O.C. Coral Boutique Opening Soon!! NEW PICS
 

Hi everyone,

With great pleasure I am happy to announce that Ian is back with O.C. and together we are enterprising in opening up a retail store located in the heart of the Fraser Valley.

Location to be announced shortly.

We would like our new store to be customer interactive and would appreciate your suggestions on all facets of this new business. Renovation and construction will commence shortly and we will post as much as possible in regards to design and layout. All suggestions and criticism will be welcomed.

Funding is limited and so initially dry good supply is going to be weak. With this in mind there are a few questions that we would like to ask of you.

1. What type of dry goods would you like us to carry on a regular basis.
ie. Test Kits, Food
Items that would allow you to make a short stop in to say "hi' and pick
up.

2. What type of equipment and brands would you like us to carry.

3. Would you like us to carry a small array of Fresh water fish and Plants?

4. What about aquarium Maintenace and custom design as well as
emergency/hospital tanking?

5. And alongside our designer corals would you like to have
access to some lesser priced corals as well.

6. What hours of operations would you like us to provide.

There are a ton of ideas raging through our minds at the moment as we are both excited to start on this endeavor. So your input is invaluable and it will help us make the best decisions.

We intend to succeed in this venture but realize that we will need your support and ideas to help us along. This is your store and we want to make it that as much as possible.

Thanks in advance for all your ideas and suggestions.

Cheers.

Ian & Paul

Awesome Paul and Ian!!
Will definately drop by when in the Fraser Valley... :wink:

I'd like to see simple bulk dry goods available. No one really does this in any retail store I've ever been into but I think it would be a great idea to offer no name supplements and resins by the pound for a competitive price. Every LFS has the same mass marketed garbage by Kent looking packaged and pretty all over their shelves... When all I want is this stuff:

Activated Carbon
Granular Ferric Oxide
Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate
Magnesium Sulfate
Calcium Chloride
Calcium Hydroxide
Aragonite ca reactor media?
Others?

Maybe its just a fools dream to think that people could sell this a little closer to where I live so that I didnt have to order from Eastern Canada and the USA all of the time. At least it might be worth looking into. The average new-comer to the hobby probably feels comforted by colorful labels and fancy brand names but those of us who might be interested in 'rare and unique' corals generally know better. Just a thought.

T5 bulbs...maybe ATI and KZ rather than the standard ones that everyone carries. Bulk goods is a great idea as I know I would rather buy it in BC. I see more retailers in the US carrying the Bubble-Magus product (low cost, decent quality) yet no-one in Canada.

I agree that you should stay away from all the KENT, SEACHEM stuff that clutters every fish store shelf in the province.

This is great news!! any idea what city? cant wait til you open the doors! ill be one of the first in line lol

about the hours of operation i like 8pm. I find i cant make it to most stores on weekdays because like most people i work until 5. most stores are only open til 6pm
cheers
Ray

Bulk di resin
H2ocean salt

Would be nice to have some lesser priced coral for people that don't have alot of money.

A good selection of ric florida!

phoenix mh bulbs

Congradulation Ian and Paul,
Great business oportunity, many reefers in the Valley. I would for sure purchase my salt, food, calcium, mag etc from you. Opening on Saturday is a must:lol:

I am really looking to buy my supplies and equipment locally.

Good luck

Hey sounds great, when it comes to the renovation part, I am a red sealed Floor Layer if you are planning on redoing your flooring lemmie know :lol:
Ben

+1 on bulk products

Coolio guys!

I too would like to see bulk supplies. And maybe a tank or 2 strictly for local corals. I personally could send over florida ricordea and some acans. It would be nice for us "locals" to have a place to sell our frags.

I like this idea, would be nice to have a community frag tank and simply charge a commission on the sale of the pieces. We will have to think about the idea.

What do others think of this?

I am looking into bulk chemicals today, could some of you please list your approximate monthly usage of the main bulk items that we would likely stock? This would be helpful to in order to see if this would be a viable market.

- GFO
- Sodium Bicarbonate / Sodium Carbonate
- Calcium Hydroxide (a.k.a Kalkwasser)
- Magnesium Sulfate/Chloride
- Calcium Chloride

Monthly:
250 ml - GFO
3 tbs - Sodium Bicarbonate / Sodium Carbonate
250 ml - Calcium Hydroxide (a.k.a Kalkwasser)
2 L - Magnesium Sulfate/Chloride
3 tbs - Calcium Chloride
500 ml - Activated Carbon

Excellent, I need more of this.

Some great suggestions so far. I am only starting to use bulk supplements so can't comment on my usage yet.

The idea of a consignment tank is great but I would have one slight concern. You would have to be careful of spreading pests so you might need some sort of quarantine arrangement or a good regimen of dipping and examining under a magnifier etc.

Here are some pictures of our new retail location! It is small and cozy! The shop needs tons of work as the building is old.

We have the huge benefit of having an off site Coral holding and aquaculture facility within 10 minutes of the location. We are getting as much done as we can so we can open before Christmas.

Stay posted for more pictures!

http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...w/IMG_0103.jpg


http://i194.photobucket.com/albums/z...w/IMG_0100.jpg

Looks good but there is no water.:mrgreen:
Can't wait to see it a bit of a drive for me but I am sure it will be worth it.
You better change your signature Ian as you are not a regular citizen again now. :lol:

Looking forward to following this build thread!! :biggrin:

I used to live in Aldergove. It is only 20 minutes from the Port Mann bridge.

Doh! You are right, I will change my signature!

Oh crap - there go the rest of my pay cheques!!! That's just down the street from me. (I'm sooooo doooomed! LOL!).

:lol: You must recognize the street through the window in the picture......

Yup, and you can bet we'll be driving past and stalking you for opening day! :)

awwww sweet is that the Alder-IN across the street :lol:

good call on being close to my place :mrgreen:

what is the address so i can see it on mapquest! i dont have a clue where aldergrove is?

Wow if i was still living in aldergrove that would have been dangourous for me.Although i pick my daughter up every second week.So its still dangourous.Congratulations on the store i'm sure it will do well.

Hi Ian

Congrat's on the new location.

Hope all goes well and can't wait for the opening.

Tom R

We are at 273rd and Fraser Highway Aldergrove. Approximately 20 minutes from the bridge and about 45 minutes to 1 hour from the tsawwassen ferry terminal.

http://www.google.ca/mapdata?CxUzkew...ABBJgBBcoBAmVu

*update*

Our tanks have been completed and are shipping from Calgary on Monday! This of course is an important part of the new store! :smile:

any plans on carrying the ATI T5HO bulbs?

Unfortunately, no. We do not believe, having used the bulbs personally, that the near-mythic status afforded to the particular brand endows any legitimate advantage over any competing bulb that is already present on the market.

That said, we are will be taking a close look at a few of the other respectable brands currently available.

Bow Valley?

makes sense...since we all know that aqua science rocks ATI's socks!!:lol:

Our three new Gyre tanks for the shop have now arrived, pictures to follow soon!

please do, as I have no clue what a Gyre tank is

Check out this link Shelley.
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2007/1/aafeature#h5

Here are some quick snapshots still crated..... Maybe you can figure out how the Gyre works!

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/566/tank3.jpg

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2891/tank2.jpg
By oceaniccorals at 2009-11-26

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9208/tank1d.jpg
By oceaniccorals at 2009-11-26

thats awesome guys! congrats. been a long time paul. i'll have to come by and check it out for sure. even though i dont have a setup anymore, i'll have to drool over yours. :)

look forward to seeing it.

Tanks
 

Hi Colin,

Thanks, it's taken quite sometime to finally venture into retail. Really hoping to see you soon, it's been a very long time.

Sorry to hear that your tank was taken down. Any possibilities of starting up another?

Those tanks are very well made. I am extremely happy with the workmanship that was put into making them. It's even more impressive when the work order was only put in 7 days ago and the builder got it made ASAP for us.

If any one needs a custom tank built, let us know; we have a wonderful person making these tanks for us that I would like to continue supporting.

Cheers,

Paul

Interesting looking tanks you will have to post some pictures of it running.
Are the extra pieces to set the height of the trays?