Dan Moore, of William Larkin Moore, in the SSM article credited the demise of Arrieta with the economic collapse worldwide. I have a bit different take, for what it is worth. Arrieta, like many Spanish makers who are in financial straits, were makers of S x S guns only. When the favor of S x S guns waned, as it certainly has worldwide, their market began to dry up.
In contrast, look at makers like Beretta, who began building O/U guns many, many years ago, as the market demanded. Many Italian makers have done so, and are doing quite well. Not as well as they'd like, certainly, but well enough that they have survived the economic hard times and are positioned to grow their market share as things improve.
Some would applaud Arrieta for sticking to their game plan of building only fine S x S guns, mostly those enthusiasts of S x S guns who would never own an O/U gun. But, now another builder of S x S guns is likely gone. OTOH, had they diversified their line to include O/U guns, caught their share of that market, they might well still be around to build the fine Arrieta S x Ss so many admire and enjoy. So, ...... was it not a mistake, in hindsight, to continue to build only S x S doubleguns, and "go down swinging"?
I am a row crop farmer, and have been so all my adult life. I have to diversify to meet the demands of the market, in order to remain solvent. Had I decided to grow only cotton all my life I would have been broke and out of business so long ago it would be just a distant memory. Diversification is just good business. To those who espouse the mantra "Do only one thing and do it well" I say, fine .......... until you go broke. Then, you can take hollow pride in the fact that you "did it your way". But, there is absolutely no reason that a company, big or small, cannot do two things as similar as building the two predominant types of doubleguns well, under the same roof. Too many others have proven that it can be done successfully.
SRH
Last edited by Stan; 04/09/17 07:52 PM.
