Can DFW support another LFS??

[alf3482]

I was thinking S. Arlington.
I sold The DQ, and I am concidering this. Tell me why this is a good or Bad Idea!! Can S. Arlington support an LFS speacilizing in SW fish and corals? Would you as members visit, would you make the drive?? Pro's and Con's please I would love any all input.
Brad I expect you to chime in here. I am exploring many Biz ventures but thought I would see and get opinons of this Idea.

[Jimmy Walls]

Robert,

So the DQ is gone. I am starting to work at DAS more. Sounds like you will have time to come over now. I heard a rumour Jeff's exotic fish might be moving to town. I would not set up next to them. I think you could due fine on the southside. Most stores are staying up close to the airport. I will talk to you later.

Jimmy

[Brrit]

Robert,
Personally, I think that if the "right" store comes to town - people will come from all over the Metroplex to visit it. One guy on the forum here drives from Allen to Irving to SW Paradise because he really likes it.

If your store provides quality critters at a reasonable price, I believe it will be successful. DFW has many stores, but few that people really love.

I drive from downtown Dallas to SW Fort Worth to Fish Paradise because I like the people and they have great stuff and decent prices.

My advice - Go for it - if you are going to do it well! We can never have too many fish stores. (I can say that - it isn't my money :bounce1: )

Good luck...

-Bryan

[NewMariner]

I think that if your livestock was healthy and your drygoods were decently priced, and you Carried UNIQUE items, then yea you would do good. Im thinking of starting up a store in my hometown, once I move back.....

[Brad Ward]

I have always said that a pet store, or fish store is a great way to make a small fortune. Of course that is if you start out with a large fortune.;)

I have been trying to figure a way to get the tanks out of my house lately and wanted to rent a space that I could farm out of that is close by. Just come up here instead!

ttys,

Brad

[alf3482]

THanks for everyones responses. I figured now was a good time for me to decide if this was good idea and explore the idea. Everyone is always lookin for a better lfs. If anyone else has an opinon please jump in.

I would love to specialize in Captive raised animals. No one does in the LFS. But is the SW trade ready to pay for this?? I'm not sure. Everyone says they are but they always complain about price. And of coarse at this stage in the SW captive raised area they do cost more.

Does any one have any more info on this possible incomming Jeff's exotics?
Thanks Everyone.

[Technobuyer]

Alf,

Do you plan on including a tank maintenance component to the business, or strictly retailing livestock and dry goods? It seems that the more sucessful LFS(from a financial aspect), make most of their coin off maintenance. Many of you remember FishJunction in Richardson. It was a great store, but lacked a maintenance component. They couldn't really compete on drygoods pricewise(with the net and all) and they couldn't sell enough livestock to keep it going. Good people, with good intentions, but the market just wouldn't pay the margins required to keep the doors open.

Duane

[alf3482]

Yes I would like to build up a client base. It is what i understand as being the more profitable side of the operation.

[Vpham97]

It will be a couple of months more until Jeff open up a location in DFW. The store is going to be packed each time after he send out a sales email.

I woulnd't invest in a saltwater retail store front. If anything stay with the maintenant side. If you have space to open up a store, use it mainly for the purpose of displaying examples.

[ChrisIsBored]

How about making the move down to San Antonio? :D

Our best place went out of business a few months ago and we're down to 1 mediocre store and 1 terrible store.... everything else is Petco. :rolleyes:

[A&M Aggie 04']

i think a good, clean fish store in Arlington would be a great idea. I myself after being involved for less than a year know lots of people that drive from Arlington to Irving or Ft. Worth or Dallas. Arlingtons getting to be pretty crowded and i think south of town (Parks mall area) would be a great place. On the other hand, Saltwater Paridise has got a great store and by the looks of it Scotts got alot of clientele on this site.

[nvillacci]

I think you should go for it. I like Scott and understand his situation, but the main reason I dont shop there is I cant afford his prices. I can not spend $130 on an SPS colony and people do that all the time at his place. Of course most the time that piece dies in a month (:eek: ) and they come back to him for another.

I think Robs would do good if he catered to the hobbyist, not the guy who can afford to blow $200 a week to keep his tank pretty with short term inhabitants. We all miss World Down Under, as they seemed to cater to the hobbyist and were well informed. It also was great you could buy that small treasure that was overlooked for $10-20.

If Jeff is moving into Dallas though.... Thats a different story, we need a store like that, so first come first serve...

[A&M Aggie 04']

i do totally agree, although saltwater paradise has a great store the prices seem very high. And you dont ever know how much anything is. You ask, how much it this-- oh its 69.99, and seems not very personable. Id like to see a store in Arlington.

[Rickeejb]

I think you guys need a reality check. Some day you need to try and open retail outlet. Try to keep it open for more than six months and then try to pay yourself a salary that you and your family can live on. You can pay less there at Saltwater Paradise for a good colony than you would at alot of online places. Then add the 50 or
60 dollars for shipping and box charges and you really are going to spend 150 or more for any sps colony. Maybe you can not afford to pay for those wild colonys that he PAYS for. But don't knock somone for trying to make a living for himself and his family. I know pretty much what those colonys cost and with the cost of running a retail outlet and his losses of livestock, he certainly is not overcharging for any sps colony I have ever seen in there. And not one of my colonys that has come from him has died, period. As far as a new store goes I wish the guy all the best if he ventures into one. And I for one will support any store that has good quality livestock at fair prices and treats me well. And if more people did the same some of those places that have gone out of business would still be around.

[A&M Aggie 04']

if you're paying $50 to ship a SPS colony you're getting bent over. try themarinecenter.com, they'll ship anything up to 50 lbs for $10.

[A&M Aggie 04']

just for reference im in no way knocking his store, its one of the best around but as a customer i have the right to voice my opinion based on facts.

[Rickeejb]

Yes lets get the facts. Try $10 for shipping up to 50 to anywhere in dfw area. But find me anything on their web site that is not more than I can buy it locally, except maybe live rock and that they charge more for than I can buy from someone else in Florida. Their prices are pretty much the same or more as a local store even though they do not have retail outlet and everything is just turned over from a wholesaler. Scott could take those colonies he gets in and frag them them up into 6-8 pieces then charge anywhere from 20-40 dollars. Then he would be selling the same pieces you see on their web site for less money. Here is a pic of a purple colony that cost $89.00 at his store, try buying it online anywhere and getting it shipped overnight to dfw. Now thats a fact.
By the way copy the picture to say MarineDepot and tell them you would like the one of the same. Let them tell you the fact on how much they would charge for it. And if you can find the same colony anywhere for less I will buy it. By the way that colony is about 12"x6"
http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1223505&size=md

[A&M Aggie 04']

if you have all these places that offer great deals why dont you let us all know.

[Technobuyer]

Rick,

That's a sweet colony! I doubt I could find one that large, that healthy, and have it shipped to my door for less than $89 total. IMO, Scott charges a fair price for top quality livestock in excellent condition. You can also pay top price for livestock in awful condition elsewhere in the metroplex, and we all know this.

Regardless, if Aggie feels the prices are high, there is little anyone can do to change his mind. To attempt do so is pointless. Some will see the differences and be willing to pay for it, some wont. That's the marketplace. Everything Scott stocks isn't in everyone's budget. But that doesn't mean it's an unfair price. A ferrari isn't in my budget either, but I'd pay the price if I had it... :)

In general, if I buy livestock, and I rarely do, I almost always buy locally. OTOH, most of my stuff is frags from other peoples tanks.

The exchange of frags among hobbyists and seeing my tank decorated with pieces traded from around the country, provides me much more satisfaction than loading up at the LFS. And, should you ever have a crash, as I did this summer, you know that there are people standing by to help you replace what you lost.

So Rick, you wanna frag that purple acro... ;) Just kiddin... The tank hasnt recovered to the point that I'm ready for sps again.

[A&M Aggie 04']

i wasnt the one that brought up the prices, i was just agreeing. And i admit when i buy from local fish stores, i do go to saltwaterparadise. Its not out of my budget, but i like to find the best deals possible--im not out of school yet.

[Rickeejb]

Just a note to let any dfw reefers know. If you keep sps and really would like a chance to see or maybe buy some really nice tri-colors. And absoultely some of the most beautiful sps you will see in person. WaltSmith corals just sent one of his best shipments to Dallas tonight. Maybe get a friend or two together and split one or two. I am talking about corals that someone would pay you for a frag of. I thought I would share the news that they were here now, if anyone is interested.

[Pernelf]

Realistically how long far time wise would you drive to go to a petstore? 1 or 2 hours? 3 or more?

[melev]

I'd say I'd drive an hour away if needed.

[kbt]

Originally posted by Pernelf
Realistically how long far time wise would you drive to go to a petstore? 1 or 2 hours? 3 or more?

I'd drive 2 or 3 if it wasn't as depressing as some of the stores here are. None of the DFW stores can keep a healthy fish, and I'm sorry, but that's the first thing I look for. If they can't keep a fish, then I don't do much more than pick here and there, even SWP included. And none of them have decent pricing at all on tanks and hardware. The one good thing I can say is that I've gotten some pretty nice frags by picking out the RTNed colonies out of some of the live rock bins for a few bucks and bringing them back from the dead & clipping & mounting the tips. Although once they get to that point it takes months to get them growing. SWP is the only place I've bought a couple of colonies from, and those have been ok, but there isn't anyone else here that I'd get an SPS from. I think this area could do with a good store that does the same things I've seen stores in other areas do. Good fast business in the fish area with good livestock, fast turnonver in hardware, lots of soft corals that are easy to get customers involved in, and support the local hobbyists. I think a lot of people here would pay a premium just to have a place to place & trade soft corals & SPS. If smaller stores in Denver can do a better trade than the stores here in a more populated area, then someone is not paying much attention to the basics.

[rbb213]

Well heck i live in Lawton, and I too would make a trip, but me not knowing what the stores looks like in Dallas kinda worries me.

Not that I dont trust the stores, I would just hate to make that trip and lets say the stores are closed?..or they have no shipments in?...I would really be ****ed off ...

So, to answer the question, is yes I would make the trip in the end..

Here in Lawton, I usually travel an hour north to OKC, and an hour south to Wichita Falls....

[Catfishd]

The farthest I would drive is SP but I also live in Frisco so that is about a hour drive. There is no store worth anything up towards N plano Mckinney and Frisco. I am hoping a store like SP or DNA classy stores with above average corals and tanks. Other then that I just order from Cody at cleburnemarine.com and some other online vendors. I feel the more stores the marrier. Competition means happy customers.

[=^..^=]

I live about an hour south of Dallas. I use Fish~A~Rama in Waxachaie.

I would LOVE to see a store on the south side of Arlington. Fish~A~Rama also has a store on 157/south cooper about 3 miles south of the Parks Mall. However, I assume their prices and stock are about the same as the one in Waxachaie.

Shari