Opinions on opening a specialty shop

Im considering re-opening a commercial store front locally, and would like a few other shop owners and or coustomers opinions on a few things.

Shop owners

Of thoose of you who run a retail location what percentace of your store front is devoted to reptiles?

How many sq ft do you devote to live herps or supplies for herps.

How many of you run a reptiles only shop

How many other shops are in your city

How much do you spend on adds, and is any of it TV

How much of your traffic would you say is walk in, compaired to die hard local herp nuts

What approach do you generally take towards live inventory. Do you buy in bulk and run sales or generally stick to a price and only order when another is needed.

What area of your town is your storefront located. Is it in a upper end community or a "more affordable" neighborhood.

What is your monthly lease payment and utilities combined (no labor costs please or animal expensex)

Now I know each shop is different, and Im not a novice, I used to have a shop. However I would like to see what others in the industry do locally to help with local sales. I will say I am in Nebraska, and the shop would be located here, so have no worries with competition as thats not what its about.

Now for Customers

Would you perfer your shops to be a reptile only store or a full line pet shop

Would you avoid a shop if its in a dumpy location, but you knew it was the best place in town to get herps.

Would you avoid a shop if its more tnen a 20 minute drive, or would you likely just visit less frequently

Would you rather see a store that has a large number of well cared for animals of each species to choose from, even if that means being kept in rack systems compaired to larger dislay cages, or would you perfer to see a store spend money on large displays and keep the numbers per species down.

What do you think most pet shops/ specialty shops could or should do to better serve the coustomers. What are your pet peeves when entering a store?



Again Im sure for each city or person its different. And Im not asking anyone to divulge any secrets. I would just like to start a open dialouge about stores. Also I would like to think that maybe someday each state would have atleast one specialty reptile storefront. I freel rather then tearing down pet shows as a whole, its up to us to fix the problems assosiated with them. I think a everday access to herps for the general public is VERY IMPORTANT to draw in new people to the hobby. Ive done many shows, and anyone who has knows that most of the people at a show are the same people year after year. Shows are great for experienced herpers, but shops start the hobbiest on their way to becomeing a experienced herper. How many of you remeber being a kid going into the store and seeing all the animals mom and dad wouldnt allow you to have. Heck untill I moved out on my own I wasnt allowed to have any pets, especially herps. Im sure the majority of peoples houses are the same way.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

Now for Customers

Would you perfer your shops to be a reptile only store or a full line pet shop

I would prefer a reptile only store but it doesn't bother me if it's pets in general. From a comercial perspective though it makes more sense to have a multi-species pet shop.

Would you avoid a shop if its in a dumpy location, but you knew it was the best place in town to get herps.

No, it doesn't really bother (unless obviously is life threatening to go buy a dozen crickets!)

Would you avoid a shop if its more tnen a 20 minute drive, or would you likely just visit less frequently

I drive an hour to get to the closest one. I would rather be closer.

Would you rather see a store that has a large number of well cared for animals of each species to choose from, even if that means being kept in rack systems compaired to larger dislay cages, or would you perfer to see a store spend money on large displays and keep the numbers per species down.

Prefer variety from which to choose.

What do you think most pet shops/ specialty shops could or should do to better serve the coustomers. What are your pet peeves when entering a store?

More visibility of their animals. Better description (care sheets) of the requirements of each species on display.

Regards.

Mickey,
Great topic! I am in the process of opening one here in MA. Area. And I have asked this question before. I got a lot of feed back some was negative some was good. I am going to be selling reptiles and supplies. Along with some fish and feeders for them. I like to see a variety of herps all in there own inclosure not thrown in with three different species. I like a clean place. A nice environment one that don't force a sale on you. When people do that I just say that is nice see ya later. I like to look around and I know I am not the only person who feels this way.

I really don't mind seeing them in racks. I know it will take a lot of room if I house every thing in tanks. I m going to house a little of everything in tanks and the smaller stuff I am going to put in racks. I am going to use glass tanks for now.
There is a lot of time involved starting a shop. I Did not realize how much until I started doing it. I have thought about doing it for three years now and finally found a place right off the highway so I am finally going to be opening mid march. A lot of people talk junk And try to get you down but you have to ignore it and just do it. Well I have been blabbing a little so I well leave ENJOY And let me know how you make out

Alan Pittsley

www.tongues-N-tails

Of thoose of you who run a retail location what percentace of your store front is devoted to reptiles?

This would be hard to say , i would think it depends on the area and population and what they are into and what you as the owner are looking for you customer base.I have a very good friend that has a small shop in a shoping center and has easy access to customers from the fact that they walk buy his storefront going to other shops . Walk in traffic there is good As with any good display for something you need "eye candy" in the window to draw attention to the store display cages are perfect to draw even someone who didnt think of going into your store because they have there kids with them and the kids want to " go look around"

How many sq ft do you devote to live herps or supplies for herps

This depends on what the direction you want to go in and what the community will support

How many of you run a reptiles only shop

again see above lol

How many other shops are in your city

This can or cannot have a bearing on your buisness , depending on what they sale in there shops could or couldnt show what you could sale in your shop

How much do you spend on adds, and is any of it TV

I would say that 75-90% of most petshops dont do TV ads because of the cost , most operate on newspaper ads , flyers and word of mouth if reptiles local shows

How much of your traffic would you say is walk in, compaired to die hard local herp nuts

This depends on you location and visiblity and traffic volume most of us are like me will walk in anything that says "pet shop" just to see whats there if it doesnt interest us we dont go back

What approach do you generally take towards live inventory. Do you buy in bulk and run sales or generally stick to a price and only order when another is needed.

This can depend on what you 'specialize in " easy sellers are usally beardies and the cute pets that kids can talk parents into buying for that good grade they got id say most buy in lots and buy when stock is low on the fast movers to keep something in a cage , a empty cage is a missed sale

What area of your town is your storefront located. Is it in a upper end community or a "more affordable" neighborhood

This would depend on what you can afford and what you want to provide customers as a means , usally " lower end sections" have a higher crime / poverty rate so would be less actual walk-in traffic and could hamper the customers with $ to spend to drive to that side of the tracks so to speak

What is your monthly lease payment and utilities combined (no labor costs please or animal expensex

This is like scooping water in a net lol , all depends on area , location , realestate and how much power you use toheat cages , fish tanks etc etc i have a program i can dig up that is a wattage converter, you enter in the total wattages and factor the local power companies kilowatt hr rate and it will tell you monthly, quarterly costs to use that amount of wattage


Customers

Would you perfer your shops to be a reptile only store or a full line pet shop

Im a reptile only person so yes i hate to see furrie critters unless there food

Would you avoid a shop if its in a dumpy location, but you knew it was the best place in town to get herps.

Nope i have personell protection lol .357 / .45 cal

Would you rather see a store that has a large number of well cared for animals of each species to choose from, even if that means being kept in rack systems compaired to larger dislay cages, or would you perfer to see a store spend money on large displays and keep the numbers per species down

I like to see animals in no more then 2 per tank/cage and would say a store full of animals in racks is beggin for a theft . i think that a investment in nice display cages is nice and then use racks for back rooms .To me that speak alot for a shop and its owners is presentation to the customer, id rather have to ask do you have this animal and get a yes let me goto the back then have a huge racks system you cant view the animals in from the floor .

What do you think most pet shops/ specialty shops could or should do to better serve the coustomers. What are your pet peeves when entering a store

have books on the shelf to sale a new buyer or offer them to know what they buy , educate the buyer if there new dont sale itto make a sale the reptile will only suffer 90% of the time , a hello how are you doing is there anything specific you are looking for today ? if you have any questions please dont hesitate to ask. clean cages are a must .... and of course i hate to see any animal that doesnt have space in a cage even if it was " just brought in buy a person"

Display issue:

I think this is the biggest headache on setting up a store. Personal opinion is to have a certain level of display caging available (dependent upon the amount of space you have) with more in racks in the back. Keep your constant sale animals (beardies, veileds, corns etc) available but then rotate your other varieties between caged in the front and racked in the back. The constant changing of animals (let's say once a week or as they sell) will give your store a "fresh" appearance keeping your regular customers coming back. I would provide a book with pictures of those available in the back (doesn't have to be the exact animal as you can bring them out to show them in person). For example, you could display a Columbian Boa and then have a book with other red tails shown and place it near the display.

I HATE when petstores house different species in the same tank. No, Really I HATE IT. If you show your customers that you take husbandry seriously, they will be more likely to take it seriously. If they are successful in keeping one reptile because of your assistance they will become loyal customers.

My opinion is to use the equipment that you want your customers to buy. This way they can see the equipment in use, understand how it is supposed to be set up. For example if your selling the aquarium type fixtures for your uvb bulbs, then don't go out and get a cheap fixture from Lowes or Home Depot. If you are going to use that type of fixture then carry them for sale. From a sales point of view I always wonder about pet stores that set up their reptiles with only a substrate in the cage. They are carrying products to make nice naturalistic display type environment. The easiest way to sell that stuff is by using it in a display.

Thanks for the feedback, hopefully I can get even more.

And Allan, you didnt read very carefully...lol. I asked what people paid for JUST THE LEASE on their building. No other costs, just the lease for the actual storefront.

Now I know all ths depends on the area, but assuming people answer a few of the other questions allong with that one, you can get a scence.

In reality I can afford to go a few ways with the idea. That being said I as anyone dont like to throw away money. And honestly I feel most of the coustomers IM going to be looking for in the short term are the local herp nuts. As such the location is likely not a big deal.

That being said, I am considering going a little more upscale, as I would like to concentrate on growing a more "high end" approach locally to herps. We are very much still in the dark ages of herpetoligy in this city. The shops have few quality animals, and as such the demand is likely low for them other then with die hard herpers. However I do feel with the right approach, and some effort this could be changed. I also would like to believe I could make up for any shortcomings locally with my online sales. Really Im trying to build a location for the future when my production is gearing up, and I would need more space anyways. I also would like to get all the animals out of the house soo to speak for a few different reasons, foremost being the seperation of my work life and my home life. So now Im going back and fourth on a nice loacation (more money more expeses) or a more affordable and larger location (and closer to my house, so likely more secure in the long run).

I plan to have as good of a security system as possible, and better then what I have at home. I am also strongly leaning towards a location no more then 5 minutes from my house to deal with issues. I currently am around about 24/7 so if the shop was in the area, I would in theory still be if something came up.

I agree the smart move would seem to be offering a full line shop, however I have NO INTEREST in other animals and as such do not have the experience with them. So I feel the wise move would be to do herps only. However I have considered adding a dog grooming / and maybe animal boarding. I figure if I dont carry dogs and cats for sale, I would have less worries if I offered people a alternative to the kennel. Of course Im not sure how good either of theese ideas are, or how feasible they would be.

I plan to offer more then just exotic animals. I would like to grow the knowladge and enthusiasim for herps in the area. I think a "herp library" would be a great idea to offer for regulars. I plan to grow a large collection of books on herps and offer to "loan" or "rent" (not sure yet) them to coustomers who join some sort of "lizard king club". I also have a number of friends at the local zoo, and would like to find a way to tie some sore of fund raisers for them in with the store.

We also considered "pet photography" as another way of adding money with little overhead, however again we havent worked out the specifics of the plan.

Im sure I could ramble all night. Im pretty exited. My wife is finally gun ho on the idea, and has offered to do whatever it takes to make it work. So its looking more and more like its going to happen.

Mickey Hinkle
The Lizard King Reptiles

ok so shoot me it was getting good to me

Oh boy Mickey--here you go again--LOL, jk.

I think Dan's post was a good one--mixing display cages with rack systems--the best of both. I think you could get away with just herps if you do a lot of supplies--and yes, what dan said, use for display the things you want your customers to buy.
Be fully aware that your customers are going to buy the supplies and typical lower end animals (at least first), so it would be important to still do a lot on the internet. And regardless of your security system, I'd keep your high end stuff next to you at all times and dont let the public know what you have...maybe let them know what you can get them, but not what you have.

I do think it is very possible to work your customers up from a cheap normal ball to a spider...eventually... I would print up some brochures/info to hand out. Maybe have your in store store more lower end and then a website with higher end? Direct all customers to it for info.

I think other pet services sound OK, but selling cats and dogs opens up a whole other can of worms---then there are supplies, etc etc... Fish even more so. Maybe a network of breeders--you can hook people up with breeders of dogs, cats, etc and advertise for some shelters.

Location--I drive 25 minutes to the closest herp shop here at least once per week. No biggie. Part of town--you dont want it in a scary part of town of course, but more industrial vs a shopping mall might limit your public bring in, but that could be OK. I know the guys that have the herp shop here advertise in the local paper geared toward city life and happenings--it has done well for them. No TV. They advertise on the radio sometimes too and put on the herp shows which often get news coverage.

The biggest thing knowing you--dont bend over backwards for every customer to the point where you are not making anything!!!! Get Brenda to quit her job so she can keep an eye on you in that area, LOL.

I would personally be against a storefront as I've told you in the past, but watching the guys here go from being breeders doing shows to opening their own place--I think it has now been 4 or 5 years and they are doing really well. The first couple were real tough, but they've since expanded into a bigger place and are able to get back to some breeding.

dana

Even if you mostly do herps it probably would be worth your while to sell exotic small mammals and a line of supplies. If you only had a few it wouldn't take up much space and they'd appeal to a wider range of customers, as well as to herp people.
I'm thinking chinchillas, degus, short tailed possums, exotic mice, fancy rats, ect.

Erin B.

If you only had a few it wouldn't take up much space and they'd appeal to a wider range of customers

While on the books this looks like a profitable arrangement remember that you'll have to deal with them on a daily basis. When selling something (at least for me) I do really well when it's something I'm into. Customers can tell when enthusiasm (sp?) is faked and it will show in the lack of sales. We won't carry mammals because I have no desire to deal with them (I'm a reptile person). Doesn't mean it couldn't work for you, just that the hardest part of running your own business is keeping the energy and drive up, anything that can detract from that should be avoided.