peoples thoughts and opinions on calgary lfs???

[jorjef]

Originally Posted by kien

It really boils down to perspective. As this thread suggests, we all have or own ideas of how we would run a fish store. What would seem to make complete sense to one of us can easily sound ridiculous to another. Consider this though, one store in particular that we all love to bitch about has been around for ages without changing their business practices one iota. I'm not trying to defend their practices here. I'm just sayin'. They have managed to stick around and have seen hobbyists come and go. They've out lived much nicer, posher, more updated, more connected to customers, more tech (online) savvy stores that have come and gone. Go figure

EXACTLY...I give this post the 'Wisers slow clap' award.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by kien

It really boils down to perspective. As this thread suggests, we all have or own ideas of how we would run a fish store. What would seem to make complete sense to one of us can easily sound ridiculous to another. Consider this though, one store in particular that we all love to bitch about has been around for ages without changing their business practices one iota. I'm not trying to defend their practices here. I'm just sayin'. They have managed to stick around and have seen hobbyists come and go. They've out lived much nicer, posher, more updated, more connected to customers, more tech (online) savvy stores that have come and gone. Go figure

That's very true. Longevity in face of change is a great measure of viability in business model. Could it be better? Probably. Is what they're doing working? Yes it is. Should they be complacent? Probably not. But I don't think they are complacent either... perhaps just a little too busy for their own good? Or, perhaps they should take some of their earnings and focus on growth vs the owner's Porsche Cayenne (does he have two?)? (Retained earnings vs paying out dividends)

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by kien

It really boils down to perspective. As this thread suggests, we all have or own ideas of how we would run a fish store. What would seem to make complete sense to one of us can easily sound ridiculous to another. Consider this though, one store in particular that we all love to bitch about has been around for ages without changing their business practices one iota. I'm not trying to defend their practices here. I'm just sayin'. They have managed to stick around and have seen hobbyists come and go. They've out lived much nicer, posher, more updated, more connected to customers, more tech (online) savvy stores that have come and gone. Go figure

while this store has been around for ages you would be surprised to know of some major changes about to happen there...i know this for a fact


so while we like to think that they dont care ...some do.

it took sometime but that particular store owner is about to change his whole business around......why??

because times are forcing him to do so or the business goes downhill, years ago you would drop in to see what the store had...now people are ordering stuff online.in order to compete a business either needs to out do the other business in what it sells or improve oon their own business.


business has gone down over the years because of a few things one is the internet, its easier to ship now adays and with the improvements in the hobby and how much easier it is to keep things alive most people are willing to ship and do business online.

its become the norm for alot...

[fishoholic]

Originally Posted by reefwars

if pricing is so hard for our lfs to do then why does lfs in other citys have no problems doing this??

like nick mentioned the stores in edmonton do this , so do the stores ive visited in ontario and in newfoundland....

thers no reason at all why stores elsewhere can put prices on stuff but ours cant....it has nothing to do with anything but being pure lazy or trying to grease extra coin out of customers....the stores here dont care and want you to have to ask for a price , becuase their price changes customer to customer.

I 1000% agree. Nothing is more annoying then the price changing from one staff quote to the next or for one customer to the next or from day to day especially on dry goods. Yes livestock prices will change week to week depending where the fish was shipped from but dry goods generally stay the same (price wise) and shouldn't be $12 on Monday and $7 Tuesday.

[Coralgurl]

There is not a single Calgary store on this forum. I think there are some great points made but in all honesty, the stores are not asking for this feedback, so why would it matter what a small reefing population on CR has to say about how their stores are operated? There are other reefers in the City that are not on CR, maybe unaware it exists, don't care for the chit chat, whatever. Stores invest their own time and money to run a business. If it wasn't working, they wouldn't be in business, these stores are around and very rarely are there no customers in the stores (I guess depending on time of day). Pricing, cleanliness, ease of access to livestock/product. Great points that all could improve upon. The 2 big box stores could have better trained staff, cleaner systems, but the pricing is there, shelves and floors are generally clean. These 2 stores get bashed all the time for various issues.

Real estate is not cheap. I bet the 3 smaller stores don't care to expand, use the size of stores as best laid out and off they go. Is more real estate going to bring in more money, not likely. Would it make it more appealing to the customer, of course. Are they putting more money in their pockets, obviously. Take the location of the stores and it says alot, they are not located in overly desirable locations, the 2 on 16th ave are not bad, the one on 17th...hmm, but I know rents are alot cheaper than if they were located at South Trail Crossing or Crowfoot or Beacon Hill (sorry for those in the south, not overly familier with shopping centres your way). We all have dumped considerable money in this hobby, if I want an expanded store offering more space, ultimately, I will pay for this as the store needs to recoup this cost somehow - increased pricing on everything. I'm not good at battering on prices, never have been, never will be, so I guess I miss the "buddy pricing".

Regardless - its their business, their risk, their cash and their perogative how and when they operate. We do have a great selection here, take what you like and leave the rest.

[Reef_Geek]

They should care... because BATfishMAN will make them pay... oh he'll make them pay...

[kien]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Real estate is not cheap. Take the location of the stores and it says alot, they are not located in overly desirable locations, the 2 on 16th ave are not bad, the one on 17th...hmm, but I know rents are alot cheaper than if they were located at South Trail Crossing or Crowfoot or Beacon Hill (sorry for those in the south, not overly familier with shopping centres your way).

This is a very good point that a lot of people don't consider. I live in the south and I would LOVE to have a store in the south. However, there is virtually NO cheap real estate in the south. The locations that are cheap are very sketchy. Take for example Red Coral's previous location. While the store there was awesome, I would personally be concerned to leave my car there for an extended period of time. And even at that location it was still MORE EXPENSIVE than their previous location in the north. Anyway, what this means is that virtually any reasonable location in the south is going to mean that prices will be higher. And well, we all know how we feel about high prices right? Take for example the fish store that we used to have right off of MacLeod Trail South. Personally I thought it was a nice store. Great location, nice layout, decent stock. However, I hardly ever saw any foot traffic in that store and even I myself rarely frequented that store due to their high prices. I certainly can not blame them. They have to make ends meet like all the other stores.

[jorjef]

Originally Posted by kien

On the issue with pricing, I wonder if it is partially a cultural thing? Of the 5 traditional stores that sell marine stuffs, 3 of them are owned and operated by asians and those are the ones that NEVER have prices on their tanks. It is in their nature to expect haggling. From their point of view, is there a point in putting a price up if someone is just going to come along and knock it down ? Also, I think that the cost on livestock fluctuates wildly from shipment to shipment. It is possible that a Blue Tang from one shipment will cost them $40 while on the next shipment will cost them $50. In the meantime, the Blue Tang from both shipments are still hanging out in the same tank. I'm guessing that the store owners kind of want to hide this from the customers. Anyway, I'm not a store owner so I'm just speculating :-)

And on the issue of Preferred Customer pricing. I don't see an issue with this. It is no different than any other business with a Preferred Customer system. I am a "Preferred Customer" with Avis Rent a Car so I get to the front of the line. "Preferred Frequent Flyer's" with Air Canada get special treatment (seat upgrades, meals, perferred boarding, etc). This is normal business practice.

I have read the last two pages of posts and this is the only one that I find has any merit in reading a second time....Hope others will read again.

Store owners run 'their' stores the way 'they' want. If I was the owner I wouldn't want people telling me how to run my business.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by jorjef

I have read the last two pages of posts and this is the only one that I find has any merit in reading a second time....Hope others will read again.

Store owners run 'their' stores the way 'they' want. If I was the owner I wouldn't want people telling me how to run my business.

no but if you were a smart business man you would want feedback , if not how do you know your full potential or problems people or your own customers have?? and since when does a business not care about what its customers wants??


i guess sure maybe joes aquarium is happy selling goldfish and half dead corals.....maybe joes aquarium has a clientele and does not care for new business, thats fine but we are customers you cant admit our needs dont matter to them , without us there would be no moneys ...period

still to me that equal lazy , im not trying to change how our current lfs works im trying to find out what this city wants in a lfs and believe me there are things that we dont have and want....why do you think i sell coral?? simply because its lacking in this city..... up untill about a month ago i was the only person selling frags.... now since ive started and word has gotten around one other store has started to make frgas as well.....i can almost guarantee it is from talking with people who come to my house, i think its great that what im doing is catching on to the stores...so mabe theres hope for more turn around no??

cheers

[reefwars]

i guess what im saying is we are forced to shop at these places.... if something better comes along then guess what...they are going to lose their clients for a better store...its that simple, its not marrige so if i dont like the store im not gonna work it out through counselling im just gonna go to the next store.

when this happens the store is going to close...why??

because they were not up to the task of providing the services they origionally intended to do and didnt listen to their customers.

business rule number 1:


always respect your customers wishes and opinions, in the end they make or break your business.