Mom and pops local bait stores

[Jbass2]

I sent you a private message.

[TampaJim]

IMO, you’d need an ‘all in one’ solution to be profitable.
Fish camp, mini store, bait, fuel, etc. Multiple streams.
There’s very little room for an old school type shop.
Unless ... you are in a very remote area, Alaska, etc.

[clearlake outdoors]

I had my shop for 10 years , just sold it in march.Plenty of business and a busy store. Did not do internet sales and we made it work.It was a lot of work to keep it going and taxes of all kinds are getting out of hand.

[Garage Dog]

We are lucky to have some really good smaller shops here in Texas. They excel by knowing the market, staying ahead of trends and offering incredible customer service and usually really good pricing. They compete with big box just fine and all seem to want to earn your business rather than sitting back assuming people should support them simply because they are local.

We have one here
http://fishinfranks.com

This is how it's done. Take a look around his web site and you can see the work he puts in. He does pod casts, live radio. Listen to some of them. Sometimes he gets a little off track but some great teaching there. He goes to EVERY boat show within 50 miles and sets up a huge display and gives fishing seminars. He is surrounded by a staff that are real fishermen, which is a big plus.
I would say if you love working 24/7 365 go for it. It's a passion for him and I don't know any other way to do it.

[milligjg]

If your ever in N.E. Missouri you need to stop at the Hobbie Hut in Perry and say Hi to Vince & Zelda. Best "Mom & Pop" store in the Midwest!

[Quillback]

Local store here called Hook, Line, and Sinker (HLS), they have 2 stores, one in Rogers on the road to Prairie Creek on Beaver lake, it's by far the busiest launch, many tournaments held there. The other store is here in Bella Vista. They do a great job of having bass stuff in stock that works on the local lakes. Good staff that fish a lot. They sell a lot of crickets and minnows. I don't now how long they have been in business, but it's been at least 20 years, and by all appearances they are going strong.

[eriedude]

So a crankbait manufacturer is getting almost 80 points?

You mentioned you owned a small store. Were you buying direct or from a buying group like Big Rock?

I bought from the manufacturers when I could but a lot of them worked only through distributors and protected their territories. You have to remember this was before the $10 -12 dollar cranks like you see today. I'd pay $3.65 plus ship for Bandits and sell them for $4.49. Rapalas, Pradco, Rattletraps and others all had smaller mark-ups. When you bought direct from a manufacturer you had large minimum orders and you didn't get to pick your sizes and colors all the time. I don't know about now but in the 90's the tackle industry was distributor driven as was most businesses that have a highly diverse SKU inventory. At that time, there were no buying groups that I knew of.

[C_W]

You don't know the tackle business. Or at least the crankbait business.

I bought from the manufacturers when I could but a lot of them worked only through distributors and protected their territories. You have to remember this was before the $10 -12 dollar cranks like you see today. I'd pay $3.65 plus ship for Bandits and sell them for $4.49. Rapalas, Pradco, Rattletraps and others all had smaller mark-ups. When you bought direct from a manufacturer you had large minimum orders and you didn't get to pick your sizes and colors all the time. I don't know about now but in the 90's the tackle industry was distributor driven as was most businesses that have a highly diverse SKU inventory. At that time, there were no buying groups that I knew of.

Very classy, you haven't seen today's industry and yet you tell others they don't know the business?

[Crestliner16]

I owned a tackle shop, in the 80s, most sales were live bait, I didn't buy from a wholesale company 25 miles away. I raised my own , and seined minnows, long hours, open early, closed late. Made my own lead products. It wasn't easy, with competition, however I repaired rods,reels, trolling motors,and a few other items , but the taxes aye up most of the profits. Plus I had to travel to seminars and keep up with local fishing conditions. Lasted about 3 years, and couldn't keep up two jobs.

[n2ratfishin]

So, what I’m reading after 3 pages from most who have actually tried their hand at this if you factored in all the hours you worked it’s hard to pay yourself a “living wage” much less a full staff enough to raise a family of four plus benefits? Yet most here DEMAND the best price AND employees get a great wage, plus they pay their “fair share” in taxes. As you read it’s tougher than a two dollar steak to make it in any small biz. That happens to be America’s second largest employer behind our government. Our government is funded by these buisnesss. All the Fortune 500’s combined only employ about 8 percent of America.

[bradjames12]

You don't know the tackle business. Or at least the crankbait business.

Yea... actually I do know the business... I worked for a big box store for many years (Gander) aand my best friend works at a American Legacy. I know costs on pretty much everything...

[Axkiker]

Just had one which had been in business since the mid 60's shut down. He was a combo shop (guns, archery, check station, live / artifical bait,). Just happened to ride by and saw 50% off everything so I stopped in and proceeded to part ways with a good chunk of cash. When sifting through the piles of baits etc you could tell that a bundle of that stuff had been there for years. The labels would be yellowed from age. There is no telling what could have been found if you had free range to get in the back and go through the boxes of stuff. Not sure why he closed but my guess is he either died or was health releated.

[swardrn]

I buy most of my stuff from local fishing tackle shops. I love them. The owners know me and if I want a particular reel or rod all I need to do is call. They also believe it or not beat basspro prices.

[c rig]

I'd thought about it at one time, seems you'd have to have several revenue streams to keep money flowing. Freshwater fishing business around here is good during the Spring(weather dependent), then slows down in Summer as many people switch to saltwater fishing. Picks up a bit in Fall, but our deer season runs mid August until January.

It'd be a lot of work to keep money flowing. Combine a tackle shop with a convenience store/gas station. Have a grill operating for burgers, dogs, chicken, chili, BBQ, that sort of thing. Try to make your grill an income source, have special meal nights...steak night, BBQ night, AYCE fried fish, something to keep business coming in. Maybe put some storage units in. Live bait seasonally, raise your own worms/crickets. Be ready to switch gears when hunting season rolls around, carry some basic ammo and archery supplies.

Make your own hand tied jigs and buck tails. Either pour plastics, or find an established company that would be willing to shoot you bulk plastics at a decent price, then repackage them. An old shop that was here for years used to do that, he bought unbranded plastics from somewhere.... maybe Southern Plastics or Harvilles, companies that shot plastics for a lot of companies. He'd sell small count bags, 50 count bags, and 100 count, he sold a lot of bulk 100 count because very few others did.

Along with basic catfish/bream/crappie gear carry some higher end rods that aren't carried in your area. For example, I've never seen a Dobyns or Kistler rod for sale in my area.

Got out to carry something different...around here if you sell Zoom you're competing with Dicks Sporting goods, Field and Stream, Gander, Palmetto State Armory, Walmart, + every other smaller retailer trying to compete. You won't make money.

[sflam123]

Here around Ky. and Barkley lakes, there are 6 (at least) “Mom and Pop” tackle stores within a 25 mile radius as the crow flies. All seem to be relatively successful, but almost all of them have a hunting side or some other side to help get them through the lean winter months. They all tend to concentrate on the local preferred baits and tackle and leave the “trendy” items to the Big Box or online retailers.

[ohsnags]

Afield. Great little shop in Taylor Creek, Oh. ( Cincinnati ). Used to be an old bar. Known for their muskie section of baits and guns.

[Crankinstick]

Personally I live just down the road from Bucks and Bass (our local bait shop), and I try to buy as much from them as I can. They are great guys, and I'd rather give them a few dollars more for great service and local knowledge. I would tell you that your location and how you treat your customers will be key to success.

Our Bucks and Bass went all hunting on me. Anything firearms related is available. Was told about 3 weeks ago that they are reconsidering bringing back the " Bass" side of the business. Located in Wabash In.

[Quillback]

Local store here called Hook, Line, and Sinker (HLS), they have 2 stores, one in Rogers on the road to Prairie Creek on Beaver lake, it's by far the busiest launch, many tournaments held there. The other store is here in Bella Vista. They do a great job of having bass stuff in stock that works on the local lakes. Good staff that fish a lot. They sell a lot of crickets and minnows. I don't now how long they have been in business, but it's been at least 20 years, and by all appearances they are going strong.

Harvey Horne, who works at HLS, just won the BASS Open at Dardanelle. He's a good man, congrats!

[bkeenom]

You need a good location and large fishing population. It would help if you offered other services. Rod repair, reel cleaning, custom baits. Also, if it is part of a larger offering such as gas and can enhance store items you would generate more traffic. Toledo town & tackle is a good example of this.

[eriedude]

Very classy, you haven't seen today's industry and yet you tell others they don't know the business?

Thank you! I am very classy and very knowledgeable too.