This place constitutes my "local" shop as far as I am aware. (I live in Somerville by the Police Dept. now.) I've been there a handful of times, 4 and half of them were unpleasant/ uncomfortable. When I first landed in the PRC from CA (I used to think SF was crazy...) I went by because I heard they were the shop to be in. I came in, introduced myself, asked about local regs and was told very sternly that I was not welcome to look at guns or ammo in the store because I didn't have an LTC.
I was taken back, because well... frankly... wtf is an LTC, right? The guy's response was to tell me to get a lawyer and give up the idea of getting one in Cambridge. Therein launched a 15 minute diatribe about the evils of Pelosi and how anyone that wasn't an NRA lifetimer was screwing the normal people that needed their 2nd Amendment. MY BS meter pretty much was off the chart at this point so I left.
About 4 months later I wanted to pick up a superlight spinning rod and reel for a quick trip to the Whites the next day. I went back, had a pretty pleasant experience. Didn't have much in the way of freshwater fishing gear, but I picked up a pretty nice light spinner.
Mid '09 I went back, just had been laid off and part of my walking papers was a pretty nice payoff, so I had money and time to do a little hunting again, so I wanted to take a look at a bow and pick up some camping stuff. Fed me a line of BS about how it was illegal for me to look at, buy, or possess a compound bow in the state of Mass unless I had a Class B LTC, when I called the guy on it and told him that wasn't in the MGL which I had just read through a week previous, he asked when I graduated from Harvard law. I left the camping kit on the counter and told him I'd just go to REI.
Fast forward to early October of '10. Stopped in looking for a blaze dog vest, saw a guy I had never seen before at the counter, little older, gray hair, medium build, 6' or so. Either way, he was pretty nice to talk to, enthusiastic, and curious about my dog. I walked out with a great little vest that BP and REI didn't have.
Place is totally hot and cold. I'm a fan of consistent service, and not telling someone "how it is" if you don't really know what you're talking about - so I've pretty much given up on Roach's. To be fair though, I'm a west coast softy, I like pleasant people, and spend well with people that aren't stand offish, so maybe it's a regional/biz thing. I've only been to big stores since - Kittery, Bass Pro, LL Bean in Freeport, haven't checked out other locals.
I was taken back, because well... frankly... wtf is an LTC, right? The guy's response was to tell me to get a lawyer and give up the idea of getting one in Cambridge. Therein launched a 15 minute diatribe about the evils of Pelosi and how anyone that wasn't an NRA lifetimer was screwing the normal people that needed their 2nd Amendment. MY BS meter pretty much was off the chart at this point so I left.
About 4 months later I wanted to pick up a superlight spinning rod and reel for a quick trip to the Whites the next day. I went back, had a pretty pleasant experience. Didn't have much in the way of freshwater fishing gear, but I picked up a pretty nice light spinner.
Mid '09 I went back, just had been laid off and part of my walking papers was a pretty nice payoff, so I had money and time to do a little hunting again, so I wanted to take a look at a bow and pick up some camping stuff. Fed me a line of BS about how it was illegal for me to look at, buy, or possess a compound bow in the state of Mass unless I had a Class B LTC, when I called the guy on it and told him that wasn't in the MGL which I had just read through a week previous, he asked when I graduated from Harvard law. I left the camping kit on the counter and told him I'd just go to REI.
Fast forward to early October of '10. Stopped in looking for a blaze dog vest, saw a guy I had never seen before at the counter, little older, gray hair, medium build, 6' or so. Either way, he was pretty nice to talk to, enthusiastic, and curious about my dog. I walked out with a great little vest that BP and REI didn't have.
Place is totally hot and cold. I'm a fan of consistent service, and not telling someone "how it is" if you don't really know what you're talking about - so I've pretty much given up on Roach's. To be fair though, I'm a west coast softy, I like pleasant people, and spend well with people that aren't stand offish, so maybe it's a regional/biz thing. I've only been to big stores since - Kittery, Bass Pro, LL Bean in Freeport, haven't checked out other locals.
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