What would you carry if you had a LFS?

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JPloman

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Feb 15, 2005
Messages
547
Location
Panama City Beach, FL
As I have been working up my business plan for my lfs that my partner and I are planning on opening, I have realized that I can not just have saltwater. This is a problem because I have never owned a freshwater tank and I have no clue what a freshwater keeper would want from their lfs.

Can you guys help me out?
 
canisters other than fluvals, seachem's line of flourish(not just flourish), air pumps and HOBs from respectable companies, spare impellers, co2 kits(pressurized and diy), both hikari and SF brand frozen foods, decent tank kits, high wattage lighting, buckets lol, good selection of plants, more than ONE kind of live food, knowledgeable workers who know what they're talking about and can admit not knowing something, workers with good fish catching skills affordable sand, no visible dead fish in tanks, inspiring display tanks with compatible fish, weekl sales, a decent website with basic information about the store, "mom and pop" quality of service, up to date board with fish arrival dates and types already in the store, bettas that at least have clean cups (if in cups at all), affordable driftwood, fish tanks in a dark room plus places to sit and marvel at them :D, contests with prizes, and overall makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.
 
One local store has little bags of ceramic rings in a cycled tank .... they sell that for people to seed their new tanks with. I think that is a great idea, saving a lot of newbies grief in not having to go through a full cycle.

Personally, I'd like to see higher quality golds & koi (not the typical breeder's rejects you see at the typical pet stores.) And you also will tap into the pond keeper's market too.
 
You might want to read very closely the following thread, as it has tons of advice about this very question:

"Need to get some ideas for inventory of my friend's LFS..."
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=46219&highlight=lfs

I posted quite a lengthy response there, speaking about not only items to stock, but suggested ways of building a larger customer base (e.g. getting friendly with the local fish society and offering small discounts to members of the society in exchange for a little PR). And many of the things I forgot to say, others said as well. It was one of the best threads on AA in quite a while, actually, at least IMO.
 
i would carry 1 giant 700 gal wild african cichlid tank, and 10 walls filled wil FW and SW tanks and 4 isles filled with 29-55 gal tank setups w/stand and 4 more isle with tanks 75 gal-250 gal and then another 700 gal tank that is all SW fish filled with wild caught angels
 
i just hope you don't drive yourself into the ground trying to meet all these wants.
 
Just general business sense but you might want to consider what other LFS in your area already offer. Do they offer mostly FW, SW, or a good mix? Are there knowledgable people there or do they just try to turn over lots of sales. Try to see what you can offer that isn't already available nearby. I have no idea how large the plant hobby is, but most LFS I've seen have a horrible selection of plants. Get involved in local clubs (if you haven't already) and find out what those people are looking for.

I agree with the suggestions felf gave here already as they are some common things missing in most pet stores including those that are fish only.

You would think I would see this more often at the several LFS I've been to here, but it would nice to see "package" tank setups that are larger than 10-20g. A package tank is really for the beginner (someone more advanced probably wants to pick their own stuff out anyway) and a 10-20g tank is not very good for any beginner. Breaking into this hobby can be very overwhelming and it would be neat to see tank packages that even include fish! A nice part of this is that you can get your customers to trust you in helping them set up everything they need so they will become return customers when MTS hits or they need additional supplies. I think it would of made it easier for me if I could of walked into the LFS for ths first time and see entire packages including community/agressive fish population suggestions. Why doesn't anyone do this? I think it could be "affordable" enough to not sticker shock too many people?
 
JohnPaul said:
You might want to read very closely the following thread, as it has tons of advice about this very question:

"Need to get some ideas for inventory of my friend's LFS..."
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=46219&highlight=lfs

I posted quite a lengthy response there, speaking about not only items to stock, but suggested ways of building a larger customer base (e.g. getting friendly with the local fish society and offering small discounts to members of the society in exchange for a little PR). And many of the things I forgot to say, others said as well. It was one of the best threads on AA in quite a while, actually, at least IMO.

I was just about to post the same thing ;).

JPloman,
I think it's an excellent idea to carry freshwater and not just saltwater. I think it's impossible for an LFS to survive like that in the long run unless the owner has lots and lots of cash to lose. As you can see, there are plenty of FW aquarium hobbyists at AquariumAdvice.com alone, not to mention the thousands elsewhere. Personally, no matter how "bad ass" hobbyists feel that saltwater is...I will ALWAYS have my freshwater aquriums.
 
oh yeah dont forget the pamphlets on basic aquarium care (ie nitrogen cycle...). if i ever work at an lfs, i'm gonna make my own pamphlets if they dont already have some. also, dont forget to refer people to this website.
 
As for stock, I always look favorably upon a broad selection of freshwater invertebrates, particularly shrimp of the genus Macrobrachium.
 
Everyone talks about the "idiot" beginner so why not have a wall or part of one that has a list of all the freshwater fish you carry down the side and across the top with some kind of color scheme to tell them if the fish are compatible. Same thing can be done with inverts, salwater, crustaceans, etc.

Also, offer a product that is quality that will do the job, not just one with the name. Some people with want the name and will only buy a certain name but others, like me, want something that will do the job and not pay double for the name.

To get the business of the "established" aquarium nut, offer custom made tanks and hoods. If I was close enough I would definately love to have that job.

Have tanks in your show room that are just that, show tanks. My lfs doesn't have anything like this and their fish are always changing. Set up as many as you think are needed to show community, agressive, freshwater, saltwater, inverts, crustaceans etc. This "shows" how it could be done so a person doesn't go in, get their stuff and try to put it together like a jungle gym without the instructions.

Last thing, Kits are cool, beginner or expert but don't make a kit just to make one. My local fish store offer a 10% discount on any tank bought if you get most of the materials from them. This allows them and us to make decisions based on the type of fish we want instead of a tank that just looks good and is a little cheaper than buying all the stuff seperately.

One more thing, make sure that your customers know they can bring back anything you sell and they can bring any aquarium related animal to you so it can be dealt with properly instead of winding up in the local pond.
 
I think the kit idea would be especially useful for Bettas -- to have them already in something like a 5 gallon set up with filter, heater, etc. That might take up a lot of space, but it would also be a much better example than the little cups.
 
special order is nice too. most of the lfs around here only have the normal stuff and some rares every now and then
 
A lot of tropical fish, snails, tanks, filters, food, live rock, ponds, and koi. The ceramic rings are a realy good idea.
 
I do plan to do special order and custom tanks.

The floor plan we are working on has a really neat area where you would be surrounded by show tanks (one side fresh water, the other side salt water with the forwalls being plants and coral sell tanks) and a libary to do research on aquariums. This would keep people from having to buy so many books. I know I personally have spend hundreds of dollars on books that did not offer me the information I needed. This area will also host sofas and chairs that are inviting, along with a coffee bar. I think this would really be nice for aquariusts that want a nice place to kick back and think about their tank.

Below is a list of what I plan to have so far. Let me know what you think about the whole plan!

Products and Services:
Saltwater:
Live Rock
Live Rock Rubble
Live Sand
Livestock
Kent Products
RO/DI Water
Salt Mix
Base/Dead Rock
Base Sand
Wet/Dry Filters
Refugiums
Lighting systems
Power heads
Freshwater:
Livestock
Gravel (assorted colors & textures)
Live plants
Freshwater rock
Canister filters
Lighting systems
Air Pumps
Drift Wood
For Both:
Full library of text regarding aquariums, fish, algae and other related topic
Advice Guru, marine biology student preferably
Overnight delivery to most US locations
Frozen Food
Internet advice, sells and services
Live Feeder Fish
Aquariums, custom made & standard
Buckets
Consignment for Tanks
Medications
Nets
Mag-Floats
Test Kits
 
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