Please open a store in Red Deer:)

[The Grizz]

Wife won't let me get involved with another partnership after the feasco last year with my partner in a welding company.

[dunl]

"Red Coral Red Deer/ Greg's Metal Auqarium Stands"



Hmmmmm.......

[DiverDude]

The real question is: is there enough demand in RD for such a store ?

Rent, insurance, fixtures, payroll, inventory, etc. this all costs and if there aren't enough people buying....

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

The real question is: is there enough demand in RD for such a store ?

Rent, insurance, fixtures, payroll, inventory, etc. this all costs and if there aren't enough people buying....

Not to mention the frequent commutes to Edmonton or Calgary airports for livestock and the headaches that will surely bring.

[The Grizz]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

The real question is: is there enough demand in RD for such a store ?

Rent, insurance, fixtures, payroll, inventory, etc. this all costs and if there aren't enough people buying....

There are more salties here then we know about.

Originally Posted by sphelps

Not to mention the frequent commutes to Edmonton or Calgary airports for livestock and the headaches that will surely bring.

I am in Calgary or Edmonton several times a month. Edmonton Airport is only 45 min from my door. Plus if it was to be in the Red Coral franchise Kevin has shipments going to Edmonton on a regular basis already.

[dunl]

Definitely tempting.

[the marine apprentice]

I am sure Greg has been waiting for my reply lol. We do have a store but the guy who owns it is way over priced and won't even price his stock.
If you ask him a price he says well it depends on if I like you or not. He smokes dope in his shop as well as cigarettes and drinks more beer then anyone I know.
He has recently banned me from his store as well as Josh (bauder1987) because he thinks we have a plan on tryingto sabotage his store.
There are lots of saltwater enthusiasts in red deer and area and I believe we deserve a store that is worth while.
Just my 2 cents

[MMAX]

Originally Posted by DiverDude

The real question is: is there enough demand in RD for such a store ?

Rent, insurance, fixtures, payroll, inventory, etc. this all costs and if there aren't enough people buying....

I can assure you there is more than enough demand.

[Slick Fork]

Originally Posted by MMAX

I can assure you there is more than enough demand.

I'll be the local skeptic.... I really don't think there's enough demand to support a full time store in Red Deer. A Fish store with a salt water selection maybe but not a dedicated salt water store.

Look at it this way, I think most of us buy our drygoods from the mail order guys anyways.... free shipping beats paying for gas to Calgary or Edmonton. So dry goods prices had better be REALLY competitive. My personal threshold to buy local is the lessor of $20 or 10% of the cost I can pick it up for online. If the idea to save on inventory costs is not to stock anything for drygoods... why bother, if I've got to wait I will probably be in Calgary before long or will be able to aquire it from J&L cheaper and faster.

As for livestock, IF there's an excellent selection and pricing then people will probably buy local. If the selection is marginal, the fish not healthy, prices a little high the store owner will find that people are just giving the place a pass.

The other factor will be location. Greg, I know you are dying to set something up at your acreage but I really think all you're going to do tie a whole bunch of your space and money up with inventory that will sit and stagnate. I just don't see your average consumer driving 20 minutes out of town to drop in on your acreage. I'll be honest, if you had something I wanted and I knew the price and health of it before hand I would absolutely come out and buy it from you. However, I would probably NOT feel comfortable showing up at your place and finding that it had Ich, or wasn't the same as advertised or the price was way high etc. and then passing on it. For some reason it's different at someones house as opposed to a store, same with showing up just to browse... and if it's uncomfortable to go as a consumer, people will not go. There's no doubt in my mind, a storefront in town is critical to the success of any aquatic entrepreneur in Red Deer.

As I stated originally, A storefront downtown or in one of the shopping centres at the south end selling mostly freshwater fish is what I see succeeding in Red Deer. Something that your average guy can go in and buy a guppy or some cichlids for his kids and maybe see the coral and sw fish and say "Hey, I'd really like to try that".

[ponokareefer]

Originally Posted by Slick Fork

I'll be the local skeptic.... I really don't think there's enough demand to support a full time store in Red Deer. A Fish store with a salt water selection maybe but not a dedicated salt water store.

Look at it this way, I think most of us buy our drygoods from the mail order guys anyways.... free shipping beats paying for gas to Calgary or Edmonton. So dry goods prices had better be REALLY competitive. My personal threshold to buy local is the lessor of $20 or 10% of the cost I can pick it up for online. If the idea to save on inventory costs is not to stock anything for drygoods... why bother, if I've got to wait I will probably be in Calgary before long or will be able to aquire it from J&L cheaper and faster.

As for livestock, IF there's an excellent selection and pricing then people will probably buy local. If the selection is marginal, the fish not healthy, prices a little high the store owner will find that people are just giving the place a pass.

The other factor will be location. Greg, I know you are dying to set something up at your acreage but I really think all you're going to do tie a whole bunch of your space and money up with inventory that will sit and stagnate. I just don't see your average consumer driving 20 minutes out of town to drop in on your acreage. I'll be honest, if you had something I wanted and I knew the price and health of it before hand I would absolutely come out and buy it from you. However, I would probably NOT feel comfortable showing up at your place and finding that it had Ich, or wasn't the same as advertised or the price was way high etc. and then passing on it. For some reason it's different at someones house as opposed to a store, same with showing up just to browse... and if it's uncomfortable to go as a consumer, people will not go. There's no doubt in my mind, a storefront in town is critical to the success of any aquatic entrepreneur in Red Deer.

As I stated originally, A storefront downtown or in one of the shopping centres at the south end selling mostly freshwater fish is what I see succeeding in Red Deer. Something that your average guy can go in and buy a guppy or some cichlids for his kids and maybe see the coral and sw fish and say "Hey, I'd really like to try that".

Sorry to say it, but I couldn't agree more. Unless you are able to get a store front going, get in a lot of stock regularly and move it out at a good pace, I can't see it working. This would take a lot of dedicated reefers in the area to be spending money. Customers are typically sceptical of a new business as well and this won't help.