General Question for Austin Reefers

[thedude]

First off I'd just like to say that I hold no affiliation to any reef store yet but I'm toying with a few very cool ideas for a store in the Austin area. What I'd like to know, is what are we missing guys? Do you want to see more of a frag collection like San Antonio has? Do you want cheaper frags or would you like to see a store try to get in some very cool special stuff? I'm talking maybe some high end acan frags, sps, lps, zoas, the whole works. Does Austin have a big enough selection of clams? I know again that San Antonio gets much nicer stuff than we do alot of the times forcing alot of Austin aquarists to go to the internet for their stuff. Do we need more competitive cleanup crew packages?

Let me know what ya'll would like to see in a LFS and even more so, what you want to buy.

Do we as a city need more frags and smaller colonies or would you rather see large colonies?

I'd love to hear everyones opinion whether living in Austin or a visitor.

John

[pilot_bell777]

More frags to choice from in various sizes and prices, clams in different sizes and prices, anenomes, specialty equipment..........................and more importantly HONESTY! Don't try to sell me something just to make a buck.

You give me a LFS that carried the stuff that I look for that is hard to find outside the internet with a huge selection of Frags/clams/fish/inverts/etc........and doesn't try to brow beat me into something I don't need much less want; man my loyalty would run DEEP even it was a hair more expensive to shop there.

Just my thought......Quality, Selection, Honesty, Good prices..............art lost to businesses these day! LOL

[thedude]

Haha thanks pilot! So from what you said, we need some frags here! Alos it looks like you'd like a bigger selection of clams and anemones. And just a word about fish, most LFS will special order a fish for you if you just ask the owner or a reputable employee.

[pilot_bell777]

Ya....I've asked all the LFS to "Special Order" things for me around here and they say sure, write it down, I check over and over and over and it never comes in so I gave up on that.

We definately need some more frags/colonies around here.

[lhoy]

I would love to see a frag selection with variable pricing based on size, color, TRUE rarity (not claiming an Acan is rare just to make bucks). Surely we can have everything from a $5 to a $50 dollar frag rather than a one price fits all approach.

Also, why do so many LFS's have corals that obviously are not doing well in the location in the display tank and still have it priced at full retail. How about a crash and burn price so at least a hobbyist can try and save it. I see hammers, frogspawns, etc. with a few bad heads, but someone could save the others but the whole thing is still priced at full price.

I think a combination of frags and large colonies are good.

I would also like to see a LFS that would see when one coral is obviously damaging another coral and move them in the tank. Happens all too frequently.

Just seems like good business practice. Also, if a LFS is too lazy to clean out the bad algae in the tank, clean off the salt creep, remove dying animals, etc. I wonder what else they are not going to do like proper acclimation, feeding, etc.

I live in Georgetown and after visiting ALL LFS's in Austin on one Saturday I was generally very dissapointed. Do they look at the on-line prices of equipment? When your equipment is covered in dust, why not drop the price just to sell it and change over inventory. Make a customer happy, get a sale, and replace with better selling inventory.

How about package deals, buy 3 corals, get a fish at 1/2 price? We need some serious creativity in the LFS's rather than? Buy this light fixture that has been on my shelf for 8 months if you don't mind the dirt that comes with it.

If I had the time and money, I would love to open a joint Reef store and reptile/arachnid store.

These are some suggestions from a picky shopper who won't be going back to a lot of stores selling base rock as live rock at $7.00 a pound.

Just my opinion, FWIW.

Lee

[thedude]

Thanks Lhoy some great suggestions there! I really like the idea about buy 3 corals or fish, get the 4th half off or some other creative bargain! I'd not want to do it with fish however, as I feel alot of uneducated reefers would stock their tank too full just to "get a deal."

Also along the lines of the acans, the problem is that wholesalers get wind of the craze just like we do. Therefore, a colony that used to cost just 60 bucks to get in, now costs 200 because it's "rare." That's why I support the fragging of these supposed "rare" colonies to eventually flood the market so everyone and anyone can own a specimen without paying an arm for it.

Equiptment is another tricky part, as like pilot bell stated with fish, it is possible to special order anything but the question becomes, will you ever get it? There is no way a LFS can compete with the online prices, they simply cannot buy in bulk like online retailers can. It's sort of like the ma and pa shop versus Walmart theory.

One thing I will say is that I think we have it MADE when it comes to live rock in Austin. I'm not going to name the store because they aren't a MAAST sponsor but their rock is always above and beyond what I see around here. Something brown and covered in aptasia does not constitute live rock, something purple and full of interesting life does.

Again, thanks for the input guys and hopefully you'll start seeing some changes real soon.

[blueboy]

why not do equipment special orders at a small profit, but get a down payment to cover yourself? that way you know you won't get stuck with it, if it's a special order, you know your not going to have your capitol wrapped up in it for long. and if they never come get it, hey, they already paid for 25% or whatever, so no big loss. i'm with pilotbell on the livestock special orders, they all say "no problem, check with me next teusday", but they never carry through.

[Polkster13]

A lot of times, we retailers will order something from our wholesaler (and it is listed as being available) but when we get the order, some other store got the fish and it was dropped from our shipment. About 20% of the stuff I order either does not come in or dies in transit. That is why I will not sell anything until I have had it for a week. Buying a fish or coral that is still in the bag is a very big gamble.

As far as starting your own retail store, I have just one question.

Have you ever worked in the retail sector of a pet store, either mom-and-pop or national chain?

If you haven't, then I would highly recommend that you do before attempting to open your own store. There is a lot of things you will need to know as well as having made the necessary contacts that will help you to succeed.

[AlexKilpatrick]

Personally, I would like to see a lot more frags over larger corals. I would prefer to spend $50 on 5 frags at $10 each over 1 larger coral at $50 any day.

[alton]

First of all I am from SA and I enjoy the cheap prices on corals, livestock and aquariums. But I also love going to Aquatek and looking at the neat High End equipment that they carry. Yes they charge a little more but they have to, to carry the higher end stuff. It probably doesn’t move as fast as the bread and butter stuff they carry in SA. They seem to do very well with there business and I know they do it with great service. They have fixed my bosses light twice and have never charged him. Now let’s look at the business side: SA wages average 30K to 60K. Austin and Round wages are a lot higher. Property taxes and restrictions are much higher in Austin. That equals a much higher cost to run a business in Austin. I asked Allen at TT once why he doesn’t move into a nicer building and he told me rent would double. And with that his prices would go up, I told him to stay there. I would welcome anyone who wants to open a new fish to do so. It’s called the American way. Let’s all get along and support the good stores we have.

[pickle311]

to be honest, no matter what you carry I'll still do the vast majority of my shopping online. With the overhead, it will be impossible for you to beat online prices. Plus with buying online, you don't have to pay taxes most of the time. As for frags, I prefer to get mine from local reefers. What you may charge $35-40 for, I can probably get from someone else for $10-15.
But on a more positive note, that still leaves supplies and fish. I like to buy all of my supplies and fish locally for obvious reasons. I don't want to pay shipping on a heavy bucket of salt, and I don't mind paying more for a fish that I can see and be able to tell that it's healthy.
Good luck in whatever you decide.

[thedude]

Haha Note *I am not opening a new store*

I'm thinking of improving an old one and just looking for what you, the educated general public, want to see more of.

[Crab Rangoon]

A lot of times, we retailers will order something from our wholesaler (and it is listed as being available) but when we get the order, some other store got the fish and it was dropped from our shipment. About 20% of the stuff I order either does not come in or dies in transit. That is why I will not sell anything until I have had it for a week. Buying a fish or coral that is still in the bag is a very big gamble.


I agree, I really wanted to note these things in this thread, but I didn't wanna be the only one, I'm glad you spoke up. We, being in Texas, get the shaft! I can honestly say that even my own personal orders (as well as the weekly special orders we enter for customers) usually never make it our way. What you have to understand is how the whole-salers work. They are in California, or in Florida, or some coastal state, where other aquatic stores are aplenty as well. They send out their weekly availability lists on Monday, meaning by the time we send our order in, and they are ready to pack it up on Tuesday, at the earliest, their locals have had their first dibs. I didn't claim it unfair, its very much first come first serve, and being all the way out here, we just can't be first. I was in charge of making the salt order for our store just over a week ago, and about 2/3 of what I ordered came in. Things were altered, substitutions were made aplenty, and we have no control over that. On another note, we've also had plenty of cases in which Johnny (comes in once a week) has been asking for a Radiata Lion for months, thinking we never pull through with ordering one, when in reality, since he didn't pre-pay for it, Bobby (comes in every day) see's the Radiata on delivery day, and snatches it up. I'm not trying to toot my stores horn and say please come unload special orders onto us, but for our most reliable customers, we have many a time made special orders pull through. Dry goods as well, chances are, if you just ask for it, we might lose track of it, but if you pay for it up front, and make it an official order, it will be here Tuesday or Friday, whichever day is closest to when you ordered.