New Vancouver area store!

[hawk]

Originally Posted by ReefBizz

Great feedback everyone.... Keep'em coming! Your opinions are valued.

The environmental angle is noble but if you 're looking to break into the Canadian reef market I would concentrate on online sales. Yeah I know every store has a web page but the only one that seems to put much effort into it is J&L. They'll update their new/noteworthy page once or twice a week. The others I deal with update less than once a month. It's not a criticism of the existing stores. They unload their livegoods without exploiting web possibilities, good for them. But IMO it is a ripe market that will be filled sooner or later.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by hawk

The environmental angle is noble but if you 're looking to break into the Canadian reef market I would concentrate on online sales. Yeah I know every store has a web page but the only one that seems to put much effort into it is J&L. They'll update their new/noteworthy page once or twice a week. The others I deal with update less than once a month. It's not a criticism of the existing stores. They unload their livegoods without exploiting web possibilities, good for them. But IMO it is a ripe market that will be filled sooner or later.

Your right on with this one! I think in Canada, web sales are very important, even just based on the geography of our large country and how it is populated. There are many small town reefers who have no choice but to buy online and that can be a big market...especially if you cater some of your website and shipping to them.

[Carrera75]

I personally believe that a new store that offers the best dry goods and livestock is much needed in Vancouver. Some of the existing stores have decent corals but their dry goods selection is not that great. While
there are other stores that have decent selection of dry goods but the livestock is not great. Most the LFS's websites are not very useful as these are not updateded on a regular basis, perhaps the only one is the J$L website.

I would definitely support a new LFS that offers both, great livestock and dry goods. Am not married to any of the existing LFS so why not supporting a new one that cares about the environment.

Cheers

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

The more I sit here and think about it, I can't believe anyone thinks it would be a bad idea. Anything can always be done better. Plus its great for us! More stores the better, more competitive and better selection hopefully. As YVR says, if there was one store that could "get it all together", I bet it would do VERY well. Sounds like a few people here a very "married" to a few stores though.

I have noticed that one store is like "the good ol' boys club" when certain customers are in. I always find that to be the worst trait a store can have. EVERY customer is as important as each other. I have been in a certain store on more than one occasion where its hard to get help because of this.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Trust me. Even those who say it would be hard to make a go of it as a new coral/sw LFS would be in there during opening day and if the prices & selection are good, they would become regular customers.

The major drawback I see is that there is a finite supply of aquacultured corals & hobbyist-grown frags, so getting enough to keep a store stocked with colourful corals will be a challenge.

Anthony

[Jason McK]

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

The more I sit here and think about it, I can't believe anyone thinks it would be a bad idea. Anything can always be done better. Plus its great for us! More stores the better, more competitive and better selection hopefully. As YVR says, if there was one store that could "get it all together", I bet it would do VERY well. Sounds like a few people here a very "married" to a few stores though.

I have noticed that one store is like "the good ol' boys club" when certain customers are in. I always find that to be the worst trait a store can have. EVERY customer is as important as each other. I have been in a certain store on more than one occasion where its hard to get help because of this.

Sorry that was me.
I tend to get all the staff in trouble.

J

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Jason McK

Sorry that was me.
I tend to get all the staff in trouble.

J

Hahaha! No I know for sure it wasn't you

I think everyone knows what I mean though about getting much better service if you become buddies with the guys working there. Thats just not me though, great guys but Im not there to chat, just buy!

Anthony also has a great point about how if the prices were low and product was right, most people would be there!

[Pan]

Any step towards a more eco=friendly tank is welcome in my opinion. The only problem being very few fish are captively bred. Corals more so, but few fish are. If they had a buy-back trade program with reefers out there with fish and corals it would be beneficial. I think education would have to be an important part of the mix though. For instance, convinve people to buy mostly base rock and seed with some liverock or preferably use aquacultured liverock. It takes time and its more trouble (sometimes) but if everyone used 1/4 to a 1/2 less wild stuff the better. It can only benefit in the long run. Maybe buy liverock from local reefers going out of business so to speak. but it cheap (not to cheap as to not make a profit) then sell it back say 50-75 cents to a dollar more a pound. The problem with eco-friendly is for the first little bit at least it is more expensive, and in a hobby that most i think would consider a luxury hobby, price goes a long way. I do for instance pay more for eco-friendly or go out of my way when I can, but alas not always....having ideals in this day and age is quite expensive.