Bigs als in Calgary Decemebr 1st

[Pan]

I Never saw the Big Als in Calgary, Saw the one in Edmonton..very expensive, though they did price match minus shipping but not happily. Didn't like the shark in the tank, but other than that they seemed okay, more store than enthusiast though. Think more competition will help or will it matter?

[Der_Iron_Chef]

Competition is always a good thing :)

[digital-audiophile]

This makes me 50% happy, I really liked Big Al's, allthough I think the main reason were the awesome people that worked there. The 50% that makes me angry is that it is in the NE!!

When BA was here before it was nice and close to home, does Calgary really need another fish store in the north quadrant of the city.

Perhaps this was the best location they could get, but you think their marketing people would have looked at the demographics of Calgary and figured out that a store in the south would be a win, just becuase a lot of people in the south including myself hate having to drive across this stupid city to get to a LFS.


Sorry for the rant, I am happy they are back, like any other LFS they have their strong points and weak points but it will be nice to see them back.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

...does Calgary really need another fish store in the north quadrant of the city.

AMEN, brotha.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

I would, however, drive all the way up North for some of those $16 clams I keep hearing so much about :D

[Delphinus]

Indeed, "AMEN." Couldn't agree more with Greg and Drew. Big Al's strength were the people that worked there. I was able to visit the store at least once a week and chat it up with the guys (and gals).

But yeah ... I couldn't be more disappointed with the choice of location. Being on the extreme south end of the city, I'm afraid I won't be able to visit there except on extremely rare occasions. They really should have returned to the south. Being where I am, I do notice the northern-ness of all the LFS's (except for Elite, thank you THANK you Colby, for opening a store in the south!!!)

Yay to Big Al's return, a big BOO to their choice of location!

[Delphinus]

Ok good point, I might try a little harder for a $16 clam. :lol: Ok Big Als, set it up, $16 clams and I'm there!!! :p

[michika]

More north stores?! Boo!

I was there this past weekend, and I can't say I enjoyed the trips up north. I would have to say I would enjoy a few more south stores. Still though, one more store never hurt compitition!

[Nate]

Amen to the first Big Als thread that will not be locked or deleted! haha

Big change from the good ol days where everyone hated me for being with them!! haha

Nate

[digital-audiophile]

Nate, you think any of the old staff might end up at the new store, do you keep in touch with any of them?

[Phanman]

Whats the address of the new store location?

[Delphinus]

According to http://www.bigalscanada.com/

Bay G, 2020 - 32nd Av N.E.

Sounds like its near .. um .. what is the place called.. "Audio Concepts Mobile". Not too far from Princess Auto's old location.

[digital-audiophile]

It would be the first bank of bays after the golf course on the left when heading east up 32nd. (coming from Deerfoot south of course :p)

I am curious what it will look like, are they going to put in a monster shark tank again?

I'm sure anything will be cleaner and newer than the old location :p

[digital-audiophile]

http://www.bigalscanada.com/storelocations/Calgary/calgarymain.htm

They are hiring too, hmm maybe I need a part time job in the evenings to pay for my hobby :p

[Delphinus]

There was a time the south location was all shiney and new .. the scary thing is I remember it. :eek:

And the scariest part of all was .. Nate was there then too. :p All young and stuff. Wait, what am I saying. The guy is still entirely too frickin' young. Apparently I'm old. :cry:

[Nate]

thanks tony....I am startin to get old too! the ripe old age of 24...

As for the staff, I doubt any will end up there...I keep in touch with some of them, but, like I said, most have moved on since then. I thinkit is only two of us that have remained in the industry. Kelly and myself, but you never know...perhaps they are paying a decent salary and some would go back under the new ownership.

As for the shark tank, I believe you have to have one in every store.

Anyways, competition is good for any industry, I just hope they can keep up with the pricing in Calgary, it is a lot different than other cities. You guys really have no idea how cheap you guys are getting some of these things.

[digital-audiophile]

Maybe a bit off topic, but this might be something you could answer Nate, Glenda and I were talking the other day and wondering what the salt water market in Calgary is really like.. how many Calgarians actually keep SW tanks. 1,000..5,000...10,000? it seems like there are a number of people from Calgary on this site and I am sure it only represents a small portion of the reef keepers in cowtown.

[Nate]

I actually have something like that for information...for my final class in the small business program at Mount Royal we have to do this super crazy business plan, mine was like 80 pages on aquarium maintenance which is what I am doing now.

I used stats from Pijac Canada which were a little bit old, combined with the fact that in the 8 years that Big al's Calgary was there, they had over 100000 customers for FW and SW. I believe I used a 10 % rate of consumers leaving the hobby and a 15 % rate of them entering based on yearly growth. I will check my business plan, and maybe email you the part on it...

[Phanman]

Thats a good location for me, Im always around their. :lol:
Hopefully the pricing will be competitive.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

http://www.bigalscanada.com/storelocations/Calgary/calgarymain.htm

They are hiring too, hmm maybe I need a part time job in the evenings to pay for my hobby :p

Haha...my thoughts exactly.

[scuglass]

GREAT another store to hit on the day long excursion to the north. The old location was so convienient.

[digital-audiophile]

Thanks Nate, I would be intersted to see the figures.

I would imagine there must be a decent customer base, considering the amount of stores in Calgary that do salt water, especially since two of them are salt water only.

But then again when you consider the cost of equipment for reef tanks and the cost of livestock alone, you would need to sell a lot less to make make the same amount of reveune as compared to selling guppies and goldfish bowls.

[Nate]

guppies and goldfish bowls are however where the money is at...

like I said, you would not believe how low the markup has gotten particularly in the Calgary marketplace.

and greg, my numbers do not differentate between fresh and salt customers...I used revenues/average selling price of fish to determine a % of customers that may be saltwater, and may be freshwater.

Overall, the entire thing, as a business plan usually is, was just a big manipulation of numbers.

Nate

[digital-audiophile]

Now all Calgary needs are some of the quality corals that you see on the American websites.

[albert_dao]

Calgary won't pay for all the quality corals you see on American websites.

Who's interested in some $600 Japanese Brains? I'll bring them in on prepaid orders :D

[fishytime]

On a slightly related note. A friend of mine was at pisces this last w/e and he said that he thinks that they are renovating the old saltwater area. So who knows maybe they decided to get back into the salt. Purely a rumor though. So maybe more competition.

[digital-audiophile]

Calgary won't pay for all the quality corals you see on American websites.

Who's interested in some $600 Japanese Brains? I'll bring them in on prepaid orders :D


It doesn't have to be the big out to lunch $$$$ corals, but just some different colours. For the most part you just see the same old same old everywhere in Calgary.

I would also imagine if people are willing to drop over $2,000 on a BK skimmer they would be interested in a $600 brain :p

[albert_dao]

Unfortunately, no. I'm one of those people who has no problem dropping big money on skimmers or other equipment, but a $600 brain is completely ridiculous :P See, the thing about equipment is that it won't get sick, have a butterfly eat it, bleach/change color on me or die.

Anyway, let's see what the fall season brings. Keep your eyes on my forum over the next couple of weeks Greg :D

[Delphinus]

Seems to me fall is a good time for neat stuff to come into the stores .. :)

[albert_dao]

Actually, nix what I said about two weeks. Let's talk, hmm, this Sunday :D

[digital-audiophile]

What have you got coming?... and if its $600 I'm going to thumb my nose at you :p

[albert_dao]

Heh, come in Greg, it'll be worth your while.

A bit of a teaser: Hand picked corals...

[Tyson]

I'm with you on that point, i can't stand driving to the north for a look at what just came in.



This makes me 50% happy, I really liked Big Al's, allthough I think the main reason were the awesome people that worked there. The 50% that makes me angry is that it is in the NE!!

When BA was here before it was nice and close to home, does Calgary really need another fish store in the north quadrant of the city.

Perhaps this was the best location they could get, but you think their marketing people would have looked at the demographics of Calgary and figured out that a store in the south would be a win, just becuase a lot of people in the south including myself hate having to drive across this stupid city to get to a LFS.


Sorry for the rant, I am happy they are back, like any other LFS they have their strong points and weak points but it will be nice to see them back.

[Big Al's BC]

We are glad to hear that the Calgary franchisee finally found a new location. That city is growing in leaps and bounds!
We love Calgary!:biggrin:

Big Al's BC

[danny zubot]

Who's interested in some $600 Japanese Brains? I'll bring them in on prepaid orders :D

Can I scrub tanks on weekends to pay for one Albert?:lol:

Seriously though, what information on Calgary's population would lead any fish vendor to believe that having another store open up in the noth east would be more benificial than the south end? Are there more people in the north east that keeps aquariums?

I'm glad to have more competition and selection I guess. But its getting to the point where there are so many stores up there that I haven't even been to all of them? I don't even know where Red coral or Ocean's is!

[Pan]

Can I scrub tanks on weekends to pay for one Albert?:lol:

Seriously though, what information on Calgary's population would lead any fish vendor to believe that having another store open up in the noth east would be more benificial than the south end? Are there more people in the north east that keeps aquariums?

I'm glad to have more competition and selection I guess. But its getting to the point where there are so many stores up there that I haven't even been to all of them? I don't even know where Red coral or Ocean's is!

I have to drive almost an hour (well 40 mins) to get to these stores...quit your belly aching over driving from the south to the north :)

Never been to Red coral, but oceans is a couple blocks further west of Wais...or Peters drive in...mmm rootbeer shake

[digital-audiophile]

Depending on traffic it can take 30-40 mins to get up to the north stores for someone like tony who is in the deep south without direct access to the deerfoot. That's my only saving grace is that I can hop right on the DF and get up north but even at that it still takes me 20+ minutes to get to any of the stores in this city.

[danny zubot]

From Cranston it takes about .5 hours to Wai's and Golds. The NW stores are just out of the question for me though.

[michika]

When I was there last weekend it took me 45 minutes to get up north, and that is a lot of time and gas. Even with the Deer Foot there are now more drivers on the road then when I lived there, and there is so much construction that it almost negates the benifits of having a highway.

Elite was the simplest to get to, but still a 15-20 minute drive for me. I'm with you Danny, its just to far, and it makes many NW and NE stores inaccessible.

[Delphinus]

Yeah, but, you live in Didsbury. :p When you choose to shop in a different city, you take on the choice that it will take an hour or whatever in each direction to get there.

If there was some decent spread to the stores, then it would be a matter of "I could do this store one day, a couple days later, try another" and so on. But the fact is now I'd have to make a day trip out of it, and frankly, the selection IN the stores on any given day is usually disappointing unless you luck out and come in on a day right after they landed a shipment. So it's hardly worth your while to do so unless you have advance knowledge of what's in stock on a given day. And well, nobody posts that info, so you gamble.

I haven't been to Red Coral yet either. That store is seriously an hour's drive in one direction assuming traffic is GOOD. The traffic in the city and the road layout is horrid. The roads were fine when we were a city of 300,000. Now that we're a million plus and using the SAME roads, it's a little different. (Thank you Al, for making the 90's a "Let's do nothing!" decade. And that money the feds gave you for infrastructure, I can't thank you enough - not a day goes by where I don't notice that the luxury boxes at the Saddledome don't make my day just a little bit brighter! :lol: Whee!)

Bellyaching? Sure, I guess I am. I feel it's a bit of a legitimate complaint though. I feel there decent room to open a store in the south. I'm sure Big Al's location will serve them well. I just wish they would have picked a location closer to me. :) Don't we all feel this way once in a while though?

[digital-audiophile]

The worst was when I drove all the way to Red Coral on a sunday to find out it had closed 1/2 and hour before I got there :(

If I had the cash in the bank I would seriously consider opening a fish store in the south. You would end up doing a good business just becuase of the fact that people don't want to drive to the other side of the world just to find out that the selection is crappy, the shipment did'nt arrive or if it did that there is nothing you want.

[michika]

The worst was when I drove all the way to Red Coral on a sunday to find out it had closed 1/2 and hour before I got there :(

If I had the cash in the bank I would seriously consider opening a fish store in the south. You would end up doing a good business just becuase of the fact that people don't want to drive to the other side of the world just to find out that the selection is crappy, the shipment did'nt arrive or if it did that there is nothing you want.

I'd visit regularly!

[danny zubot]

Hehe, maybe I'll open up shop in my basement. I could service all of southern Ablerta from where I live.:lol:

[Porthos]

Technically there are 3 stores in the south that sell saltwater fish compared to 3 stores in the North...

South:
Riverfront
Elite
Golds

North:
Red Coral
Ocean's
Wai's

I would say it is pretty even :lol:

[Pan]

Technically there are 3 stores in the south that sell saltwater fish compared to 3 stores in the North...

South:
Riverfront
Elite
Golds

North:
Red Coral
Ocean's
Wai's

I would say it is pretty even :lol:

Big als will be in the north...uneven again.

Everyone here (except obviuosly people who work at another LFS) should pool together and run a community store...canreef...it would work they do it for other things :)

[Pan]

Yeah, but, you live in Didsbury. :p When you choose to shop in a different city, you take on the choice that it will take an hour or whatever in each direction to get there.

If there was some decent spread to the stores, then it would be a matter of "I could do this store one day, a couple days later, try another" and so on. But the fact is now I'd have to make a day trip out of it, and frankly, the selection IN the stores on any given day is usually disappointing unless you luck out and come in on a day right after they landed a shipment. So it's hardly worth your while to do so unless you have advance knowledge of what's in stock on a given day. And well, nobody posts that info, so you gamble.

I haven't been to Red Coral yet either. That store is seriously an hour's drive in one direction assuming traffic is GOOD. The traffic in the city and the road layout is horrid. The roads were fine when we were a city of 300,000. Now that we're a million plus and using the SAME roads, it's a little different. (Thank you Al, for making the 90's a "Let's do nothing!" decade. And that money the feds gave you for infrastructure, I can't thank you enough - not a day goes by where I don't notice that the luxury boxes at the Saddledome don't make my day just a little bit brighter! :lol: Whee!)

Bellyaching? Sure, I guess I am. I feel it's a bit of a legitimate complaint though. I feel there decent room to open a store in the south. I'm sure Big Al's location will serve them well. I just wish they would have picked a location closer to me. :) Don't we all feel this way once in a while though?

Yeah i'm not thrilled aboiut the drive, but I do work out of Calgary though. And i would agree bout the lack of antything actually for sale in these stores as well. I have been prtty dissapointed with all the once i've visisted selections more than i've been happy with them. But i try to support if I can. But i usually do J&L, TBSW,(US) and Two Part Solutiions (US). They are working on the northern part of the ring road though :0 and hey just think what it would be like if you worked downtown...stupid "Bow"
I have the feeling Calgary and Alberta in general is quickly turning into somewhere I no longer want to live.

[EmilyB]

Now that Kari's moving there is absolutely nothing that makes even me want to drive to a NE location.

[Delphinus]

Thing is, I'd consider Riverfront and Gold more "central" than anything. Yes, by the map, Gold is in the south. However, it only takes me 5 minutes more driving to get to Wai's than it does to get to Gold's. So to me it doesn't really feel all that "south". Porthos I asssume you live in the north, I don't think you'd say that otherwise :p

To be honest, I really did enjoy Big Al's previous location. It was close to work, close to home, I could go there for a quick boo and be back home inside of an hour. I can't do that to any store anymore except for Elite. And ... well .. short of M.O., guess who gets most of MY business? Sorry, location being convenient is a BIG factor to me nowadays. Before I had kids and I had lots of time to spare, I didn't mind driving all over the wazoo. Now with small kids at home, no ... not so much. So .. yeah, I don't think I'm being unreasonable feeling the way I do. And if you think I am .. well .. tough, I'm not changing my opinion!! Well .. actually, no. It's not an opinion. It's fact. From where I live, it's inconvenient to get to the north (or "north-esque") stores. It takes a bit of planning and juggling things around to do it. I realize it's not this way for everyone, and that's cool. But that's how it is for me.

[Porthos]

Delphinus, you are right, I am in the North :biggrin:

However, I'm in the far North, so like you, I would also consider Wai's and Ocean's to be pretty central, just like Riverfront and Golds. The only store I can visit somewhat easily is Red Coral (although it is still out of the way), but luckily that is also one of my favourites to visit.

Elite and Golds are actually too far for me so I don't visit them often. The new Big Al's is also out of the way, but I work close by, so I can visit it at lunch and after work pretty easily. Hopefully it will be good so that I can check things out often. I wasn't in the hobby when the old Big Al's was around.

I think those that live far North have it just as bad as those that live in the deep south. Most of the stores are pretty central when you think about it, other than Elite and Red Coral, and those are still somewhat central.

For people in the SW, if you have easy access to Crowchild, it is actually pretty quick to get to Red Coral if you aren't driving during rush hour. Red Coral is like a minute off of Crowchild Trail.

[Der_Iron_Chef]

For people in the SW, if you have easy access to Crowchild, it is actually pretty quick to get to Red Coral if you aren't driving during rush hour. Red Coral is like a minute off of Crowchild Trail.

Take it back! Crowchild is my worst nightmare. I'd rather listen to screaming children on a 14-hour flight to Hong Kong (and I've done both, so I know...lol).

Let's face it, Calgary's just a crap city to have to drive long distances for things. We have two seasons here: winter and construction. Neither are very conducive to driving long distances and maintaining a healthy mental state.

Riverfront is downtown, which is a frustration all unto itself. Wai's and Ocean City are on 16th, which again, is a construction/traffic/HWY 1 nightmare. Red Coral is connected to Crowchild hell. Gold and Elite are pretty much the only stores I'll visit on an even remotely regular basis. I went to see if Pisces had a saltwater section (again), and it took me 30 minutes to get there, and that was mostly by Deerfoot.

When Big Al's opens, maybe I'll pack a picnic lunch, fill the car with gas, make sure my camera battery is charged, and make a day of it. Because I'm sure that's what it'll take. Then I'll write a blog entry about it entitled, "No Money for Fish, Spent It All On Gas".

[michika]

I tried a jaunt on over to Red Coral this summer and I just gave up. I got cut off like 6 times before I just packed it in. I like my car in one piece! :D

I go home quite a bit still and I do make an effort to visit somewhere when I have the time. Although lately I've found it harder and harder to get anywhere.

The biggest problem in Calgary now seems to be accesibility. If the trip takes more the 30 minutes one way, I don't really want to do it. When I left in 2002 it used to be about 20 minutes straight up crowchild to the university for me. Last time I tried it I hit 40 minutes BEFORE I'd made it to the university area.

But when I think about it, I would rather take the traffic, and the constant construction then Edmonton's monster potholes. There is nothing like bottoming out and getting your car stuck in a pothole in winter to make you love Calgary!

[digital-audiophile]

Does anyone even actually shop for SW at Riverfront?

I was in a couple weeks back for the first time in months (walked over during lunch) and it was still the fish horror shop it alwasy was :(

[danny zubot]

But when I think about it, I would rather take the traffic, and the constant construction then Edmonton's monster potholes. There is nothing like bottoming out and getting your car stuck in a pothole in winter to make you love Calgary!

You have a point, there's always somewhere worse to live. Take England for example; because I was just there. To drive the same distance from my house to Oceans for example, woud take longer. You'd have to cross three towns, battling complex '"roundabouts'', narrow roads with traffic wizzing by you at break neck speeds, and all while you are driving on th wrong side of the road! I will never compain about driving in the north west end of Calgary again. In England the roads are so messed up, I couldn't even tell which direction was north without looking at the sun's position, provided the sun was even visible.:biggrin:

For me, its not the driving that bothers me, I enjoy driving, pumpin' the tunes etc. Don't get me wrong though, if I don't feel like driving that day guess which LFS will get my business. What bothers me is that I can't wrap my head around having the bulk of the LFS clumped together in one area of the city. It just doesn't make sence to me. Where's the logic in it? Surely some research was done prior to selecting the location for the new BA's, so what factors are they basing their decision on for choosing a north location? When they open, I will drive up there one day just to ask that very question, as should we all.

[kari]

I would say it has a lot to do with lease rates.

[Tyson]

Thing is, I'd consider Riverfront and Gold more "central" than anything. Yes, by the map, Gold is in the south. However, it only takes me 5 minutes more driving to get to Wai's than it does to get to Gold's. So to me it doesn't really feel all that "south". Porthos I asssume you live in the north, I don't think you'd say that otherwise :p

To be honest, I really did enjoy Big Al's previous location. It was close to work, close to home, I could go there for a quick boo and be back home inside of an hour. I can't do that to any store anymore except for Elite. And ... well .. short of M.O., guess who gets most of MY business? Sorry, location being convenient is a BIG factor to me nowadays. Before I had kids and I had lots of time to spare, I didn't mind driving all over the wazoo. Now with small kids at home, no ... not so much. So .. yeah, I don't think I'm being unreasonable feeling the way I do. And if you think I am .. well .. tough, I'm not changing my opinion!! Well .. actually, no. It's not an opinion. It's fact. From where I live, it's inconvenient to get to the north (or "north-esque") stores. It takes a bit of planning and juggling things around to do it. I realize it's not this way for everyone, and that's cool. But that's how it is for me.


I feel the same way, when i was single and liveing at my parents place it was easy is to go kill a day driving around looking for stuff(not just reef stuff). When big al's left and i got married my time became costly, but i still find time to pack a lunch and journey to the north dispite my wifes objections. It's the reef madness that compels me to go.:lol: