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Henry Parro has become a gun guru
December 27, 2006
By
Monica Mead Times Argus
Staff |
WATERBURY – Henry Parro,
like any small business owner, knows success can take decades.
Step into his newly expanded shop on Route 2 in this central
Vermont town, and there's ready evidence that after two decades,
Parro's Gun Shop and Police Supplies Inc. is going, well, great
guns.
But his busy firearms and hunting-supply sales, and strong
connection with law enforcement agencies statewide and beyond,
didn't fall in his lap. He's a man who considers attending trade
conventions as a vacation, and he puts in long hours in the
shop, having built a strong reputation as a gun guru.
Still, for the mild-mannered former Waterbury policeman, having
a thriving retail business is sweet.
"There are days when I think it'll be dead," Parro grouses
amiably from behind the counter, "and they're waiting for me."
His patrons, clad in flannel plaid or camouflage or in police
uniforms, peruse the aisles of Parro's newly-expanded
storefront, searching out hunt-ready paraphernalia, new and used
weapons, and the shop owner's good sense.
"I'm going to be looking for deer," offered Lowell resident John
Alderman, who visited a few weeks ago, coming in to buy a black
powder muzzleloader for the hunt. "My wife works at the state
(complex)," he says, "and she told me they get all their stuff
here, so I thought I'd come down."
Though it's Alderman's first purchase at the legendary shop,
chances are he'll be back, and not solely for the ample stock.
"I don't sell something based on a profit margin," Parro says,
explaining that his staff works hard to offer informed advice,
an approach to service he says sets his shop apart from others.
Whatever he does, it has worked, making the Route 2 retailer a
Mecca for sport shooting enthusiasts and law enforcement alike.
Parro and his staff attract a coterie of regulars who hail from
all walks of life. The day after he was chosen Barre's new chief
of police, Capt. Timothy Bombardier was in the shop, getting
ribbed by staffers about his sudden appointment.
"You've already lasted longer than your predecessor," chides a
good-humored staffer, referring to the fact that the former
Barre chief lasted only one day in the job before stepping
aside.
Bombardier just smiles, taking the joking in stride.
Complimented on his front-page photo, he laughs and says, "I
would've changed my suit."
From guns to gear, Parro's influence surpasses everyday retail
transactions. He's not just a firearms aficionado, but he's
gotten into other niches, such as body armor.
"I saw a need for it," he says of his move to carry bullet-proof
vests. "My plan was that it should be in every cruiser in
Vermont," Parro says of his motivation for lending a hand on the
Homeland Security-approved armor, just one of many law
enforcement-specific items at the shop.
It's this connection with fellow officers that guides the
Waterbury native's retail credo. "I may have a brother officer
out there with one of my guns, and it has to work."
When Henry and father, Ernest, opened Parro's Gun Shop back in
1983, it was little more than a card-table-with-guns venture out
of the former Edna's Tummy Stop, a roadside eatery operated by
Henry's mother and sister.
"They couldn't find anyone to work nights and weekends," Parro
says of the diner's demise in the late 70's, but like all
stalwart Vermonters, the family persevered.
A Waterbury police officer at the time the gun shop opened,
Parro split his attention between the village beat and his
fledgling business. With time and the benefit of fruitful
professional contacts, those meager beginnings blossomed into
1,100 square feet of retail frontage. Parro didn't jump into his
role as full-time shopkeeper immediately, though, taking a
subsequent post with the South Burlington police department.
"I would get off at 7:15 in the morning," Parro says, "sleep,
then get up and come into the shop till 5:30 or 6 o'clock."
His routine, which included guest teaching at the Vermont Police
Academy, carried on for 11 years. "It was getting out of hand,"
Parro concedes, because the business was taking more and more of
his time. "It was growing by leaps and bounds."
Parro was able to translate time on the force to success behind
the counter with contacts he'd cultivated through the years.
"Vermont is a unique state when it comes to law enforcement," he
confides. "(Officers) don't want to see a guy in a suit selling
them something."
Those professional connections with law enforcement have
extended to the Internet, and the shop now sells to law
enforcement institutions nationwide. "I just shipped an order to
the Chicago Police Academy," he says proudly.
Parro made the move to step behind the counter full-time in
1995, building on the small, hometown and personal service his
customers came to expect. As his business has grown, he's
agonized over the decision to expand, because he didn't want to
lose the intimate and personal nature of his business.
"That's one of the reasons it took me so long to decide," he
says. "I didn't want to lose that."
When bucking for space behind counters with employees became too
much, the veteran lawman knew a bigger shop wasn't a gamble – it
was necessity.
Breaking ground last September, he enlisted the help of family
and friends on what would become a 4,400 square foot,
user-friendly, gun-enthusiast's paradise. "We framed it in one
day," Parro says. "It was the good old Vermont way of doing
things." The new shop was unveiled in May.
With friends and locals as laborers keeping rebuilding costs
low, radiant floor heat, ultra-efficient halogen lighting, and
spray-foam insulation ("greatest thing since sliced bread," says
Parro), the new shop makes for an efficient storefront while a
white pine ceiling arch lends a warm touch to the big, bright
space.
Requisite trophy heads – bear, deer and what's hailed as the
last Corsican ram in Vermont – have pride of place under the
arch as if loftily surveying the shop's comings and goings.
"We took our time and did it right," he says as more patrons
stop in, the high-ceilinged store imbued with the friendly
banter common at a well-worn country store.
"All we need here is a woodstove, a pickle barrel, and a checker
board," says Parro, who beams like a kid with his first BB gun
on Christmas day.
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