peoples thoughts and opinions on calgary lfs???

[kien]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Basically, open tanks on the floors (especially with things like stingrays in them) and exposed plumbing, valves, and switches are a big no-no if curious children could be in the store.

This is a VERY, VERY, good point. There is nothing more annoying than to try and shop while at the same time having to watch that your kid doesn't burn or electrocute himself on that metal halide that's sitting on the floor over the salt water tank with salt water on the floor.

[Reef_Geek]

My LFS in Halifax used to have gravel by the cup for fish bowl customers... so we had them on buckets on the sales floor. Kids loved it... mixing colours with each other. Of course... who had to clean up? Not BATfishMAN that's for sure, the lowly PetShop boy #3.

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by kien

This is a VERY, VERY, good point. There is nothing more annoying than to try and shop while at the same time having to watch that your kid doesn't burn or electrocute himself on that metal halide that's sitting on the floor over the salt water tank with salt water on the floor.

I never even really thought about the lights! One more thing to worry about.

The only place I could take my little guy was Red Coral. Red Coral was so safe and roomy (with the exception of the live rock tank). It was very easy to browse the livestock and keep an eye on my son at the same time. I even let him wander around the store a little bit: so he could have a look at what he found interesting (under my watchful eye, of course). I have tried to take him into a couple of other places, but it was just far too risky to stay in the stores for any length of time.

[Reef_Geek]

Originally Posted by reefwars

ok some more lol


what about kids....people like to bring their kids to the stores and see all the pretty things , whats some of the good things or concerns parents may have when doing the family trip to the store??

I see you're probably probing for a LFS on ideas for change. That was always top of mind for a LFS... how are we going to get more customers? Can we increase the hobby?

The question is more fundamental than this... idealism thinking. First, improve competitiveness and soundness of business model, have good control of operational costs, find the balance of fair market price and customer market size/propensity to spend. Next, so long as there's earnings, don't get complacent and pocket the profit, return and re-invest back into the business for growth. How to grow? Cultivate and entice new entry hobbyists by having the right offerings (small tanks, lower price point fish & corals), and need to spend to communicate your offers. Go to the mall and set up a kiosk/cart with mini reef complete sets, go to the university student building and set up a table with affordable mini set ups, make a website that is informative and instills curiosity for people to come see your shop, print flyers with coupons (free goldfish coupon sells a lot of fish bowls) and give out locally... etc. And when the customers come to your shop, don't disappoint with insult pricing, lack of fit of products to customers, shop cleanliness. etc

[Zoaelite]

Slightly off topic but has anyone noticed a general increase in the price of live goods throughout Calgary after RC shut down?

Things that would cost $40-$60 are hitting $70+ at the moment.
Maybe its just me, maybe costs are getting more expensive? Even what I would consider the least expensive store in Calgary seems to have higher prices than usual.

A decreased supply with steady demand would theoretically yield a price increase, have our LFS picked up on this?

[Coralgurl]

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

[cuz]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

Ironically worded??

[Coralgurl]

Originally Posted by Zoaelite

Slightly off topic but has anyone noticed a general increase in the price of live goods throughout Calgary after RC shut down?

Things that would cost $40-$60 are hitting $70+ at the moment.
Maybe its just me, maybe costs are getting more expensive? Even what I would consider the least expensive store in Calgary seems to have higher prices than usual.

A decreased supply with steady demand would theoretically yield a price increase, have our LFS picked up on this?

I'm not at the LFS much anymore since Red Coral closed, noth the same service. Not the same.

[Delphinus]

Well here goes. My thoughts on this..

As I hinted about before - location is important to me. All the stores are clustered in the north. 10 years ago, heck even 5 years ago when Elite Aquatics was still around - it was a possibility for me to do a LFS run in my lunch hour. Today this is simply impossible unless I can afford to be away at my desk for 2-3 hours. And guess what, I can't afford that, I have a job to do and I get in trouble when it doesn't get done. Weekends are worse. Put a family into the mix and your time just isn't there like in the good old days. Let's go to a fish store! Ok, 4 hours later, we're back! ... So yeah, I know people in other places have longer commutes but the fact is if you're OK with it then cool. But I'm not. And guess what? I hardly hit up LFS's anymore because it's just too time consuming. For me the whimsical LFS visit is a thing of the past.

I liked Red Coral because their new location was south-ish. I WAS able to visit there from time to time. But having said that: their location was my favourite feature of the store. Service was great too. But prices and selection were far from ideal. Luckily for them these are/were not huge on my pick-list.

Prices - lower prices are always nice but the truth is that I'm happy to pay a premium for convenience because that matters to me. Within reason, of course - the other fact is that I don't have deep pockets and if something is priced out of reach then I simply won't buy it. It's a hobby, one of many, I don't need to overspend. So lower prices are *appreciated* but far from the most important consideration for me.

In fact, the most important feature for me is cleanliness. More so than location in fact. There is one store that I only check on about once per year these days just to see if anything has changed but everytime I do go in, I am reminded why I never shop there. I will find dead and decomposing fish in several tanks every time. That is disgusting. I see disease there every time. That sickens me. I have been in this hobby a long long time and I know that things happen but this goes beyond that. Things are left to rot in those tanks. You really want to take something home and expose your established livestock to that? Of course you should QT but that goes beyond needing to QT that's more like go straight to the hospital tank. No thanks. The fact that the purveyor of the store isn't the most congenial, doesn't really matter to me. The fact that his prices are consistently the highest out of anywhere else in the city - doesn't help matters but I don't even care because I just won't shop there until I see a reason to.

I like a trip to the huge pet "supermarket" these days because there is always something neat to see - reef related or otherwise - but the 40 km drive in one direction makes it a rare thing for me. Plus the prices are HUGELY up compared to other stores. However, I do shop there from time to time. Plus they have a good selection of FW stuff (I have a planted FW tank as well as my reefs) and they are the only ones I know now who sell those New Era products (tang disks) and I don't know where else to get them - so I go there happily when the opportunity allows for it.

The other "big box" store that's just around the corner from everyone's favourite tank builder - I honestly love this place. Never had an issue with livestock that I've taken home from there. Miss their south store like the DICKENS because it was like 2km from my office, but nothing lasts forever I guess. If I have time I'll poke my head in there and see what's new, sometimes I walk out with something. Usually have a great conversation too with the fish room guys. Bonus points for being next door to a R/C shop too.

There is another store that is dedicated saltwater and I'm always impressed at how clean the tanks are. Drygood selection not huge but I do appreciate the cleanliness more than I think I could ever post about. Kudos to you guys running that store for keeping it clean. I regret that I can't visit more often. Move south, dang it!

There is another store that is cramped but to give credit where credit is due: these guys care a LOT about their fish. I have absolutely no qualms about buying there because I know the guys have done their best to keep their fish healthy. Prices are usually pretty good too though, although this means that nothing stays in the store very long which puts a guy like me who can't visit every day (jeepers bye don't you have a life or a job?) are at a huge buying disadvantage. However, if there's something I want, I'll ask the guys and they do their best to find it for me. Patience is the only required input after that. So that works out well, I find.

And then there's the guy who sells mostly frags out of his basement. Great guy. Great frags. Great times when visiting. And in the south. LOVE. 'Nuff said.

[reefwars]

Originally Posted by Coralgurl

Denny, you are so passionate about this hobby and those in it! YOU should open a salty store, you'd be fantastic at it. You have a vision of what it should look like and could set the new standard for others to follow!! Tonka could be your mascot for the store, think of how spoiled he'd be!! LOL

I for one sure appreciate your enthusiasm for the stores and the customers and livestock. I'm excited to see what you come up with for a new concept as you've mentioned and I'm sure it will be a great partnering!!

haha thanks sheena, who knows maybe ill be recruited someday lol untill then...

chive on!!

lol