Fish Stores – Why not?

[Vitaliy]

Once in a while Ill think about opening a fish store, and generally think about how I would go about the setup, and the type of stuff I would like to accomplish. There are a couple of things that really bother me about all my local fish stores (being in NYC there are quite a lot), there are not many fish stores that I can think of that actually do it right.

For example the stocking lists are horrible.
I can never find a store to carry more than 6 Discus at a time, why not have a couple of tanks?
Only once did I see a stingray in the store, was years ago and was alone! Why not carry a couple?
Why is it impossible to find a Datnoid in a store?
It is even hard to find proper common Cichlids such as Midas.
Why don’t you ever find a bunch of cool Pikes in stores? Colony of Frontosas? Etc… etc… etc..
Why not have special orders open to the public?
Why not also sell online?
Give out bunch of prints out about starting a tank and the cycle process?
Have informative tags on tanks?
etc.. etc..

I mean if I had a fish store I would be with DavidW and Jeff Rapps on the phone tomorrow!

I am not saying that stores should stop selling all the common stock lists, what I am saying is that you should have a couple of tanks of stuff that would actually keep a hobbyist’ eye open and want to spend some money in your store. Am I missing something major about the whole business or do all of these fish stores really suck because the owners do not know better?

 

[pinnky]

I use to work at petco, problem with types of fish is usually lack of breeders and availability of certain species at a given time and popularity, and space rent is expensive in ny, thats why i moved to south carolina lol. Also you have to think about the stores losses, let say the store gets silver arowanas in and some die or the lack of experience on the hobbyist (returns lol), then the store takes a hit and they stop ordering that species cause it doesnt sell and stuff like that. I also thought about openning a fish store then thought to my sell about losses lol. I have seen a lot of losses at petco lol. But obviously they have more funds and they just dont sell fish. Plus Federal laws lol, in some states you cant possess certain species also . All in all, I think it depends on the experience of the owner of the LFS.

 

[Vitaliy]

I use to work at petco, problem with types of fish is usually lack of breeders and availability of certain species at a given time and popularity, and space rent is expensive in ny, thats why i moved to south carolina lol. Also you have to think about the stores losses, let say the store gets silver arowanas in and some die or the lack of experience on the hobbyist (returns lol), then the store takes a hit and they stop ordering that species cause it doesnt sell and stuff like that. I also thought about openning a fish store then thought to my sell about losses lol. I have seen a lot of losses at petco lol. But obviously they have more funds and they just dont sell fish. Plus Federal laws lol, in some states you cant possess certain species also . All in all, I think it depends on the experience of the owner of the LFS.

We are not talking about places like Petco where the orders go through who knows how many people above the workers and the store manager, I am talking about talking directly to exporters. You see rare fish in MFK Buy and Sell section year-round, and year-round they are sold for hundreds of bucks no problem. Doing business with people you expect some type of live guarantee, and you do not sell a fish that costs couple of hundred bucks to an inexperienced hobbyist, nor one would buy such a fish.

Having a store in NYC has its disadvantages such as expensive rent but you also have to keep in mind the number of people that come into your store, versus some small town where the rent is couple of hundred bucks a month and 5 people shop in your store.

 

[pinnky]

Good Luck if you open a Fish Store

 

[davo]

my oddball fish seem to be two a penny around on this site, wish had more interesting fish where i am too. its a niche market i guess

 

[id10t]

Starting a business can kill you, not to mention the finances involved. You'd be better off getting a job as a manager at a LFS and turn it around. At least you'd be guaranteed a paycheck. If you still want to do it, consider doing an aquarium service service. Basically lease tanks/fish to offices, etc. and charge for initial setup as well as monthly maintainence.

 

[Magnus30]

I'm too selfish to have a fish store, I'd keep them for myself, but I have drawn out plans to cover my whole basement

 

[ewurm]

Two-thirds of the millionaires in this country are business owners, And a high percentage of those are self-made. I say go for it. Keep in mind that the average business owner declares bankruptcy twice before establishing himself. You have to be able to accept risk.

 

[Princley]

Two-thirds of the millionaires in this country are business owners, And a high percentage of those are self-made. I say go for it. Keep in mind that the average business owner declares bankruptcy twice before establishing himself. You have to be able to accept risk.

Vitaliy as i said we should talk

 

[guppy]

At least one thing is in your favor, you will have a huge market base.