comments on your Live Fish Store

[snakeblitz33]

hah, point taken.
So, to summarize what everyone has said so far:
Keep display tanks and selling tanks nice and clean (given)
Don't let any dead fish be found in any of the tanks.
Beware of employees stealing livestock.
Raffle off an animal or equipment once a month.
Let things be separated nicely... fung shui style.
Quarantine all new arriving fish, don't let customers buy the next day. Do not carry a warantee on fish/corals if they do want them sooner.
petting zoo attracts new comers, but not necessarily regulars.
If I have not sold a large coral colony, I should split it up and sell them as frags. (great idea)
Did I leave anything out?

 

[fats71]

I went into a LFS yesterday and saw they received a whole new shipment. It is my LFS and they almost always QT in another building but this was a huge shipment. I was excited to go in and make the 2 hours plus drive and I got there and everything they received had ich. I wanted a puffer they had or my wife did actually and it was so covered it had it on it's eyes. HUGE turn off but as I know the norm of the store and the reason they had to use tanks in the main store for QT I understood. They would not sell them to anyone that way anyway but just looked bad.
He said the fish ended up staying an extra 12 hours on a plane or something like that which would explain the huge stress. I know I would not have accepted a shipment like that tbh.
One thing I WOULD LIKE to see when I hit MY LFS is speed. Sometimes I just wanna get the heck out of there. I got to my lfs in saint louis last night att 5:30 and by the time I was done picking out a few frags some checm pure it was 9:15 p.m. making it almost midnight by the time I got back home.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yes, I have noticed that as well! I will walk into a local fish store and spend hours there, when all I wanted to do was go in, buy what I needed and leave...
Then again, that's one of the ways a live fish store makes money- is that they have so many wonderful things to choose from... you want to look and see how far your money can stretch! lol
Do any of you all like to see variety in a live fish store? Not just the good ole' standby's, but the very neat and cool stuff that you don't see often, that are relatively inexpensive? I go into local fish stores everywhere and I see the same ole' corals and the same standard fish.
Thanks everyone for your concerns and I appreciate all of your posts.
If you can, keep posting as many ideas as you can. It will help me improve upon my plans and make my store the best it can be.

 

[akidnamedchad]

The idea of putting dates of fish arival is a great idea, my local fish store does that. probly the same as the guy who said that before

.
I have alot of local store by me and ill tell u what works for them. for the closest, they have a great staff. if i have a question i got to these guys, they dont "try to just make the sale". if u know what i mean. They stock alot of different corals. more so than fish. So remember to make friends with the customer and if they do come in alot try to remember their name, always helps.
Another pet store i go to sells mostly corals, they have a huge display tank. These is by far a great idea cause it attracts peoples attention. Also he has fish, rare corals and inverts with aton of movement. He sells frags of what ever you want from the display. so while the coral is growing he is fraging it and making bank on some of the rare stuff.
The next store has a shark pond, which is way cool to go see. They also have feedings that u can come and do for free. When i would go in there from work it was the main attraction.
To make customers loyal, start a "club" they can join for like 20 bucks or some thing. gives them like 10 percent of dry and 25 percent off live. this will also help u remember their names when u ring them up.
Do once a month specials on stuff u can get a big shipment on. That also helps.
For live stock garuntee, i always buy from the place that does the best garuntee, this is what i would do, if they buy the fish have it be a 5 or 7 day garuntee, if they bring in a water sample, then test it and if it meets the parampeters you set then u give them a extended gurantee. (Get little containers for people to bring in there samples of water, put ur stores name on them so that is another way to get them loyal.)
Make the place not light but darker, makes the fish pop in color.
Lastly have a display tank with the filtration showing, like a sump, skimmer, fuge and bio balls, so the customer sees them working and knows what they do. Makes it easier to sell.
Lastly always be nice to the customer no mater what.

.
thats my two cents for now, i got some more but im done for now. hope that helps.
-Chad

 

[hillius31]

My LFS takes a dry eraser marker and draws the outline of the fish. Then put the name and price next to it, as well as the date. I like. When I look in a tank and see a fish I like, I can see the name and price of it.
You could also do a punch card thing. Like for every 5 or 10 dollars they spend you get a punch in the card. After 30 or 40 punches you get some much instore credit.
You could also have some one make you some banners to hang up out side when ever you have a sale, or some magnetic signs.
If you need a good deal on some stickers or banners PM me. I run a vinyl business on my days off.
Maybe have a feeding day, where customers can come in and feed a fish. My LFS did that on a StoneFish, until I bought it. She tells me that people still come in, and to there disappointment the stonefish is gone.
Just a few ideas. Im going to my lfs right now so if I get anymore ideas ill let you know.
Good luck man,
Justin

 

[snakeblitz33]

Thanks for all ya'lls support and advice.
All of the sales and things make me weary! lol. I know it's for the best and I will probably be making up for it in volume and memberships and relationships.
The sales signs and banners are a great idea, and I will PM you in the future.
Feeding the fish sounds fun as well.
Did you get anymore ideas for what a freaking awesome store would be like?

 

[hillius31]

My LFS also has a pet cat. It stays at the shop only. Really nice cat, dont bother the fish at all. Hes always sitting at the door waiting for someone to come in and then he follows you every where. Maybe have a pet turtle or frog or something that the kids could pet and stuff.

 

[snakeblitz33]

I really like cats. But, I don't think that I would want to keep one at the store. I might have to think about the benefits of it first at a store location. Some people are allergic to cats, and I could loose some business that way.
I'm not much for pet toads, frogs, and turtles. I'm not a herpatologist, lol. I don't know how willing customers would be to pet a toad. Although, I have to admit, petting or touching any animal in a store is definately a plus.
I think it would be fascinating to build a 1000 gallon acrylic show tank. I have built several that are 300 or less for clients, but I haven't gotten up there just yet. I need to take a step up. Only thing is, at my current location, space limits me to what I can do, and I need to figure out if building tanks or selling live goods and dry goods is going to make me the most money.

 

[hillius31]

I figured I would give you a bump. Cause your fish store is going to AWESOME.
Anyways I had another idea. You could do this for your grand opening. You could have an activity or a game that kids could play and win a gold fish. Cause then maybe there parents would buy a little tank for their kid(s). Just an idea. Good luck with everything. Youll have to post some pictures of the place when your setting it. Do you have any pictures of how your gonna lay the store out yet? If so could we see it.
thanks,
Justin

 

[snakeblitz33]

That's a great idea! Unfortunately, I already have some ideas already for my Grand Opening. I'm going to be grilling hotdogs and hamburgers and have the radio news come out to my place and invite everyone to get a burger and look around. I'm also raffling off a 240 gallon All-Glass aquarium, stand, canopy, sump and pump.
I do have some "paint.exe" diagrams of what I am considering at my current location. Nothing is final, however, I haven't signed the lease quite yet.
I'm guessing that I will probably use another thread to post pictures of the store getting up and running and the systems and everything that is going to be in it. This thread is mainly for help from customers to decide what you all would like in a store, more then what I would.
What kind of return policy's would you like to see in a LFS?
When you go into a new store, what do you look at first? The equipment or the livestock?
What impresses you the most when you go to a live fish store?
Do you think you would come in more often if there were some sort of membership club/reef club to join where you can get discounts?
Thanks for answering all the questions, and please feel free to comment on anything! Even, if you would like to think about it this way... build your own fish store!

 

[fats71]

I will not step foot into a store with cats !!!
I think the membership thing is awsome. I kknow my LFS does a tank of thhe month on thheir forum and the winnner gets a prize not just bragging rights. I won it lasst month and it was a 25 dollar gift card. It was not a lot but it bought some extra food
I think having the club is a great idea. You know home depot does those free lecctures how to build a deck, or how to refurbish a counter top blah blahh blah. How about once a month or weekly have a how to build a sump or how to run your plumbing. How to make your top off water self sufficient etc. How to frag tons of things you could do. The best part is you don;t have to be thee one teaching it as you would have one of your members who specialize in it from your LFS club do it (people love to be needed) Just some more idea's

 

[snakeblitz33]

wow, I never thought of something like the part where the customer can do the seminar.

 

[hillius31]

The first thing I look at is the Livestock. I just want to make sure that the fish look healthy and are swimming around good, because if they don't have good looking fish then im not going to be dropping any cash there.
I like when I walk into my LFS store the first thing they say to me is "Hey Justin how are you and how is Leonard doing." Leonard is the stone fish they sold me. So that impresses me that they know my name and remember what they sold me.
I would keep returning to a store that had a Membership/Discount. Because even if you saving 5%, hey thats another 5% you can spend at your store right.

And every little bit helps.
Justin

 

[alix2.0]

dont want to rain on anyone's parade, but just throwing this out there.
once you do start your store, you may want to keep it on the down low around here, or you may find yourself banned. remember jonthefishguy?
just something to think about.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Yeah, I'm hush hush. I won't try to sell or even post links to my website or anything on this site. A couple of the diagrams that I posted though accidentally had my copyrite and web address on it. For that, I am sorry.
This is really the only thread that I want open about opening a store. Infact, if SWF.com is willing to do business with me, I would like to!
I don't think I am going to be posting build pictures or anything of the business at all on this site, nor any forum. I WILL however be posting my display tanks, not as a businessman, but as a fellow hobbyist.
Edit: I really enjoy this website and these forums and would feel lost if I didn't get my daily dose of SWF.com forums!

 

[regina13]

One more thing I thought of. Signs over the sections of the tanks telling you weather they are aggressive or reef safe ect... I think is a must. It is nice to just say " Ok, I can't have an aggressive fish in my reef" and just not look into getting one.

 

[snakeblitz33]

wow! That's such a great idea! I never thought of that, I always just looked at it as being something that a determined customer should research purchases before buying... BUT, I think that it would be wonderful to change that! (not take away the mind of the customer, but narrow decisions and direct questions and flow of traffic.)

 

[fats71]

My LFS is great about knwoing names what we have etc that makes ya feel good.
I can call my lfs and before I say a word they say hey brent whats up. They know my numbers ( it doesnt show my name jjust the number I call a lot I guess ) anyway thats cool to me. They toss me free pumps etc as I took them a 4 foot ray and a ramora that I got form a LFS in springfield missouri for free and my lfs from sainnt louis drove the 2 plus hours to my house to pick it up and why they were there checked out my setups etc.
Anyway I speak great about my LFS but as of today I am furious. I went to the store friday and discussed lighting the main guy not the owner but main person there said the light I wanted would be fine and its a good light. he wanted me to go with tek but when I and he checked pricces vs the lights I said I would be saving 200 plus dollars for just alittle less light. I then goto the forums and another one of the employees not knowing I spoke to the main guy says they are junk and I should blah blah blah. i was like so you sell junk then he went on to say he did not say it I quoted it long story short I dont like a run around and if im goinj to be jerked around with somthing as simple as 400 dollars in lighting when I spend 300 plus every weekend there I wont go back. So keep in mind tell your employees to keep their mouths shut about products you sell in the store. if you sell it it shouldnt be called junk and it is rather insulting to me to say im buying junk bah sorry pissed off and venting.
Hope your store makes millions and you do it the right way bro seems like your really into customer service and thats what keeps people coming back.

 

[robdog696]

Fun!
Do they listen to your needs? Who cares
Why do you go to your local fish store? For the fish?
what could they do different in your local store? Buy the right size tanks for larger more aggressive fish that do not sell as fast as reef compatible fish. Carry live copepods, live baby brine, and/or live mysis shrimp. Order from a more reputable wholesaler.
how many display tanks do they have? The number is not as important as the size. My only complaint about the number of tanks would be not having a tank or two dedicated for things like an octopus or shark that must be kept alone.
Do they have anything unique? The trick is ordering different things at different times. I would frequent my fish store more often if I knew next week they would probably have something new. I would probably just stay longer and visit less if they had the same 50 million varieties of fish every time I went. But make sure you order things that are healthy, you can feed, and will survive for a long time in your tanks. Find a wholesaler that has live cams of their fish so you can hand pick what you want to purchase.
Would you go more often if there was some sort of aquatic entertainment? I.E. bala shark/stingray petting zoo... One of my LFS's has a camera on the front door, and when people walk in he profiles them. 90% of all customers with small children in tow are there for the "free zoo" and do not purchase anything... ever! Adults with bulging wallets do not want to pet stingrays. They want to find rare species and mated pairs that you can grossly overcharge them for. (google "fish collectors corner" if you don't believe me)
Are the people secretive about what they do? who cares... we want to buy fish, not invest in their stock portfolio
Does the staff seem knowledgeable, is it frustrating to talk to idiots? Home Depot is a perfect example. You can either hire experts and pay them accordingly, or you can hire nice employees who are eager to learn and pay them close to minimum wage. Either way, the customer is never happy. I would hire 1 expert and a bunch of noobies with sponge-like brains. The important thing is healthy fish, reasonable prices, and honesty.
Good luck!!!!
P.S. The money's in servicing tanks at doctors offices, casinos, red lobsters, and rich peoples homes. Not retail. "That's where a drug dealer makes his money, on the comeback" - Chris Rock

 

[snakeblitz33]

RobDog!
Thanks for the imput. Infact, the money is both in services and retail. If the money was not also in retail, there wouldn't be so many stores. If the money wasn't in retail, SWF.com wouldn't have ever wanted to go into business. (think critically)
Besides, the reason I am going also into retail is that it gives me the opportunity to buy wholesale for my service clients. My LFS that I used to do business with cut me off, and now I'm having to pay shipping and charge my clients more for their products, without getting any profit at all.
On the retail side, I get to work with many different types of creatures and people. I am a people person and I also enjoy doing business.
You're right about the stingrays. It would be a free petting zoo, and I don't think in the long run that it wouldn't look very professional, and take up a lot of my time.
Ordering different things at different times works to an extent, but in the end I have to go with what sells the most, and adjust accordingly.
Any more ideas, concepts, etc? I'm trying not to shoot down anything, and I'm really liking everything so far!