in our area like Remington, ProMag, Magpul which has moved most of their business to Austin, TX. Once we got our chit chatting out of the way we got down to business and we bought a considerable amount of firearms, accessories, and even more ammo all while keeping the boss man from buying two of everything which was not an easy task. Towards the end of the day, I found the most magical thing I have ever seen. Surprisingly, it wasn’t a firearm or something of the like. It was a soda vending machine, but not just any machine. The machine gave out FREE coke with a push of a button! I almost cried in public.  It was so majestic a warehouse full of guns and free soda it was a mighty fine day!

Stopping by Palmetto State Armory

The night before we were leaving, we checked our flight status, which had a huge layover in Chicago.  The layover was increased another 5 hours because of the weather delays. So we hastily changed our tickets to anywhere but Chicago. We ended up with a new destination of Washington. Washington had a slightly shorter layover of six hours. After being a bum in an airport for six hours we made it back home safe and sound.  I was ready to play with all the new things we order at the show.

Let us know your thoughts on Ellet Brothers shows. Also, if you like the blog, please follow us on Facebook.

Jack Morgan