peoples thoughts and opinions on calgary lfs???

reefwars · #1 10-22-2012, 07:01 PM

Quote:

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 · #2 10-22-2012, 07:08 PM

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.

jorjef · #3 10-22-2012, 07:24 PM

How long have these shops been in business? I'm guessing quite some time and are set in their ways and still in business. Not saying their systems are perfect but it's the way they want things. I feel your pain about being forced to shop at these places.... Regina has ONE store which I and many people in the city won't buy from unless absolutely necessary, be thankful you have 5 or what ever the count is at.

I made an hour and a half detour to hit a Bayside in Saskatoon on the way home this weekend. Tanks were marked with prices..

Picked up a nice Yellow Candy Hogfish

I admit not having tanks marked with prices is annoying but take it as an opportunity to turn the tables on the shop owner... Low ball an offer on a fish or coral and get the haggling started

reefwars · #4 10-22-2012, 07:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jorjef

How long have these shops been in business? I'm guessing quite some time and are set in their ways and still in business. Not saying their systems are perfect but it's the way they want things. I feel your pain about being forced to shop at these places.... Regina has ONE store which I and many people in the city won't buy from unless absolutely necessary, be thankful you have 5 or what ever the count is at.

I made an hour and a half detour to hit a Bayside in Saskatoon on the way home this weekend. Tanks were marked with prices..

Picked up a nice Yellow Candy Hogfish

I admit not having tanks marked with prices is annoying but take it as an opportunity to turn the tables on the shop owner... Low ball an offer on a fish or coral and get the haggling started

these business have been in operation a long time , i know all of them personally and im even trying to help one store do better business, fact is he knows the condition but its scaled out of hand over the years.....ive seen pics from 10yrs ago and the store was immaculate.

im not saying these guys arnt nice people because they are , its not a personal thing its a business thing.

overall we have a bunch of stores ran and owned by hobbysts, we also have quite a few compared to most citys , one store copied the next when it did well and the other copied that one basically.....

red coral was on to their own thing that wasnt copied, they had improved some of the ideas talked about here and look what happened, even after they are closed these same customers give the highest praise.

red coral was able to expand into 3 stores and a new facility...why?? i mean he was getting business right so why expand if your already making good business?? because he wanted so much more for his store then just to do well , he wanted his city to have what it needed and imo still does need and he understood the opportunity that was given and took hold of it. kevin seen the opportunity and knew there was room to exand.

no other lfs in this city has a franchise do they??(not talking big box stores) they probably could have though but they dont have that expectation that drive to succeed....they have settled for what they have.

he asked his customers what they wanted and then provided it to them as best he could...it paid off.....its sad that issues happened lately forcing him to close but he had the right idea.

is there a place in this town to buy a yellow tang??....yes

would i prefer to buy this yellow tang at a store i like??...yes

theres the recipe for success right there....basically provide a product or service and make the customers WANT to come to you for business.

the pizza joint next to my house sells dirt cheap pizza....its gross but ive ordered it in a jam before...

theres a spot a bit of a ways, i pay a bit more but at least i can swallow it.....this place always gets my first order

Reef_Geek · #5 10-23-2012, 12:28 AM

I'm not letting this one go... after doing some extensive web research (aprox 20 seconds), I have found BATfishMAN exists.

http://rafflesia-arnoldi.deviantart....hman-273967764

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reef_Geek

We need BATfishMAN!

Quote:

Originally Posted by reefwars

just looking at all the replies and attention this thread is getting tells me we are hurting for a change in business in this city from our lfs , we all know it.

red coral was off to a great start , ive always had nothing but great things to say about kevin and the gang, its sad what happened to them but we need a replacement for their store , the few we have are older stores and set in their ways , they are not about to change so we as the public need to demand what we want .

in the end its us who provide the business that these stores get , if it works they are not about to fix it....why right??

its about time we had a place that WANTS to serve the city and WANTS to expand and become part of what this city has to offer.

we have a very large poulation, it is dominated by asian store owners(this is fact) all these stores run in a similiar way and all have stemmed from another lfs who still runs in this fashion.

calgary needs someone willing to change things and make them at par with the rest of the country.

ps.....i actually get along great with all the stores in the city , but fact is there are problems that n eed addressing sooner than later.