Every year, SHOT Show brings together tens of thousands of industry professionals, making it one of the most significant events in the firearms and outdoor sporting world. With over 54,000 attendees, 2,850 exhibitors, and 13.9 miles of show floor, the scale of this event is truly staggering.

But beyond the numbers, SHOT Show is where industry leaders connect, new products debut, and businesses forge stronger relationships. In this exclusive interview, Coreware’s VP of Communications, Joel Cheney, sits down with Josh Okey, VP of Customer Success, to break down Coreware’s experience at SHOT Show 2025. They discuss everything from Coreware’s expansive booth setup and private conference room meetings to the legendary coreFEAST event and insights into AI-driven retail solutions. Whether you attended SHOT Show or not, this conversation offers an insider’s look at how Coreware continues to shape the future of retail technology in the firearms industry.

SHOT Show by the Numbers

Joel Cheney: Josh, let’s start with the size of SHOT Show this year. Over 54,000 industry professionals attended—do you know if that’s up or down from previous years?

Josh Okey: It typically hovers between 50,000 and 60,000, so that sounds about right. Our industry is pretty polarized—people either love firearms or they don’t, and that rarely changes. But those numbers show just how strong the industry remains.

Joel Cheney: Absolutely. A few more stats—there were 2,850 exhibitors, and the show took up 816,000 net square feet of exhibit space. That’s 18 acres—or, if you prefer a fun comparison, enough room to park 547 F-16 fighter jets.

Josh Okey: That is insane.

Joel Cheney: And if you walked the entire show, it would be 13.9 miles of aisles.

Josh Okey: I actually tracked my walking that week—I hit 37 miles.

Joel Cheney: And even with that, you still didn’t see the entire show! Another impressive number—the economic impact of SHOT Show on Las Vegas was $88 million.

Josh Okey: That’s massive.

Joel Cheney: And here’s the biggest stat—the broader firearms and sporting industry has an economic footprint exceeding $90.1 billion and supports more than 384,000 jobs across the U.S.

Josh Okey: That’s an enormous industry.

Coreware at SHOT Show 2025

Joel Cheney: Coreware had a strong presence this year, both on the show floor and beyond. Our booth—#72627—looked great, and we made some key updates. One of the biggest additions? A bar—and I don’t mean a Browning Automatic Rifle type of bar, I mean an actual bar where people could grab a drink and connect.

Josh Okey: The booth was phenomenal. Setup was much smoother this year, and the lighted bar was a fantastic addition—it brought in a ton of traffic and gave people a place to relax and chat.

Joel Cheney: But beyond the booth, we did something that a lot of people might not know about—we set up a private conference room, Committee Room 1, where people could meet with us to discuss solutions or have private conversations.

Josh Okey: That was a game-changer. SHOT Show is nonstop—you’re constantly walking, talking, and running into people. Having a dedicated space to step away, sit down, and actually have focused conversations was a huge benefit.

What Happened in the Conference Room?

Joel Cheney: Josh, you were in the conference room a lot. What was the turnout like?

Josh Okey: We introduced this concept last year at SHOT Show 2024, and it was so successful that we brought it back. It gave us one-on-one time with clients to discuss outstanding issues, feature enhancements, and general business strategies.

We had about 50 scheduled appointments, but with walk-ins, I’d estimate that over 200 people came through. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive—people appreciated having a quiet space to talk.

Joel Cheney: It’s a big investment, but Coreware is committed to being present at industry events like SHOT Show, Range-Retailer, and other major trade shows.

The CoreFEAST Event

Joel Cheney: Unfortunately, I missed coreFEAST because I got sick, but tell me about it.

Josh Okey: It was huge. Over 400 people attended. It was incredible to see clients networking, exchanging business tips, and just enjoying great food and drinks. Not everyone in this industry is a direct competitor—many retailers operate in different regions, so it’s a great way for them to share knowledge and strategies.

Joel Cheney: I was really bummed to miss it. We had some great sponsors this year—BFG, Firearms Legal Protection (FLP), Avalara, Jake Wyatt, Advisor HR, Smart Waiver, and Cerberus Live Scan.

Josh Okey: And Master Ken was there! He always puts on a great show.

SHOT University & AI in Retail

Joel Cheney: I also gave a talk at SHOT University on how AI can help retailers, and I have to be honest—it was a disaster at first.

I planned to interact with an AI assistant live on stage, but when I arrived 20 minutes before the talk, I found out that none of my planned interactions would work. The platform they used didn’t allow me to display my AI assistant on the big screen.

So there I was, standing in front of 150 people, realizing no one was coming to save me. I even had to stop and ask for water five minutes in—that’s how rough it was.

Josh Okey: I feel bad saying this, but… I wasn’t there.

Joel Cheney: Yeah, I noticed! But once I pivoted away from the failed demo and just spoke to the audience, things turned around. I shared two video demos from BMC Tactical in Albuquerque, where I used AI to generate custom marketing songs based on product photos.

Josh Okey: Wait—the AI actually identified details in the product photos and wrote lyrics about them?

Joel Cheney: Yep! One of the songs even mentioned a pet first aid kit—which I didn’t even realize was in the picture until after the fact. The audience was blown away. By the end, we had a Q&A session with about 15-20 audience members asking questions about AI in retail.

Looking Ahead: What’s Next for Coreware?

Joel Cheney: So, Josh, what’s next for Coreware?

Josh Okey: We’re making some big changes, focusing on communication and customer outreach. We’re launching:

• Two webinars per month for coreSTORE and coreFORCE to cover updates and new features.

• A transparent development process where customers can track feature request statuses in real-time.

Joel Cheney: That’s great. And we’re also expanding our presence at more trade shows, including Kinsey’s, AmChar, Sports Inc., and NBS.

Josh Okey: Absolutely. We’re committed to supporting the industry and helping our customers unify and simplify their businesses.

Joel Cheney: That’s Coreware’s motto—Unify and Simplify.

Josh Okey: And that’s exactly what we’re going to keep doing.

That wraps up our SHOT Show 2025 recap! If you’d like to sign up for our upcoming webinars, check out the link below.

🔗 Register for next week’s webinar here: https://coreware.com/coreforce-live-update-7032

See you at the next show! 🚀