The Northern California Fly Fishing Board

Well, the news will spread, so here it is. San Jose Fly Shop(Fly Fishig Specialties) will be closing in a few months unless there is a buyer in the future.

IMHO, the owner(s) ran it into the ground. Probably too much rent, did not market correctly, have a terrible website, and were horrible with inventory. The fall of customer service, which was discussed earlier, did not help matters either.

This is quite a shame and a reflection on ownership because this is happening without any real competition in the area - between the Midge, Ernie’s and Upstream all closing their doors. How can the 10th largest city in the country, with some of the incredible fishing within a few hours drive not support 1 shop, even with the economy the way it is?

So which one of you wants to open up a new fly shop? I am not sure I would call it a gold mine waiting to be had, but at least a silver mine…

It's obviously all Bush's fault.

Charlie, we KNOW it's all Bush's fault. Leave the poor guy alone, already. If we all pitch in, we'll get this country back on track in less than twice the length of time he was in office.

Back to the original post, I bet someone opens up a new shop as soon as the economy turns. You're right, Pound, there's plenty of opportunity for someone who is a businessman and creative.

It seems that the models that work best include mailorder, guiding and LOTS of marketing. We lost one of two in Tucson, so we've got one fly shop servicing more than a million folks. The reason the shop closed - the guy got lazy, didn't keep up with inventory and had a bad attitude. Sound familiar?

Pound wrote:
How can the 10th largest city in the country, with some of the incredible fishing within a few hours drive not support 1 shop, even with the economy the way it is?

…

Rent too high, payroll too high, margins too low, too many folks shop via the internet or at the big box because the prices are lower, eBay....

Apparently, the 10th largest city cannot support a fly shop. If it could, it would.

I have deliberately driven past the shop when I needed stuff in the last few months. Crappy service is its own reward......

Just up the road California Fly Shop and Lelands are doing fine. There are four large shops (including FF Specialties - where I frequently shop) in Sacramento. San Jose isn't so different that it couldn't support a well run and staffed shop. The San Jose fly club is one of the largest in the state. SJ flyshop seemed to go out of their way to alienate people. Joining at the hip with Blanton was a tactical mistake that undoubtedly cost them more customers than it gained. A well known female angler was completely ignored by the staff because she was a girl. Several guys came in after her and were immediately helped while she wandered around window shopping. When one of the customers recognized who she was, the staff fell all over themselves to help her.It was blatant. It was pathetic. And it spoke volumes about how they ran their business. . . My friend left the shop and drove out of her way to San Carlos to buy some expensive waders and boots rather than give the SJ flyshop her money. A business like this deserves to fail.

It is odd that a big city like San Jose can't support a fly shop, so it certainly must be customer service (or lack of it) that doomed them. Here in Sacramento we have three fly shops: Kiene's, American Fly Fishing and Fly Fishing Specialties. Sac is a whole lot smaller than SJ, yet these shops all have been in business for a long time. The customer service I've received at both Kiene's and American Fly has been outstanding, which is why I keep going back. I've never been to FFS or SJFS, so I can't say anything about them.

There's a basic business school lesson here, no?

--FlyGuy (Dave)

First off small business in the good old USA has been going away for decades. If you all think about it you have witnessed all this yourselves. Auto parts, office supplies, building supplies, fast food, camera shops, bicycle shops, etc have all gone to big chane stores which is just plan old progress.

The only business I would recommend is big business or something out of your garage with the Internet. No employees, no rent, no expenses....

Small business will keep shrinking till all there is left is big corporate stores for everything. Yes, there will be small business where there is no business like in rural small towns.

As far as US fly shops (~500 now) in America go only about 10% of the owners make a living wage.

On a factual note: "the best way to make a million dollars having a fly shop is to start with two million". That leads into more facts about some local fly shops. Leland's and California fly shop are very successful companies but the fact is the owners are very well funded so making a profit is not the main goal. Lots of wealthy folks buy existing fly shops and put lots of money into them which is wonderful. I'm jealous...

Another recent industry study shows that the box stores like Cabelas and Bass Pro have not done that well with their fly fishing departments and have not effected the well run fly shops that much. The report said that about 60% of all fly fishing tackle was bought at independently owned fly fishing shops.

I don't recommend starting any small business unless it's with working partners or out of your own "garage" with Internet sales.

The cost of doing business today is just too much for small independents. Rents, utilities, multiple insurances, wages, workman's comp, upgrading computer systems, maintenance, advertising, book keeping,....you get the picture.

For me it is what I do (sense 1965) and I still enjoy BSing with other outdoor types. If you don't enjoy people don't ever go into retail.

My first job in the industry was working part time in a fishing tackle shop in the 1960s while going to college. I told my friends, "They actually pay me to talk about fishing? Can you believe it."

Get a good education and then a good job so you can have a life and go fishing.........