Cali Kid Corals

Who wants to go in on buying 360 Coralz?

Mike Yasin said:
speculating here.... 360 is roughly 1.5 miles from Neptune Aquatics. Given that these businesses are specialized (aquarium industry), is there a particular reason that we (fish and coral afflicted populace) would choose one over the other? Inventory and live stock selection being equal, it would come down to reputational and loyalty, I would think. Is this a case that Neptune has built such a solid reputation that another business a few blocks away is just doomed? Open to thoughts, but it does seem that town is too small for two shops.
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That "town" has over a million people and 5 marine lfs.
 
Srt4eric said:
That "town" has over a million people and 5 marine lfs.
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Oh - typo meant :that *part* of town".... That's interesting there are five local stores....! I was curious on how many SJ could support. Seems like quite a few.

Did 360 do anything to differentiate itself? I saw they have a service van.
 
JVU said:
I would definitely not start an LFS in San Jose or Hayward, unless it was super-specialized in some way that differentiated it.
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But that's (in my experience in retail) absolutely wrong thinking. In the 70's McDonalds employed hundreds of people analyzing new spots for new locations. They'd look at traffic patterns, demographics, ordinances, etc. They spent millions identifying and vetting every particular corner in an area. You know how many Burger King employed to do the same job? Almost none because they simply dropped new Burger King locations within a few blocks of new McDonalds. It not only saved them millions in costs, but it also meant that there was a built in clientele already coming to the area to eat.

Fast forward to my own experience. I opened up my first retail store in "virgin" territory. It (like an LFS) was a destination oriented business meaning people would drive to go to that business specifically. I built the clientele from the ground up. Advertised, ran promotions, etc all in order to get the store "on the map" and visible. It took a few years. When I opened my second and third stores (and subsequent others) I re-thought it completely. Sure -- with a destination store people would drive direct there to get their "fix" of whatever, but that didn't mean they wouldn't stop in my shop if it as near another. In fact, not only would the customer base in the area be established, but it would attract more people since they could hit multiple shops on the same outing.

My second store was placed within one block of one of my biggest competitors. Shoppers could park in my lot of theirs and literally walk to the other store. At that point it was simply up to me to compete better, and we did.

If I were to open an LFS (and I won't) I would quite frankly put it right next tp AC or Neptune's. I don't have to be McDonalds when I can just as easily save money and be Burger King.
 
Bruce Spiegelman said:
But that's (in my experience in retail) absolutely wrong thinking. In the 70's McDonalds employed hundreds of people analyzing new spots for new locations. They'd look at traffic patterns, demographics, ordinances, etc. They spent millions identifying and vetting every particular corner in an area. You know how many Burger King employed to do the same job? Almost none because they simply dropped new Burger King locations within a few blocks of new McDonalds. It not only saved them millions in costs, but it also meant that there was a built in clientele already coming to the area to eat.

Fast forward to my own experience. I opened up my first retail store in "virgin" territory. It (like an LFS) was a destination oriented business meaning people would drive to go to that business specifically. I built the clientele from the ground up. Advertised, ran promotions, etc all in order to get the store "on the map" and visible. It took a few years. When I opened my second and third stores (and subsequent others) I re-thought it completely. Sure -- with a destination store people would drive direct there to get their "fix" of whatever, but that didn't mean they wouldn't stop in my shop if it as near another. In fact, not only would the customer base in the area be established, but it would attract more people since they could hit multiple shops on the same outing.

My second store was placed within one block of one of my biggest competitors. Shoppers could park in my lot of theirs and literally walk to the other store. At that point it was simply up to me to compete better, and we did.

If I were to open an LFS (and I won't) I would quite frankly put it right next tp AC or Neptune's. I don't have to be McDonalds when I can just as easily save money and be Burger King.
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Huh, I didn't know that about McDonalds/BK.... but that makes sense to me. I love posts I get to learn a fact or two, thanks!
 
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