Neal,

Following up on some earlier threads, a water testing service would be interesting. I'd love it if there was somewhere I could go to pay 5-10 bucks and do some of the less-ordinary testing: phosphate, iodine, copper, iron, etc. I'd even do it myself. I wouldn't do it often, but once in a while it would be nice to get levels for reference. I won't spend the bucks for all those expensive test kits and colorimeters for my little reefs, but you'll likely need the "pro gear" for your setup anyway...

Just an idea. There may not be a valid business model there.

I would definitely second the water testing. I'd be willing to haul some water up there and pay for a test on my water everytime I came up and then pick up some items while I was waiting for the tests to complete.
As for hours, since I'm out of town, I'd typically only be up on weekends, so not being open on Saturday's might suck sometimes, but opening Sunday's is awesome.

I will see what I can do for testing.
the reason that I am not open Saturday for now is that I am trying to spread the time that we are open thru out the week...as we get busier and it becomes more feasible I will be opening more and more.
I am not going to be the one in the store most of the time as I simply am too busy to be there at the specified time.
however, I do have a couple of employees that will be there.
I chose Sunday over saturday is generally I am way too busy on Saturdays to be able to do anything if fill in for help is required.

make sure you laminate those cards so you don't have to keep reprinting them. also then you can just use sticky tack and move them from tank to tank when you need.

Remember that testing takes time, and if you are busy you may not be able to do the testing. This can frustrate customers.

I always liked it when stores had books that the customer could browse without purchasing. Mostly they are reference books, but they do come in handy.

I like the reference books too. I also think that will be better than having customers using your computer. I may look something up for them and say see....here it is and let them read it.......but no touch! You will regret letting customers play with your comp unless you get a program that wont allow anything to right to the hard drive. Then when you reboot, you comp will always be the way it was yesterday....kinda like the movie Groundhog Day.

Scott

What about expansion of your on-line sales, by adding a shopping cart.

Sorry kinda side tracks the thread

J

Neal reading over the past posts it looks like your are putting alot of thought into it all of it.
It sounds great so far the evening hrs, the signage
I know when I started and even now it would be nice to know coral requirements (lighting, food, etc)
I think if your able to offer prices that are good it should be work.
just my 2 cents
look forward to it.

I will be eventually changing the website so it is more current and more applicable.
not really sure if I would ever add a shopping cart because I just wouldnt' want people to buy and pay for something that I just sold the last one of. I will be carrrying a minimum drygoods section which willl not be worth the effort for shopping online for.

For reference books, I may eventually get some. However, I look at the internet as being the biggest reference book avialable.

For pricing, I am looking at J&L as a guideline plus a bit more for the extra shipping.
just for everyone's knowledge, for every shipment, I will need to fly to Vanvcouver, clear the shipment and then forward the shipment onto Edmonton...which will increase the cost of shipping for things. That is why the prices will be higher to cover the extra costs involved.

Neal