It’s Pyramyd AIR’s 30th Birthday. Yes, the world’s largest airgun dealer has been in business now for thirty years. Happy birthday to Pyramyd!
So let’s look back at some company history and how Pyramyd came to be the dominant force it is today…
The Earliest Days
Of course, Pyramyd was not always a big operation. The company was founded as Pyramyd Air in 1996 by Josh Ungier – the Owner, Founder and CEO with just 450 square Feet of space in the basement of his home. That’s Josh below when I interviewed him in 2015.
Growth happened fast and the company moved multiple times in the Cleveland area. Today Pyramyd Air operates from a 65,000 square foot building and has 70 employees!
Josh – as he told me himself – “was bought up on guns”. As a child growing-up in Ukraine in the years after the Second World War, “firearms were everywhere”. They were just lying loaded on the ground as battlefield debris that had never been collected or made safe by the government or army. And, of course, like any child, he was fascinated by these guns and played with them.
Amazing as this might seem today, Josh says there were no accidents. His father taught him kindly, but thoroughly, to handle guns safely. So he learned from an early age to be proficient handling guns, to shoot safely and derive pleasure from shooting.
Pyramyd AIR grew out of Josh’s Ukranian background. This led him to explore the possibility of exporting US-made shotguns to the USSR. The project didn’t work out, but on a trip to Russia, Josh Ungier saw some interesting, Russian IZH air rifles that had never been seen in the US. The rest, as they say, is history…
Then There Was Something Called The Internet
For Josh Ungier, education was key to helping his customers enjoy shooting safely. That’s why Pyramyd AIR has always led in providing information about the products the company sells. Josh was proud to have embraced the Internet early to spread this education.
As well as a strong focus on the then-emerging Internet (can you remember or imagine a time before this?), Pyramyd AIR took some big steps with acquisitions. In 2006, Pyramyd acquired the well-known online airgun dealer Airgun Express of Montezuma, Iowa. And then in 2010 Compasseco, the Bardstown, Kentucky Internet airgun dealer also became part of the ever-growing Pyramyd Air empire.
To this day, Pyramyd AIR is famous for its blogs, videos and customer product reviews. All this is a result of this drive to educate safe and happy airgun shooters. And this strategic direction has been continued by Josh’s successor as CEO, Val Gamerman.
In fact, Val has been part of Pyramyd since the very early days, too. The two were friends before they worked together.
Below, Val Gamerman and I talk at the 2018 Pyramyd AIR Cup.
As Val told me in 2018: “The most important job we have is to grow the shooting community. This is reflected in our mission statement. That means to me that we – as a company – need to promote sports with airguns and do everything we can to make this wonderful hobby into a lifetime enjoyment for many people.”
The Pyramyd Cup
The Pyramyd AIR Cup was founded in 2014 as part of this growth curve. In fact, Friday October 24, 2014 was Day One of the first Pyramyd Air Cup. It was held at the Tusco Rifle Club, 2132 Midvale Mine Road SE, Dennison, OH.
That first “Cup” featured Field Target and Gunslinger competitions. HAM reported on it at the time. But – for the record – here are the winners of the 2014 Pyramyd Air Cup.
Field Target:
Pro PCP – 1st Place – Paul Cray, 2nd Place – Greg Sauve
Sportsman PCP – 1st Place – B. Rabbitt, 2nd Place – C. Smith
Pro Springer – 1st Place – Ray Apelles, 2nd Place – Hector Medina
Sportsman Springer – 1st Place – Eric Brewer, 2nd Place – Tom Gaylord
Gunslynger:
Pro PCP – Tyler Patner
Sportsman PCP – tied between brothers Tom and Dennis Himes
Pro Springer – Ray Apelles
Sportsman Springer – Eric Brewer
Since then, the competition has far outgrown its original venue and expanded to include Benchrest competition, too.
And we’ll all be back there again in August for the 2026 Cup!
Broadening Horizons
Today, of course, Pyramyd carries a huge range of outdoor products, way beyond its core airgun focus. That strategic direction began in 2022 and HAM interviewed CEO Val Gamerman about it at the time.
Val explained: “We still intend to stay the world’s largest airgun retailer. With that being said, we are looking to expand our success to other categories in the great outdoors. It’s how we go about that growth and what specific tools we are using to get there that will be interesting to watch.”
The first expansion was into archery. As Val told me: “In fact this is our second entry into the archery market! Last time was around 2010. Crossbows are a simpler category to enter compared to vertical bows. Powers and distances are similar to those of big bore airguns. POI shifts, hold over concepts are there, much like big bore airguns.”
In spite of expansion into firearms accessories, ammunition, outdoor gear, trail bikes and more, Pyramyd is still committed to the airgun industry, 30 years after it was founded.
“We have too much emotional investment in airguns to simply lose our focus due to growth in other categories,” Val explained. “Airguns are our home, and they are not going anywhere, nor getting any less attention.”
That was in 2022. Four years later, we can see Pyramyd following-through – just as Val described. That’s business strategy in action!
Today Pyramyd AIR – Adventures In Recreation
22 August 2023 was a big day for the company. This was when it re-branded into Pyramyd AIR. There was a new logo and a new look to the website. But, the vital website location – pyramydair.com – remained the same.
One final quote from Val. “Our customers are passionate about experiencing the thrill of the outdoors, whether target shooting, hunting, or being outside. We’re excited to offer a growing portfolio of products to fuel those passions, experiences, and adventures.”
“The new name, Pyramyd AIR, signifies the company’s mission to outfit customers’ outdoor experiences wherever they might be.”
Birthday congratulations to Pyramyd. Here’s to the next 30 years!
The post It’s Pyramyd AIR’s 30th Birthday appeared first on Hard Air Magazine.
