Opening shop

[captaincaveman]

A mate of mine is in the process of opening a reptile shop in the warwickshire area, he has kept reptiles, amphibs and inverts for years and worked in the reptile trade for many years. Anyway I said I would do a bit of reserch for him and ask a couple of questions,

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?

[Athravan]

I can't answer on behalf of being a customer, but as a retailer, here is my opinion

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?

In my experience people are not willing to travel far for livefood/frozen unless it is significantly cheaper, they'll go to the closest shop... but for equipment and especially livestock, hobbyiests will travel across the country, and locals will go the extra distance to the shop they feel is the best, or have the most loyalty to.

2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?

As a retailer for mesunday can either be dead slow or super busy, it really
varies a lot, but it's always worth opening. My council specifies that I have to go and turn the lights on and feed the animals every day even if we're not open anyway - if you have to do that, might as well open, even if it's just for a few hours.

3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?

Never tried this, but as a customer.. I'd probably appreciate a shop that's open after work. As a retailer, I'd be way too knackered to open late, although maybe worth it around holiday times like christmas.

4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?

I get a lot of requests for health checks (basic ones where we give them a quick check over and weigh them, see if it's the right weight, and give them the number of our recommended vet if they are having a specific problem), sexing (probing), nail clipping, and holiday boarding.

Dunno if that helps

[ratboy]

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
Not far .... 20-30 miles maybe.

2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
Yes... Most definately.

3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
No. I just want to go home... Shopping is for weekends

4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?
Delivery of things like vivariums, large sacks of substrate etc. If I order on-line, large/heavy stuff is delivered to my door. If I order from a shop, it should be too.

[BecciBoo]

How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
I don't go to my closest shop for live food etc, but thats because its really expensive. I live in Sale, Cheshire and travel to Stockport for food and bits and bobs. For livestock I am willing to travel very far, if its what I want and the shop is good. I quiet often travel to snakes n adders in Leeds. (by the way I don't drive )

2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
Yep..I tend to do most of my shopping on sundays.

3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
It would be if the shop was on the way home.

4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?
Online, so I can see a list of stock and equipment before I visited incase they didnt have what I wanted. Sexing would be helpful, but anyone opening a shop should ave this sort of knowledge anyway. Erm...All the staff had the correct knowlege.

[freekygeeky]

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
i currently drive 40 mins
2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
yea
3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
yea
4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?
being friendly. talk ative...

[Torres13]

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
2 hours max drive
2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
not for me because I work Sunday but I would suggest you open Sunday
3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
Yes
4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?
Allow services like reptile taxi etc to courier your livestock to customers who live too far. Also longer than a 48hr guarantee for more expensive livestock

[Trice]

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?

Not on a regular, maybe every now and then i'd drive a couple hours?

2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?

based on the reptile shop i go to near me, they're open sundays and it's usually impossible for me to get in there on sundays. Theres always sooo many people there and all of their livefoods pretty much get sold out on those days

3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
Don't; think it would matter too much.

4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?

[SiUK]

Originally Posted by captaincaveman

A mate of mine is in the process of opening a reptile shop in the warwickshire area, he has kept reptiles, amphibs and inverts for years and worked in the reptile trade for many years. Anyway I said I would do a bit of reserch for him and ask a couple of questions,

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
A pretty long way to check out a shop or if they have something I really want.

2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
For me yes it is, Sunday is the only day when I can travel long distances

3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
After 6-6.30pm probably probably not

4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?
Not exactly I think a warm and welcoming atmosphere and helpful staff is good, not really a service but it would make me want to visit the shop more

there you go mate

[Kellybee]

For me, I buy my bugs either on a Sunday or a wednesday late night.... thats the only days I can get to my fave shop which is about 14 miles from home... I prefer to buy there as they do 14 large hoppers in a box instead of the crappy six or seven I get in the local pet shop. I like to spend my money with people who value their trade and look after their animals too.. I've actually just moved back to Cov so have arranged for the shop to send me bugs in the post... nobody does livefood at value for money like they do. Anyway where is this shop going to be, I'm Warks and a new shop is really exciting !!

[claire_e_dodd]

Originally Posted by captaincaveman

1; How far are you willing to travel to a decent reptile shop?
2; Is sunday opening important or usefull to you?
3; Would late night opening appeal to customers?
4; Is there any service you would like to see from a reptile shop that would appeal to you?

1. Currently I drive form Halifax to Leeds (Snakes N Adders) which is fantastic so I don't consider going anywhere further, not sure if I'd go much further than an hours drive if that wasn't there though.

2. Very usefull, I think it could be worth opening limited hours, say 11-4, or even shorter.

3. Yes, I can't shop during the week due to work, and I don't want to have to rush around doing everything at the weekend, so late opening once or twice a week could be good. The beauty of running your own shop is you open when you want, so to compensate for later openings, you could do a half day on one of the weekdays, or open late as well as closing late on one day.

4. Pretty much what's already been said, sexing and care advice, info on local vets, up to date website, delivery & reptile taxi services. And the opportunity for local breeders to sell offspring to the shop to sell on, like supporting the local community rather than big CF importer types.