文章基本信息

标题：Sports South helps dealers with cutting-edge technology
作者：Ally G. Hunter
期刊名称：Shooting Industry
印刷版ISSN：0037-4148
出版年度：2005
卷号：July 2005
出版社：Publishers Development Corp. * F M G Publications

Sports South helps dealers with cutting-edge technology

Ally G. Hunter

Sports South Inc., a national distributor of firearms, ammunition and accessories, has an objective of helping dealers become more successful through the introduction of top-of-the-line products and cutting-edge technology.

"Our goal is to provide you with the best tools to run your business. Our success rides on our dealers' abilities to run profitable and successful retail operations. By providing you with the best tools to run your business, we can help ensure that our joint goals are met," said Markham "Skipper" Dickson, Sports South owner and founder

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To meet that goal, Sports South has invested a significant amount of money and effort in developing computer software programs to assist dealers in today's high-tech world. The software programs enable dealers to better manage the increasing variety of paperwork involved in operating a gun shop, including tracking inventory and sales.

Sports South's accomplishments in the high-tech arena are well known throughout the industry. Dealers visiting the Sports South booth at trade shows are greeted by a vast number of computers that present the company's products and the technological tools needed to run a modern gun shop.

However, Sports South's roots are very low-tech. The company began in 1841, when John Morris opened an apothecary shop in the township of Shreveport, La. By the 1850s, the company was handling pharmaceuticals, firearms and ammunition.

In 1887, Dr. S. A. Dickson purchased an interest in the company and changed the name to Morris & Dickson. From the early 1900s until about 1970, the company focused primarily on pharmaceuticals.

During the late 1960s, Dr. Dickson's great-grandson, Skipper Dickson, was pursuing his master's degree in business at the University of Texas in Austin. Realizing the potential for specialty firearm distributors, he wrote his master's thesis on the topic. With degree in hand, Dickson returned to Louisiana to work for Morris & Dickson.

Determined to prove his theory, Skipper formed Sports South Inc. in 1970, a specialty firearms distributor with a focus on firearms, accessories and ammunition.