Business Q&A with Darrell Musselman of Whitetail Outfitters

Posted September 3, 2012

Darrell Musselman has been running Whitetail Outfitters on Riner Road in Christiansburg for over 20 years. Photo by Travis Williams/The Burgs

UPDATED 3:37 p.m.: The name of Darrell Musselman’s wife was previously mispelled in this post. The post has been corrected.

Name & Title: Darrell Musselman, owner
Age: 48
Family: Wife, Melissa and two daughters
Established: 1992
What they do: Whitetail Outfitters has been located at 3086 Riner Road in Christiansburg for 20 years. Whitetail Outfitters specializes in outdoor sporting goods, including firearms, archery equipment and hunting supplies.

Musselman said he chose the name Whitetail Outfitters because he originally intended for his business to focus on the outfitting of hunting areas. He said, however, that once the “big box” stores began to do more outfitting, he decided to shift the store’s focus.

Musselman added that infamous deer skull logo was inspired by the poison labels he remembered seeing as a child.

Q: How did you get into this business?
A: I have a love for the outdoors, hunting and fishing. I just fell into that. When I’m not here, I’m in the field, and that’s just what I grew up doing and love, and this kind of pertains to it. It was a hobby turned into a job…It was a hobby I was in on the side, and I had another small business going, and this kind of took off…I was in a fading business anyway, I was in a video retail before sporting goods.

Q: What is your favorite part about your business?
A: I like to see my friends successful when they go out in the field, you know, hunting or whatever it may be. That makes us feel rewarded also because we set most of their equipment up. There’s nothing better than seeing one of your customers come in high-fiving with a big buck in his truck. That’s like gold to me.

Q: In what ways does your business give back to the community?
A: We help most all the charities and people that contact us. We’re also donating door prizes to different events and do raffles quite often. We’re doing one right now for the Boy Scouts, just did another for a different Boy Scout troop. Always got something going on. We’re helping the Fraternal Order of Police right now and their raffle. They’re giving away a shotgun, they’re giving away a rifle, a $250 Whitetail gift certificate. Just stuff like this all the time. Donating shirts to ball teams. Anytime a church group comes in, I’ll donate something that’s got my name on it because they know it’s good publicity for me and then maybe they can fundraiser it to generate funds for whatever charity it may be.

Q: What’s your key to success?
A: You can’t go to a box store and get the kind of service we’ve got. I’ve got a guy in my bow department that’s been with me 10 years, and I’ve got people that drive from out of state to get him to work on their equipment. That’s a strong pull. Monty [Smith] was in the gun business for years before I was, and he’s still with me and I’ve been here going on 21 years.

Q: What do you like most about having a business in the New River Valley?
A: It’s my home town. I’ve known most people for years, and most of my customers are local.