What do YOU want from your LFS?

[Jaws]

Very good points. I really like the website idea. Anything else?

P.S: If nobody responds to negative unrelated comments, then this thread will continue with the same purpose as originally intended.

[marie]

live, healthy animals are what keeps me going back to my favourite lfs

oh, that and the fact that they ship

[Johnny Reefer]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Very good points. I really like the website idea. Anything else?

P.S: If nobody responds to negative unrelated comments, then this thread will continue with the same purpose as originally intended.

Just want to say that I think your doin' a good job maintaining civility in this thread, Jason. Good strategy, comin' in with a post yourself every so often.

Cheers,

[Jaws]

Thanks Mark. There's a lot of really cool ideas here. Keep em coming if you have any more.

[reeferaddict]

You know, in reading these threads I have become compelled to instill a little reality into some of you folks. Please don't everyone jump up in arms and get offended... I only wish to offer some insight.

Being a small business owner is a challenge at the best of times. We are risk takers that have to live within the confines of our chosen paths, but often the rewards are worth the hard work we have to put in. I do not own a LFS, but I know what these people have to go through. One advantage I DO have in MY business is that I can charge flat out for my time & labour. LFS rely on their profits strictly from sales, yet have to answer all our questions whether we buy something or not, which is all part of the territory.

Now let's examine what everyone wants -

Selection - We all want to walk into a store and find anything our hearts desire to purchase. This means that a retailer must stock even the most obscure items that may or may not be purchased within 30 days - after which the retailer is out of pocket providing he has a 30 day supplier account. The more selection they offer, the more retail space is needed to display, and consequently more $$$ in rent, hydro, and staff to make sure it's maintained.

Well trained, friendly, knowledgable staff - I've been in business for 10 years, and GOOD staff are hard to come by - even when paying competitive wages - and the higher the wages we pay the more the product has to cost.

Website - I agree here - though some small outfits that rely solely on local traffic would be hard pressed to justify the expense of creating and maintaining a website - J&L THRIVES from it's web sales and is set up to service it probably even better than over the counter retail - but I know for a fact they have a hefty monthly e-commerce bill too. The construction of their site would have been worth anywhere between $20,000 and $50,000 alone! (This I know because I have my own).

Pricing - Lowest? Competitive? Fair? J&L may move a million bucks a month in inventory, giving them huge purchasing discounts, freight discounts, and the ability to cut margins because they make it up in volume. They have a customer base that stretches across the nation that supports this. Good for them, they have done an excellent job at marketing and filling the needs of those customers, I have been there, ordered from there, and have been satisfied with my purchases - but is it really fair to compare J&L to our LFS that would be hard pressed to move a million bucks in a YEAR?

So here's what our LFS need from us - SUPPORT. Any LFS will have a bad day, so don't judge on one visit. Algae grows and it takes time and staff to keep tanks clean. Shipments are usually a once a week or twice a month deal, so if they're low on stock, ask when they'll be receiving their next shipment. If you don't see an item, ask for it. Maybe they can order in for you? If so, accept that it may cost a little more than J&L... though DO mention that you found the item at J&L, that will keep them fairly honest. For the most part a lot of these orders will go to J&L anyways... but it's supporting our locals, which in turn will give us what we are looking for. If you have concerns about an operation, go to them first before you come on here and run them down. Often you'll get better treatment that way - as they'll know then you'll be more likely to come on here and praise them.

The bottom line is these people are in business to make money. All us enterpreneurs try to please as many people as we can, but we can't please everyone all the time. I would ask that everyone reading this to try not to expect any more out of anyone than you yourself would be prepared to give. We are involved in an expensive hobby, and as consumers have every right to shop around for the best deals, but let's also be realistic. Personally I like being able to browse at the LFS and pick and choose my purchases, even if it DOES cost a little more.

[marie]

...Personally I like being able to browse at the LFS and pick and choose my purchases, even if it DOES cost a little more.

I would like that the best too, but for me that's not an option because there isn't any around here.

[reeferaddict]

Well yes... there's always ONE special case isn't there?

[IslandReefer]

Thanks for a business owners POV, Jim.....worth considering as a practical plan to improve the local Reefer scene .
One thing I disagree with though is that a website must cost a lot of money....there is much simpler constructed sites than J&Ls (as an example of a full service site).
Such a site could contain eg: details (bio, staff names (handles),address (E-mail and street),phone and fax as well as some highlights of what they stock (major brands etc).
Also (something I would like) a schedule of shipments and general contents ie red sea fish, bali corals..... As a bonus idea, arrange small thumbnails of the top eg fish and corals (betcha 50 would cover most of the top selling corals and fish)...clicking on the thumb would sign you up to get a nice E-mail saying that fish (eg) you want has arrived. (Of course this would load the shops E-mail but a bigger E-box is way cheaper than 50K )and most of the shops around here are small with a small client base.
This would also give the store an idea of the demand of each item or fish as well as build a client base (an E-mail "club")....eg someone from eg Campbell River might drive down to Victoria, if they knew what was there first (even if it is just the one fish,it gets customers in the store) and get an inviting "auto" E-mail saying that powderblue Tang you ask about is in. And negate the need to add direct E-commerce or a large data base to the site...phone respond to the E-mail.
Another easy and cool thing would be to webcam (<$100 now a days) a couple of the shops best tanks as an example of their quality and selection... (hint to stores; these are the tanks to scrape the algea from )
Such a site is easy to cut and paste via Microsoft and I get 10megs personally (from Shaw) the above mentioned site would be well under that.
Or alternately pay a little to advertise on Canreef and list your best stuff there with pics..... OK one or two other boards tooo
OK have atter rip away

[reeferaddict]

I agree with you on that one John, (SEE! We can be NICE too Brad & Christy!), I was just using J&L's as an example as that is what everyone likes to compare to. I can imagine the criticism if one of the LFS put up a site designed in Frontpage with no up to date stock & pricing. Also, LFS would be inundated with a plethora of emails to add to their already busy day if all that was on their site was basic info and a "contact us" link for more info. What you're saying is entirely possible, but probably not realistic for us discerning reefers.