Input requested
 

As I move closer to the opening of my store I wanted to get some input on some things.
First the hours

I am thinking that at the beginning I will have the hours of
Tues - 6 - 10 pm
thurs - 6 - 10 pm
Sunday 12 - 6 pm

Any suggestions on this? would you rather it be on another day or different hours?

I am going to have info cards on all livestock being sold
here is what I am thinking should be on those cards:

Price:
Name -
Scientific name if possible
min. tank size
demeanour of fish - aggressive, non- aggressive
easiness of care.
reef safe/not reef safe

any other info you can think of that would fit on a 3 X 5 inch card?
I will also have a computer with internet access available to customers so that they can surf for info themselves as well.

As well, I am going to hold minimum drygoods and foods.
just wondering what people would like to see available and what they feel they would buy regularly
my thoughts:

prime
bulbs
PE mysis
Hikari Products
some of the chemicals needs
testing kits

any other suggestions for the store as to what you would like to see?

Sounds great so far. I love that you would be open in the evenings, I hate it when I want to go to a fish store after work and it's closed at 5pm or 6pm. I work until 5:30pm. It'll be nice to have a store that I can go to during the week. I also like the card info idea, it's handy (if you don't allready know) for a quick reference guide.

Two things I can think of adding to your card would be lighting requirements if applicable and diet. (carnivor, herbivor, omnivore) etc. If that helps you at all.

Best of luck with your new store by the way.

Good idea for lighting for corals
water movement would be good to know as well I guess.

thanks btw,I am getting excited about it coming together.
I am going to really try to provide an environmentally ethical as possible, aquacultured as possible, Tank raised as possible environment.

I am also setting up a few 90 gallon tanks just strictly for coral propogation so that I can offer aquacultured corals as much as possible.

Just for everyone's knowledge, there are some species that I will not be offering that are not tank raised..2 that come to mind are Seahorses and Bangai Cardinals...the losses of WC species just is not acceptable in my mind.

As well, I want to start looking at purchasing frags from local reefers to offer to my customers.....I am really keen on the idea of less raping the ocean idea and more sharing with each other kind of idea.

Neal those hours are awesome that is what the city needs.


If you need a hand with anything LMK I'm only a beltch and holler away :mrgreen: .....and I'm cheap :wink:

Hey your plans for a store sound great. I really don't think a lot of store owners think as carefully as you have about who their customers are and what they want to see.

I'm a little too far away but I wish you all the best.

I am liking the hours too, School has usually clogged up my daytime space.
I am looking forward to the store too :razz:

Not that I will be shopping there, but thought I would add my 2 cents!

I think its awesome when there is an actual reef tank set up in the store. One of the shops here has one, and he says people are always after whatever he has in the reef tank, but not near the interest when they are in the holding tanks! (By reef tank, I dont mean Nano, like a 90 or 120). Plus a great "hands on" for showing ppl plumbing equipment etc.

Obviously it takes up much needed space in a store, but I think it is awesome for people to see what a full tank can look like, and for newcomers, or people switching from FW, what an eye catcher!

Congrats on the store, best of luck! If I am in Edmonton I will be sure to stop by.

Jason

Hours looks great, Looking forward for your openning.

I don't likve near you, but there is a store here that does 6:30-9 pm, and it's a pain in the butt. I wish they opened at 5:30. I get off work at 5, and I have to wait around for an hour and a half for them to open. Or I go on Saturdays which they are open 12-5, but half the time they are closed on Saturdays with no warning. Drives me nuts as I live 45 minutes away. I've started calling on Saturdays before I drive in. Sad really...

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

You can't use a broker or even find someone local, documented as a rep for A Marine Experience?

I will see.
but I think that it will be cheaper to pay for the flights.
Brokers charge by each similar item or heading.
for a 50 box shipment of fish, that is a lot of headings and alot of money for a broker.
I will be checking into it though.
Neal