Opening a pet store?

I live in a town with a little under 40,000 people, surrounded by about 10 - 15 smaller towns within about a 20 minute drive. There is one pet store in Cleburne, and it is pretty bad. They are not clean and the animals are of poor quality. Their dogs come from puppy mills or local mutts, that they sell for WAY more then you can get a decent registered animal. They have a small nice selection of birds that do look like they are taken care of reasonably well for a pet store. Their rodents look like they are taken care of but their back room smells terrible. Their fish are bad, if they aren't already dead in their over crowded tanks, they die within a couple weeks of getting them home. Their reptiles are under fed, infested with mites, and not even remotely kept in the proper caging, a normal BP sells for $175. The backs of their reptile cages are peg board like what you would use in your back yard tool shed, and an exposed 100w light bulb.

I want to open a small pet store in town, nothing extravagant just a clean quality pet and pet supply store. I only want to do reptiles and birds, there are enough places to go get dog collars and cat toys. I want to have your basic reptiles but I also want to have some nice morphs for sale. I wouldn't call it a "boutique" pet shop but I do want it to be a place synonymous with quality and people who care. I would rather have a smaller inventory with better quality then have a whole bunch of cheaply made crap.

So I guess my question is, would you rather go to a quality store that doesn't have the quantity or a quantity store that doesn't have the quality? I have to run for now but I'll get back on later and expound a bit.

Mike

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Originally Posted by hoax

So I guess my question is, would you rather go to a quality store that doesn't have the quantity or a quantity store that doesn't have the quality? I have to run for now but I'll get back on later and expound a bit.

Mike

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Um, YES! Quality always beats quantity!
Years back there was a local pet shop I went to for feeder rats, and they took good of their animals. Because of that people from everywhere within a 100 mile radius went there to buy feeders from them. Granted they closed down because their lease was up, but they were doing great.

Yes, I think quality is defanantly better. There is a local reptile store near me and they have very high quality and a pretty good quanity but what they don't have they'll order for you.

well definetly quality is what I look at first and I will drive as far as I need to each week. It currently takes us about 40-50 minutes to get to the store of our choice each week for feeders.

I might also suggest a website for your store as selling morphs is definetly a bit more difficult if you don't have the niche clientel around. That would support your sales as well. With your local store being that high in prices you could afford to take care of the snakes and have a great store set up properly and still make a little money. I always thought this was more of a boutique idea as well...offer TRUE caresheets on your animals and you can also put websites for those animals. I would also sell thermostats...not high end...but some of those that are mid priced. I have never seen that in a pet store and it is SUCH a needed staple to setting up a proper environment. Also and this is something that our local store here does. You walk into the breeding room for rats and mice to pick up your feeders. It is VERY clean....you see everything and you see how they are taken care of/fed...etc. Same with the crickets...you walk into a room and you see everything. I like that....as I can ensure that these are properly taken care of and fed and worthy of feeding to my animals. (yes I am anal)....lol

Just my 2cents...;) as if I saw a store like this ...I would totally travel to it.

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Originally Posted by 1stleo

Yes, I think quality is defanantly better. There is a local reptile store near me and they have very high quality and a pretty good quanity but what they don't have they'll order for you.

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Thats exactly what I want, If I don't have what the customer wants I want to be able to find it for them and show them where to get it at the best price, so when they need something I have they will want to come to me and they will want to tell their friends.

Mike

When I go to a pet store I definitely look for qualtiy over quantity. I wish there were some decent pet stores in my area.

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Originally Posted by BPelizabeth

well definetly quality is what I look at first and I will drive as far as I need to each week. It currently takes us about 40-50 minutes to get to the store of our choice each week for feeders.

I might also suggest a website for your store as selling morphs is definetly a bit more difficult if you don't have the niche clientel around. That would support your sales as well. With your local store being that high in prices you could afford to take care of the snakes and have a great store set up properly and still make a little money. I always thought this was more of a boutique idea as well...offer TRUE caresheets on your animals and you can also put websites for those animals. I would also sell thermostats...not high end...but some of those that are mid priced. I have never seen that in a pet store and it is SUCH a needed staple to setting up a proper environment. Also and this is something that our local store here does. You walk into the breeding room for rats and mice to pick up your feeders. It is VERY clean....you see everything and you see how they are taken care of/fed...etc. Same with the crickets...you walk into a room and you see everything. I like that....as I can ensure that these are properly taken care of and fed and worthy of feeding to my animals. (yes I am anal)....lol

Just my 2cents...;) as if I saw a store like this ...I would totally travel to it.

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I would want a new herper to walk in get the pet that is right for him/her, get the proper housing, get a proper BPnet care sheet, and be able to come back any time for help, feeders, or just a place to hang out and shoot the breeze.

I want a place that people would feel welcome coming to learn, because if they are there learning they might want to upgrade their T-stat or maybe get a friend for that new gecko she got last week, a pet store where the customer comes before the sale. I am in a service industry now and the thing that I find the most satisfying is knowing that my customers are happy and don't want to look for better service some where else.

I would LOVE that!! It kills me when you walk in and get crazy info or sub par products.

There is a local reptile store near me (not pet's, just reptiles) that is owned by a reptile hobbyist and breeder that is miles above any pet store in the area and I shop there. They breed many of the animals that they sell or know the breeders of the animals and the animal prices are good. The prices for supplies are higher than at a chain store because they can't buy in the volume of chain stores. Any reptile purchased from there won't be sick or parasite ridden. I vote for quality.

Bruce Delles owns and runs Twin Cities Reptiles, probably one of the most top notch reptile and other exotics pet shops in the country.

If it's something you're serious about, hit him up and he might have some advice.

Most pet stores get the majority of their income from selling supplies and feeders, not the animals themselves. Selling quality animals for reasonable prices creates a customer base who will return to your store.

Starting up your own business, especially a retail storefront, is incredibly difficult. Don't expect to have a paycheck for 3+ years. In addition, it's practically impossible to get a bank loan these days for starting up a small business, so you'll have to be completely self-funded unless you find investors who can help get you started.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Bruce Delles owns and runs Twin Cities Reptiles, probably one of the most top notch reptile and other exotics pet shops in the country.

If it's something you're serious about, hit him up and he might have some advice.

Most pet stores get the majority of their income from selling supplies and feeders, not the animals themselves. Selling quality animals for reasonable prices creates a customer base who will return to your store.

Starting up your own business, especially a retail storefront, is incredibly difficult. Don't expect to have a paycheck for 3+ years. In addition, it's practically impossible to get a bank loan these days for starting up a small business, so you'll have to be completely self-funded unless you find investors who can help get you started.

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I have another company that will be bank rolling it. I plan on spending approximately 50-75K (just a guess) on displays, stock, and animals.

I will definitely contact Bruce, his store is a great example of what I want.

Mike

I have been looking into the same thing and the one thing I have found is if you want to open any kind of shop it is a very idea to take business management classes. This gives you a good understanding on how to run your shop and it is a skill that can be applied to other places. Another thing is look into your reptile laws, I found that in the city I live in pets stores cannot sell any kind of python or boa.

I'd go for it, but do it smart--people would rather shop at a clean, well-lit location that's not overcrowded, but always remember the majority of sales in a pet store are dog and cat food and basic supplies, and not animals. If you can't get good enough deals to price-match competitors on those items, you will have a pretty tough time.

The location you describe is too small for a specialty shop, practically speaking. I wouldn't try to open an 'exotics store' with only 40K people as a population base. A full pet store could do well, especially if the competition is shabby.

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Originally Posted by mainbutter

Bruce Delles owns and runs Twin Cities Reptiles, probably one of the most top notch reptile and other exotics pet shops in the country.

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I don't want to start a fight or derail the thread too much, but I actually stopped going to TCR after finding one too many dead lizards in their cages. The last one I found was black and desiccated, as though it had been there for days or even weeks, and had gone unnoticed by the staff, or they saw it and just didn't care. They must have been going into that cage at least occasionally as well, because there was another (live) animal in there with it. After that, and some bad experiences with hyper-fast die off of crickets purchased there, I stopped going.

This was several years ago now, and perhaps things have improved, but back then, I got a bad taste from it. I now drive farther, to Leaping Lizards in Savage, for all of my supplies. Both of the geckos I currently have came from there, and they're healthy as can be. It's a bit smaller shop than TCR, but the lady that owns/runs it (Jill, whose last name I'm sadly at a loss to remember) really cares about the animals and is super friendly and helpful. She doesn't necessarily have the selection that TCR does (no fish, sugar gliders, chinchillas, etc), but her attitude is definitely one of customer service, and she knows my name and always remembers what my usual "order" is. While Bruce Delles at TCR was always helpful and nice to us, some of his staff were less than amazing at times.

Anyway, that's enough rambling from me - regarding the OP's intent, I have to say the idea sounds wonderful, and the only real question is whether you'll have enough customers to support a store. That's probably the biggest thing you need to evaluate prior to making it happen. Beyond that, of course, getting the word out will be a big deal - if there's a good base of customers, but they don't know you exist, you might as well not exist. :)

might wanta few of the furball type stuff too cause it can givea customer a reason to visit your store, ( hubby brings wife to lok a some qualtity cat/dog food and just happens to fall in love with your reptile selection. ) I also think you should have a small mammal section for rodents, rodent supplies and such for peopel that want to start breeding their own . I know right nowI travel about 40 mintues either north or southwest to get stuff like glass water bottles, rodent food,. I head near the beach to get my aspen for the snakes, and to thelocal feed store to get the pine shavings for the rodents I breed.

I travel in a single stocking trip over 100 miles to get everything.

Mike
I believe we live in the greatest country in the world. It is here that freedom allows us to pursue our dreams. If that is yours then I say go for it. Just remember one thing the difference between failure and success is the success gets up one more time than they get knocked down.
Best of Luck
TTM

I say go for it! But yes, it would be cool if you can carry the "regular" pet stuff too. The thing is, you have different choices on how to be marketable and it's up to you and your town what niche you can be marketable in. You will need to balance quality versus price to be marketable and competitive.

For example, you can either be one of these things:
1.) Direct competitor to the existing store. That is, doing the same thing at the same price point but doing it better.
2.) Specialty (non-competing). This could be a different twist that doesn't put you head-to-head with the existing store like specializing in reptiles and offering the highest quality reptile products not available in the existing store but with a slightly higher price. If the market can support this, it's definitely an option.

You will need a good and dependable supply chain and a clear and concise business model and business execution process with the properly trained staff.

Where I live, there are 5 pet stores within 2 miles of each other. You'd wonder how they all stay in business:
1.) PetCo - is the big box store - they carry reptiles and hamsters and birds and fish and holds adoption clinics for dogs and cats on some weekends. They carry all the "regular" supplies for most pets and their staff are not experts on what they sell. Clean store, lots of traffic.
2.) Pet Supermarket - another big box store that competes head to head with PetCo but is much older. It's still in business with good traffic for some reason. My guess is from loyal customers. I sometimes find stuff there that PetCo doesn't carry and vice versa.
3.) Pet Supplies - smaller general pet store. Carries high-end dog and cat food and supplies, bird and fish products. They don't sell pets except for a few fish. That's it. A little more pricey than the box stores but you can't find most of their products in either PetCo or Pet Supermarket.
4.) I-cant-remember-the-name - A small specialty shop that sells dogs and cats and some supplies that go with them. Very expensive store. They sell some dogs for 2,000 bucks. All their animals are cared for by the local vet who gets a good advertisement for his business because all the vet care records go with the animal, so more than likely, the buyer will continue to use him for the life of the animal.
5.) Blazing Reptiles - A small specialty shop for reptiles and exotics - including hamsters, rabbits, chincillas, ferrets, sugar gliders, and even monkeys plus all the supplies that go with them.

And nestled between all 5 of them is a Super Wal-mart that has a pet section...

All these businesses are thriving. Granted, we're in a bigger city.

I am hoping to move to Jacksonville in 5-10 years, a MUCH bigger town with a lot more chance of survival. I want to provide reptiles and everything that comes with them and the things they eat and everything that goes with them. i want people to breed, I know that means less mice sells but that means more supplies sells.

Mike

animals and make sure you get them at good humane places no puppy mills there cruel and if you show you have all wonderful places you get your animals from hell you'll probably get alot more customers you know how every ones going organic and cruel free and stuff well like i said good luck all!!!


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