Orphicdragon Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Sweeeeeeeeeet B) Congrats corallineadam you lucky SOB Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 nice prize too i think... now to just get caught up on work and get the shop rolling...should have done it in the summer when we are slower... Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 I still think snail depot would have been cool haha. Well congrats Adam, if you don't claim your prize in 1 day its going to someone else, me You are slower in the summer? Huh I wonder why that is. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 people are out and about. strange thing about this business is that the worse the weather the more people want to stay inside and look at their tanks. when they see algae, they come see us..so...that is the way it goes. but really winter is "season" for all the wholesalers etc...and summer is the best time for divers etc...it is all flip flopped. I best if you ask your soft coral collectors for a deal in winter they wont do it...high demand and hard to get supply, in the summer, the supply is high and demand low... Link to comment
jeremai Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 jeremai- thank you so much for your free advice! I really appreciate and respect it. One last question before you bill me, do you think an LFS can operate without selling tanks? The way I see it is that tanks take up too much room that can be used for a tank with livestock...but then I wonder if I will be losing out on the LR, sand etc...and the opportunity to teach the new hobbyist about the cycle etc.. sorry, forgot to check the thread, lol. late advice is better than no advice though. there are a lot of stores that sell tanks as loss leaders - $1/gal and whatnot. they obviously don't make money on those tanks, quite the opposite. but they are there so that they can be a one stop shop for their customers. the more specialized/rare/unique your livestock is, the less you can rely on dry goods, imo. here locally we have a little of both - some larger shops selling to noobs which stock a lot of dry goods, and some smaller shops selling to seasoned reefkeepers with the focus placed on livestock and less on dry goods. you need to decide which direction fits you better. I've yet to see an LFS that didn't carry at least a small selection of tanks, though, for what it's worth. of course, this is just speculation based on my own research. have you chatted up some of the LFS owners in your area (or if they know you, the next closest metro area)? worth it's weight in gold, imo. don't tell em your intentions, just pretend to be a customer interested in how the business is run. also, nice name. :hi5: Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 22, 2009 Author Share Posted October 22, 2009 thanks! I got a friend that is an old timer that helps me out...he thinks it is crazy to not have tanks, but I don't like inefficiency or loss leaders...eh you cant have everything i guess. no big price tag all-in-ones though. special order can get it in 4 days, but not in stock...that is my compromise! Well off to sleep soon....almost caught up on work.... thank you for your help jeremai. I really appreciate it. john Link to comment
corallineadam Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 OH! MY! GOD! i didnt even get it the first time! me either!!! LOL!!! i tripped over my words Link to comment
Deleted User 6 Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Hey congrats man! Great name! John, will The Reef Source ship Link to comment
Nemo Niblets Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Haha its ok. Hey since you are tired, try this tongue twister. Say Irish wristwatch 5 times fast. I can't even say that once... Link to comment
Urchinhead Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 thanks! I got a friend that is an old timer that helps me out...he thinks it is crazy to not have tanks, but I don't like inefficiency or loss leaders...eh you cant have everything i guess. no big price tag all-in-ones though. special order can get it in 4 days, but not in stock...that is my compromise! Well off to sleep soon....almost caught up on work.... thank you for your help jeremai. I really appreciate it. john To quote a friend of mine who ran a "pet store" for years and finally got fed up and went into coral farming with only an on-line presence... "I had to maintain a $100,000 inventory regardless of how well I was doing that month or what I sold so I got out. Much higher margins on livestock only" Link to comment
FiRsT-aNd-LaSt Posted October 22, 2009 Share Posted October 22, 2009 Nice name, congrats corallineadam. Link to comment
Orphicdragon Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 I have never bought a tank from a LFS and I doubt I ever will. I use the LFS to get a visual, then order online Link to comment
bluenassarius Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 congrats to the winner and great name! Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 To quote a friend of mine who ran a "pet store" for years and finally got fed up and went into coral farming with only an on-line presence... "I had to maintain a $100,000 inventory regardless of how well I was doing that month or what I sold so I got out. Much higher margins on livestock only" Sounds about right if you have a bunch of tanks and what not. You would need a 6000 sq. foot place to hold 100k in livestock though. Which is why I would prefer to have lots of livestock and that is about it, and the essential dry goods. Livestock sellers locally have between 300-500% margins, but dry goods is near 5-20%. (no overhead included in any of these numbers, just wholesaler to retailer to consumer, so actual margins are much lower). The idea of having to pay double the rent (and associated costs) to house a bunch of empty tanks isn't very exciting to me, but maybe one or two nice ones, some standards, and then a catalog on the wall they can special order from. I dont mind making $5 off a tank that someone orders and prepays for, I just dont want to maintain inefficient overhead. Either way, I will probably have to hold off for a bit on the store, the seas have been a nightmare lately. I can't count how many times I was tossed around today and I think I am going to have to really step up my diving efforts. I usually don't get seasick under the water, (or in a boat for that matter), but my insides are still doing flips. Will probably wait until summer time when the living is easier to move into the new store. Plenty of things to do in the mean time anyway. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted October 23, 2009 Share Posted October 23, 2009 Pssh seasickness. You should have a competition for some store sign ideas lol. I suck at that kind of stuff but it would be interesting haha! Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 congrats to the winner and great name! Thanks! We like it too. Link to comment
johnmaloney Posted October 23, 2009 Author Share Posted October 23, 2009 Pssh seasickness. You should have a competition for some store sign ideas lol. I suck at that kind of stuff but it would be interesting haha! probably just general "being shaken sickness" Maybe, that is an idea.... the problem with it is though that colors kept to a minimum are kind of a good idea...full color signs are expensive and raise the cost of printing a good deal. Maybe 2-3 colors tops...eh..I wouldnt want someone to do a lot of work for a contest. Link to comment
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