popularity in the reef aquarium industry

Zacktosterone · 02/05/2014, 01:09 PM

I wonder if it would be possible to to open a reef aquarium pet store in Sault ste Marie Ontario or Michigan. doe anyone here think that there's a market for it?

oscarinw · 02/05/2014, 01:21 PM

There are some models to help establish the viability of a specific store. For the most part you have to look at some demographics such as density, population, median age, average income, average family size and from there you can determine whether a market exists... What those numbers are specifically for the specialty store you are thinking of, that might be trickier info to get a hold of. Easiest way to go about it would be to look at comparable areas (maybe 3 or 4) and see if they have one.

Allmost · 02/05/2014, 01:26 PM

are there alot of reefers in your area ?

Im from ontario, and dont know much reefers from Sault ste Marie, and not sure how many would drive there from Toronto ...

with that said ... your costs would be alot less running there ... so you might want to focus more on your site and shipping goods ... live or dry ...

a good online vendor is missing in Canada ... something like Live aquaria ...
many ship, and have good stock, but not good/updated sites.

Breadman03 · 02/05/2014, 01:27 PM

I saw a study that said 1/10 of tanks were saltwater and that just a small percentage of those were reef tanks.

How many aquarium shops are in your area?

If there is none or just a couple, there probably isn't a market for a reef shop.

Zacktosterone · 02/05/2014, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allmost

are there alot of reefers in your area ?

Im from ontario, and dont know much reefers from Sault ste Marie, and not sure how many would drive there from Toronto ...

with that said ... your costs would be alot less running there ... so you might want to focus more on your site and shipping goods ... live or dry ...

a good online vendor is missing in Canada ... something like Live aquaria ...
many ship, and have good stock, but not good/updated sites.

Maybe a warehouse for dry goods and an online store would be better since the market is going in that direction. Obviously with access to a walk in facility for folks who like to hand pic their products or live goods. And yes there are quite a few reefers actually.

Zacktosterone · 02/05/2014, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breadman03

I saw a study that said 1/10 of tanks were saltwater and that just a small percentage of those were reef tanks.

How many aquarium shops are in your area?

If there is none or just a couple, there probably isn't a market for a reef shop.

Offering freshwater as well would increase those odds

SGT_York · 02/05/2014, 01:53 PM

Start one in your home or garage and test the market, get your permits, and finalize your business plans.

Breadman03 · 02/05/2014, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zacktosterone

Offering freshwater as well would increase those odds

I didn't want to tell you what to do

I like to ask questions that lead to good conclusions.

Zacktosterone · 02/05/2014, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SGT_York

Start one in your home or garage and test the market, get your permits, and finalize your business plans.

Thats a good idea. What about start up costs? As well as finding decent suppliers

Art13 · 02/05/2014, 02:51 PM

What i know a few people around me have done was open up a wholesale account with an online vendor for purchases, most of them are doing it with coral. If you set up a large coral frag tank, get any legal stuff taken care of, they will usually offer some type of discount for a bulk buy. If it is done out of your house you will be able to gauge the market a little as far as coral goes. also, do some local advertising like craigslist if you have it up there. If it works out, expand to say fish and so on, if your demand becomes large enough i would then think about renting out a store.

lrs183 · 02/05/2014, 03:38 PM

Many people are very intimidated by saltwater aquariums and I for one was one of those people. For the same cost of my 21 gallon nano I could have setup a 75-100G freshwater for the same cost if not slightly less, to put it in perspective. I would definitely make the majority of your store freshwater (at first) and leave room for expansion for saltwater as demand rises. I know my LFS will actually order in fish, coral and anything else if it's in their availability book for you. This is risky to do because a lot of people want the instant gratification but it could help you to ensure successful sales rather than dead weight purchases that don't leave the tanks for months.

Michigan is not doing very well economically which is another thing to consider. A lot of people are out of work, or not making much money because the economy there is bad. I'm pretty sure it's the worst in the US if not one of the worst (not going to search it at the moment). This is something to consider before opening what many people would consider to be a luxury store.

We all have that dream, or at least a lot of us do. I say just buy your time and wait for the perfect opportunity. Never know how things will be in a few years or where you will be at in a few years.

igot2gats · 02/05/2014, 03:40 PM

Grand Rapids definitely could use a brick and mortar store.

There are a couple pet stores in the area, but not a specific LFS.

Dustyboots · 02/06/2014, 07:04 PM

I like to find new places to pick up livestock, supplies, etc all the time. I recently found a place a few miles from me on Craigslist that carries super nice, rarer frags and marine supplies for less that the big fish stores. It's in an out-building on his property. I think if that's what interests you and really blows your skirt up you should try it.

Brew132 · 02/06/2014, 10:08 PM

In the Arizona area we just had a popular brick and mortar store close due to the overhead and is turning to a garage store. There are more and more garage stores here.

andrewkw · 02/06/2014, 10:41 PM

Are there a lot of reefers in the soo? I would guess less then 100 but maybe I'm wrong. I am actually very interested to know about the reef scene there.

My parents moved to St. Joesph Island so I've been up to the Sault Ste Marie quite a bit over the last year. If it was possible I'd love to open a store there as I would love to live there too but I don't think it would work the population is just too small. The MI side is considerably smaller. Also you can't bring most corals across the border and even fish which are allowed they may not realize at these smaller border crossings.

I don't think most people realize where you are talking about. This is 9 hrs away from Toronto. A city population of roughly 75k and even less in Sault Ste Marie MI.

Zacktosterone · 02/21/2014, 09:01 AM

no there isn't a ton, there are some and they're experienced.

snorvich · 02/21/2014, 09:24 AM

Do a business model, computer your breakeven point and then plot that against the known market for your area.

02/05/2014, 01:09 PM	#1
Zacktosterone Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ont Posts: 2,475	popularity in the reef aquarium industry I wonder if it would be possible to to open a reef aquarium pet store in Sault ste Marie Ontario or Michigan. doe anyone here think that there's a market for it?

02/05/2014, 03:40 PM	#12
igot2gats Deeeetroit Basketball! Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 1,063	Grand Rapids definitely could use a brick and mortar store. There are a couple pet stores in the area, but not a specific LFS. __________________ Jeff Stop being lazy, and use the search function. Seriously. Current Tank Info: 75g DT / 20g sump / 20g QT - Eheim 1250, Tunze Osmolator 3155, GHL Profilux 3, 2 Tunze 6095, Tunze Wavebox, Aqua Illumination Hydra LEDs

02/06/2014, 07:04 PM	#13
Dustyboots Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 104	I like to find new places to pick up livestock, supplies, etc all the time. I recently found a place a few miles from me on Craigslist that carries super nice, rarer frags and marine supplies for less that the big fish stores. It's in an out-building on his property. I think if that's what interests you and really blows your skirt up you should try it. __________________ Using Tapatalk

02/21/2014, 09:24 AM	#17
snorvich Team RC member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Outlander Posts: 40,953 Blog Entries: 46	Do a business model, computer your breakeven point and then plot that against the known market for your area. __________________ Warmest regards, ~Steve~

02/05/2014, 01:21 PM	#2
oscarinw Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Western Massachusetts Posts: 1,091	There are some models to help establish the viability of a specific store. For the most part you have to look at some demographics such as density, population, median age, average income, average family size and from there you can determine whether a market exists... What those numbers are specifically for the specialty store you are thinking of, that might be trickier info to get a hold of. Easiest way to go about it would be to look at comparable areas (maybe 3 or 4) and see if they have one.

02/05/2014, 01:26 PM	#3
Allmost Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: canada, toronto Posts: 8,161	are there alot of reefers in your area ? Im from ontario, and dont know much reefers from Sault ste Marie, and not sure how many would drive there from Toronto ... with that said ... your costs would be alot less running there ... so you might want to focus more on your site and shipping goods ... live or dry ... a good online vendor is missing in Canada ... something like Live aquaria ... many ship, and have good stock, but not good/updated sites.

02/05/2014, 01:27 PM	#4
Breadman03 New Old School Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Luzerne County, PA Posts: 3,293	I saw a study that said 1/10 of tanks were saltwater and that just a small percentage of those were reef tanks. How many aquarium shops are in your area? If there is none or just a couple, there probably isn't a market for a reef shop.

02/05/2014, 01:53 PM	#7
SGT_York Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Washington State Posts: 1,746	Start one in your home or garage and test the market, get your permits, and finalize your business plans.

02/05/2014, 02:51 PM	#10
Art13 Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: South Jersey Posts: 1,444	What i know a few people around me have done was open up a wholesale account with an online vendor for purchases, most of them are doing it with coral. If you set up a large coral frag tank, get any legal stuff taken care of, they will usually offer some type of discount for a bulk buy. If it is done out of your house you will be able to gauge the market a little as far as coral goes. also, do some local advertising like craigslist if you have it up there. If it works out, expand to say fish and so on, if your demand becomes large enough i would then think about renting out a store.

02/05/2014, 03:38 PM	#11
lrs183 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Posts: 399	Many people are very intimidated by saltwater aquariums and I for one was one of those people. For the same cost of my 21 gallon nano I could have setup a 75-100G freshwater for the same cost if not slightly less, to put it in perspective. I would definitely make the majority of your store freshwater (at first) and leave room for expansion for saltwater as demand rises. I know my LFS will actually order in fish, coral and anything else if it's in their availability book for you. This is risky to do because a lot of people want the instant gratification but it could help you to ensure successful sales rather than dead weight purchases that don't leave the tanks for months. Michigan is not doing very well economically which is another thing to consider. A lot of people are out of work, or not making much money because the economy there is bad. I'm pretty sure it's the worst in the US if not one of the worst (not going to search it at the moment). This is something to consider before opening what many people would consider to be a luxury store. We all have that dream, or at least a lot of us do. I say just buy your time and wait for the perfect opportunity. Never know how things will be in a few years or where you will be at in a few years.

02/06/2014, 10:08 PM	#14
Brew132 Registered Member Join Date: May 2013 Posts: 93	In the Arizona area we just had a popular brick and mortar store close due to the overhead and is turning to a garage store. There are more and more garage stores here.

02/06/2014, 10:41 PM	#15
andrewkw Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: St. Joseph Island Posts: 1,069	Are there a lot of reefers in the soo? I would guess less then 100 but maybe I'm wrong. I am actually very interested to know about the reef scene there. My parents moved to St. Joesph Island so I've been up to the Sault Ste Marie quite a bit over the last year. If it was possible I'd love to open a store there as I would love to live there too but I don't think it would work the population is just too small. The MI side is considerably smaller. Also you can't bring most corals across the border and even fish which are allowed they may not realize at these smaller border crossings. I don't think most people realize where you are talking about. This is 9 hrs away from Toronto. A city population of roughly 75k and even less in Sault Ste Marie MI.

02/21/2014, 09:01 AM	#16
Zacktosterone Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: Sault Ste Marie Ont Posts: 2,475	no there isn't a ton, there are some and they're experienced.