PCB gun range doing even better than expected after opening during COVID-19 pandemic
PANAMA CITY BEACH — After opening in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, business at the only shooting range on the Beach is doing even better than expected.
Located near the intersection of Griffin Boulevard and Panama City Beach Parkway, the Powder Room Shooting Range & Training Center has quickly made a name for itself in Panama City Beach, garnering more than 200 paying members since it opened in December 2020.
The 17,000-square-foot facility, a development spearheaded by the St. Joe Company, boasts 14 lanes that are split between nine 15-yard pistol lanes and five 25-yard rifle lanes, along with a guns and ammo shop and training simulator.
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"Coming out of the pandemic, we really did not know what to expect with it being our first year in business ... but (2021) turned out to be a good year," said Joe Preston, general manager of the range. "Going into 2022, we kind of saw a little bit of slow down during the first quarter ... but last month and this month so far have been very strong (and even) above what we thought they would be."
David Demarest, hospitality spokesperson for St. Joe, said its goal of the Powder Room was to help diversify the types of local recreational activities available for tourists and residents.
It not only is the only gun range in PCB, but it also is the only one ever developed by the major land development company that owns more than 100,000 acres in Northwest Florida.
The Powder room is one of 19 projects completed by St. Joe in Bay County since Category 5 Hurricane Michael devastated the Panhandle in October 2018.
"The interesting thing is how it fits into the larger puzzle," Demarest said. "What we want to do is make sure we've got all the parts and pieces to have a healthy, happy economy, and the Powder Room is part of that."
According to Preston, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Walton County Sheriff's Office, the range offers four levels of memberships. All gain access to the facility, but the more expensive plans come with better deals and benefits.
They are: a silver membership for $29.99 a month, a gold membership for $39.99 a month and a platinum member for $79.99. There also is a deal for first responders that costs the same as the silver membership.
Regular customers can bring their guns and rent a lane for $19 an hour, and those without guns can rent a variety of firearms to shoot at the range for $10 to $15 an hour.
Preston noted that since the range opened, most of its customers are local civilians and not members of the military or law enforcement. Though the business is located on the beach, a popular destination for millions of visitors each year, it has not yet discovered an optimal way to advertise to tourists, he said.
This means that the Powder Room has done as well as it has without tapping into the tourism market — something Preston noted he is confident will improve with time.
"The tourist end (of the business) is growing as we get known," he said. "The challenge is (when) someone comes down here for a week or two weeks, how do you get the word out to them because they're not always tuned to the local radio station. They're not always picking up the local paper. They're not always watching local TV.
"... Trying to market (the range) and get the word out has been a little challenging, but we're pleasantly surprised with how that's (changing)," he said.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Panama City Beach Powder Room gun range successful since 2020 opening
