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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 28, 2010 23:47:03 GMT -5
I may possibly be opening an exotics pet store in the next few years. I would be specializing mainly in Reptiles and Fish (and Rep/Fish accessories). I will also have Birds and some small exotic mammals. The Fish part would be ran by a guy I know who currently runs a salt water aquarium business from his home. I was just wondering what you think of this idea, and if you have any advice?
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Post by joeysgreen on Nov 29, 2010 10:05:26 GMT -5
I work with a guy that used to be big in the petstore industry and I'm sure he'd advise you to stay away from birds! They have a very high maintainence cost and a super, super low turnover. Good luck with your store
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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 29, 2010 14:48:41 GMT -5
Thanks for the heads up. Ya if I do get birds it wouldnt be very often if at all. I want this store to be as different a possible from the other stores here where I live. There are 2 other stores here, one is mostly dog food and dog accessories, and the other is mostly fresh water fish (both with horrible reptile sections). The bulk of my store will be mainly salt water fish and reptiles. I am also hoping to bring in different species of reptiles, not just the typical ones.
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Post by bear24 on Nov 29, 2010 15:11:38 GMT -5
Its a hard market to break into. Everybody with a store front website only is already making thousands more a year because of no rental fees on a location. You have to stock the bread and butter reps because people buy cheap lizards, and what they see in the media(day geckos anybody). Also don't get caught with large monitors or tegus as adults they rarely move, in a store setting. I have seen most of the small fish stores die out in Stoon in the last few years. The big chains are way to much to compete with. You might be able to make a go of it in Lloyd.
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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 29, 2010 22:12:56 GMT -5
Ya I realize its a tough biz, but Im not in it to make millions. I would be happy making 20-30k/year. Of course I would stock reptiles like corns, kings, milks, ball pythons, leos, cresties, beardies, but I also want to bring in things like gargoyle geckos, day geckos, boas, pythons, things that I almost never see in the shops here in lloyd. I also will have an advantage over the other stores because I breed some of those reptiles myself, and I am willing to set up special offers like "buy a complete setup and get a snake free" type thing. None of the other stores here do that, and the prices of the snakes are high (amel corns for $100.00). And unlike the other stores I actually know basic care and husbandry of reptiles. I was at one of the local stores here and I over heard two of the employees talking about how the king snake wasnt eating the crickets they were giving it. Yikes. Ya good thing about Lloyd is that there are no big chain stores to compete with.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 29, 2010 22:23:39 GMT -5
I like your ambition and enthusiasm , but remember you are in Sask ..you shouldn't be offering any boids in your store . The "petstore" is an idea and time will tell if its the right one for you . Brainstorming is good
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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 29, 2010 22:43:29 GMT -5
Oh, I forgot to mention it would be on the Alberta side of Lloyd.
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Post by Shawn(snakebite) on Nov 30, 2010 0:04:21 GMT -5
Thought so , just wanted to hear you clarify my man . Full support in any POSITIVE herp endeavour! , so make it reputable unlike most "petstores" . Good luck to you , here to help if I can.
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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 30, 2010 10:09:30 GMT -5
I just wanted to add that I will also be dealing with the breeders of the animals I bring in the the store directly. I dont want to deal with any middle man.
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Post by joeysgreen on Nov 30, 2010 10:33:44 GMT -5
I would contact Jim from J and J Reptiles in Calgary. He's opened and is running a successfull reptile only store. He might have some good advice for you.
A note on the real bizarre animals; most people don't know how to care for them, so when they take them home and fail, it looks bad on you. Have you considered a Big Al's franchise? With the name, and the business plan, you're much more likely to succeed; and it sounds like they are all about what you want to carry anyhow.
Good luck in any case!
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Post by crazycolubrids on Nov 30, 2010 15:32:08 GMT -5
Ya maybe I will contact him. Thanks. I dont think I am going to bring in anything too bizarre. If I do Iam not going to just sell it to someone that is just getting into reptiles and if I do I would try to throw as much knowledge their way as I could (that goes for all reptiles in my store). I am going to have a lot of good books for sale as well. Books by Kathy Love, Allen Repashy, Don Soderberg, and so on. The pet stores here dont have any decent reptile books. There is also a wealth of knowledge on sites like this that I would also suggest to them. Things that the stores here dont take the time to do. They just want your business and once you leave they couldnt care less about what happens to the animals.
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Post by leviticus on Dec 2, 2010 0:16:32 GMT -5
Congratulations on the possible new venture, I worked in the fish and reptile department for one of the big stores for a couple of years and it is quite a tough gig. Are there any other shops in Lloyd currently? I know one thing for sure is that having an interenet presence will be huge as you can open up to a much larger market(mainly hobbyists) and be able to move some of that other stock, I have a good friend out of Winnipeg who has made a career solely out of importing and wholesaling tropical fish(freshwater only) and he sells wholesale to stores as well as hobbyists. Lets face it, most of us hobbyists would not walk into a local pet shop nowadays to purchase our livestock, or much of our hardware for that matter. Do you already have a location picked out and what type of space are you looking at? Would you continue to breed?
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Post by crazycolubrids on Dec 2, 2010 10:37:04 GMT -5
Thanks. Ya There are to small stores here in Lloyd. Like I said before one store is mainly about dogs, dog food, and dog accessories. The other store deals with mainly fresh water fish. They both have reptile sections but are very small. I dont have a location yet. I am hoping to have at least 500-1000sq.ft. of space. Ya I would continue to breed and thats why my customers would save coming to my store. Most stores buy reptiles from wholesalers. A reptile breeder sells a snake for 20.00 to the wholesaler, the wholesaler sells the same snake for 40.00 to the pet store, then the pet store sells the snake for 80.00 to the customer. When I can sell the same snake for 40.00-50.00. I sold an aberrant Cal king to one of the pet stores here for 40.00 and they marked it up to 100.00.
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Post by leviticus on Dec 4, 2010 22:11:46 GMT -5
Ha should see the prices on aberrant Cal king I saw the other day at one of the LPS' a bit more than 100. I definitely thing that anything you can breed will be good for you and the customer. Do any of the shops in town offer feeders?
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Post by crazycolubrids on Dec 4, 2010 22:43:26 GMT -5
Ya they both offer feeders. Rodents and Insects. One of the stores has awful feeder mice and crickets. The frozen feeder mice are rotten (I know because I bought some there once) and the crickets come in little deli cups pre-counted and some of the crickets are dead. I will be breeding my own mice soon (I have done it in the past) and may just breed crickets (which I have also bred) and worms as well.
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Post by joeysgreen on Dec 4, 2010 22:59:04 GMT -5
Have a rat breeding facility on the Sask side of the border.
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Post by crazycolubrids on Dec 5, 2010 0:02:08 GMT -5
That's a possibility as well. Where would I get lab rats?
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Post by joeysgreen on Dec 5, 2010 11:26:15 GMT -5
Lab rats are actually rediculously priced. The lab that I worked at ordered them in from Quebec for 50 or so dollars each. They breed their own, but cannot sell them outside of the lab for obvious reasons. There's got to be a tonne of rat breeders in Saskatchewan isn't there? Come to think of it, perhaps not since boids arn't allowed. As a pet store, I"m certain some of your suppliers could send you some live rats.
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Post by leviticus on Dec 5, 2010 16:43:46 GMT -5
I haven't heard of anyone I know breeding their own rats here, probably as you say because boids are illegal and the larger colubrids that are allowed are few and far between. Again I would stress having an internet presence with your store, it just opens up so many avenues for you. What are you fish plans, as in freshwater/saltwater or both?
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Post by crazycolubrids on Dec 5, 2010 16:54:10 GMT -5
I think that plans for fish would be both fresh and salt water but mainly saltwater.
I have been trying to find out how to become an online retailer for reptile products. Does anyone know how to go about doing that?
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Post by saskatchewanexotic on Dec 6, 2010 0:40:24 GMT -5
We are working on the same thing.
You need to have a registered business license with a GST number as well. Then you need the cashola to pre-buy your stock as there are min. orders and so on.
- I know that you can set up some type of online store that you are connected to, then they ship orders from your site from their warehouse but you don`t control anything to do with pricing and your profit margins are small....
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Post by saskatchewanexotic on Dec 6, 2010 0:43:27 GMT -5
I haven't heard of anyone I know breeding their own rats here, probably as you say because boids are illegal and the larger colubrids that are allowed are few and far between. Again I would stress having an internet presence with your store, it just opens up so many avenues for you. What are you fish plans, as in freshwater/saltwater or both? Actually there is a lady Named Val (Falconridge Farms) that breeds rats quite steadily and besides Sask. I know she supplies much of Alberta since Rat are illegal there....
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Post by crazycolubrids on Dec 6, 2010 11:13:30 GMT -5
We are working on the same thing. You need to have a registered business license with a GST number as well. Then you need the cashola to pre-buy your stock as there are min. orders and so on. - I know that you can set up some type of online store that you are connected to, then they ship orders from your site from their warehouse but you don`t control anything to do with pricing and your profit margins are small.... Where do I get a business license and a GST #?
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Post by joeysgreen on Dec 6, 2010 13:04:20 GMT -5
Contact the Canada Revenue Agency. I strongly recommend getting an accountant from day one. I skipped this step, and am currently going through an audit. While I did everything honestly, I've found the mistakes I made added up and are causing grave headaches and a lot of paper work. Further, a good accountant will be familiar with helping out out on everything from a business plan, to financing, taxes, etc.
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