Mernickle Custom Holsters opened it’s very first store front back in December of ‘22, now three months later, the company is ready for it’s grand opening. The family completed the purchase of the company April 1st of 2019, hoping it wasn’t an April Fools joke. The whole family, involved in shooting, is also involved in the business that has now became a family affair. Now, the grand opening of the companies store will take place on April 1st of this year, with lots in store, it’s an event you don’t want to miss.
“We have a lot that we’re going to be doing the day of the event, we not only want to bring notoriety to the company and the things we do, but also to bring attention to the event of ‘Learn to be a Cowboy’ that will happen April 8th out at my ranch that people are welcome to sign up to come to.” Owner, Cliff Powers said. “We have four shows that will happen throughout the event. We’re getting the street blocked off for the event to be able to host these events and let the shows take place in the road.”
The event will also have gun fighter shows, 10 actors of action fighting will come from Albuquerque to perform for the grand opening.
“They reached out to me after hearing about our grand opening,” Powers said. “So pretty cool that this big event we’re hosting is bringing in this big of a crowd from outside of Pampa. But that’s what we want, is to make our store a staple people come to Pampa to see and to enjoy our beautiful city.”
The grand opening starts at 9 am with gun fighting shows happening at 10, 11:30, 1 and 2:30.
“We are the largest producers of cowboy action holsters, for cowboy action shooting and cowboy fast draw,” Powers said. “We have the XFDA (X-Treme Fast Draw Association) trailer coming that we are the title sponsors of. The trailer has slide out screens that turns the whole face of the trailer into shooting targets, so people that come to the event can actually get out and try fast draw shooting right here in front of our store. We wanted to encorporate that to bring attention to that sport, and to the company that makes all the holsters for that association.”
The trailer will be set up all day, for people to come and try as well as take part in some competition.
“We have food trucks coming for duration of the event,” Hayley Gething, V.P. of Sales said. “It’s going to be an exciting event, with so much to do.”
The store will have products on display, with great deals for shoppers. But, the store front, which is currently under construction will be finished for people to walk through.
“The store front is one thing I’m excited about,” Powers said. “We are making it look like an old time town, with a dirt floor as if you’re walking down an old town. We’ll also have an old time bank, a jail and a hang out area for people to come into. It’s going to be incredible. Ron and Tammy Priestley heard about the event, and are enthusiast of the sport of shooting and good friends. So they called me up and said hey will do that construction for you. I bought the materials and anything they’d need and now were rocking along.”
The store front will remain permanently as part of the shop, but will be an exciting addition for people to view for the first time at the grand opening. The company will be doing shop tours for people to take part in to see how everything is done right here in Pampa for this international company.
“We’ll have products for purchase of course, and things for kids to do when they come,” Powers said. “This big event is of course for many reasons, but it’s a big thank you to the City of Pampa for all the support they’ve shown us in the short time we’ve moved into this facility in town. We’re going to have some big name companies that will be in attendance at our grand opening which will be incredible for gun owners to be able to meet people from the industry right here in Pampa.”
The grand opening was pushed back for a bit so the company could really plan something to the scale they dreamed and felt was right.
“We wanted to have something incredible, but we wanted to be moved in,” Gething said. “We’ve been planning this for a while but it takes time to do what we wanted done. So now we are ready and we’ve gotten everything lined up and now is the right time to do a grand opening.”
The event will have things for all members of the family to enjoy, incredible guests in attendance and a completed store for members of the community to come see. The store front will be something to talk about.
“I want when people come to visit Pampa, our store front is an attraction of the town,” Powers said. “We’re proud of what we do so to have this unique store front that people can come gaze out is going to be a nice addition to what we get to see everyday.”
The grand opening will happen on April 1st from 9 am to 4 pm at Mernickle Custom Holsters located at 304 S. Cuyler.
