HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I guys! Long time, no talk! So, I'm taking a semester off college starting in January. My heart hasn't been in it this semester and my grades showed it, so why waste my time and money if I'm not sure that this is what I want to do with my life? Not to mention, with a degree in Wildlife Biology, I would need an insane amount of internship and experience, as well as six years of college [with top grades] if I even want a chance at finding a job. Six years of college for a job where the starting salary is about 30k and the average is about 50k. -.-" My stepdad makes that with a high school diploma. Sorry for the rant and lengthy backstory. Anywho...

I just wrote an email to a local small business pet store in my area. If anyone has some input or answers to my questions, feel free to share. If not, critique my letter! I haven't sent it yet, as I wanted some feedback. Are there other questions or topics I should include? Should I trim out the personal details? It seems quite lengthy. Anywho, here is their website, for reference: http://www.unclebills.com. Thanks!

Hello!
My name is Alisha Pluris. I'm a 20 year old student currently studying at Purdue University and attempting to figure out what on earth I want to do with my life. I've considered vet school, wildlife, forestry, but I'm not sure any of those paths are right for me. I remember Uncle Bill's (in Greenwood) being my all-time favourite pet store since I was a kid. We had a family owned pet store in my hometown, but for one reason or another, it closed. I'm amazed at how long Uncle Bill's has been around and how well it's managed to grow. I understand that you may not be able to answer all of my questions, and that's perfectly fine. As someone who is considering the same path as Mr. Wilson in the late future, there are a few things I am curious about.

I've read about the founding of Uncle Bill's on the website, but I would love a more detailed account of its history, if possible. The ups, downs, hurdles. How did the current setup come around? I mean, Uncle Bill's is the only pet store I've been to where adults can physically interact with certain animals on their own. I love that Unle Bill's is unique in that aspect!

How has Uncle Bill's managed to hold its own through the boom of large chain stores such at Petco and PetSmart?

How did you decide where to purchase your pet supplies from?

Where do you get each of your animals from? I think it would be nice to get animals from local breeders, but I fear that may prove to be too expensive.

This next question may be a bit personal, or it may be confidential information. I was just hoping that perhaps your could shed some light on how much revenue I could expect a typical family owned pet store to generate. Is it enough to really make a living or is it more of a dedicated hobby for those with the extra money?

Where did you find your vets? How often do they come in? Do they give check-ups or do they aid sick animals?

When do you exercise your pets?

How often does each species typically spend in the store before finding a home? Do employees ever take-in any animals that aren't getting adopted?

Of course, this is still a somewhat new idea I've had rolling around in my head. I own cats, rats, and hermit crabs right now. I've realized an animal-related career would be ideal for me, I'm just unsure of which one. I've slowly started to realize how much I love messing with my animals' cages and discussing proper care of animals on internet forums. So many large-scale pet stores care more about profit than education on proper care and supplies, so I think it would be nice to open a store like Unle Bill's where you can tell that the customers and animals come first. I just wanted some information to go off of. If my interests continue in this direction, perhaps someday I can get a job here, or even an internship would be wonderful. I apologize for the long-winded email. I really appreciate any time you may take to respond and any information you can provide.

Best wishes,
Alisha

I can tell you a little but about the small mom and pop (literally, they have two kids, but they're younger than me!) who last week were so successful they moved into a larger space that's about five times as large as the store they started in. They've been open for TWO YEARS and they did that well!

The reason why everyone here goes gaga for them is that they're a specialty pet shop that carries items that the big chains don't. They only offer premium food and supplies. (And in this town, it should have backfired but the clientele she attracts are the hardcore pet keepers.) The owner is also a former vet assistant so she knows her stuff, and she's also become quite the reptile and bird expert so all the serious herp and parrot keepers come to her both for advice and for food and supplies. She's also extremely open to advice about how she does things and will stop and research anything new that you can tell her so she can stay on top of the best care possible. It's incredible - she knows what she's talking about, and she's willing to learn more. I've never heard of any pet shop that was like that!

They also do not carry puppy and kitten mill animals. They will occasionally have kittens for adoption at cost, but these kittens are from local people who got into trouble, and they will only ever accept one "oopsie" litter from a family - she loads them up with information on low-cost spay/neuter in the area when they bring the kittens in. (Which is great, since the animal shelters constantly have to turn people away.) The two other "local" pet shops both carry mill animals and have staff that is ridiculously stupid.

She buys from reputable breeders, but she also rescues as much as she can. She'll accept animals from customers who come in looking to rehome, and she'll rescue animals in trouble as well. She's always nursing something back to health, and she is amazing with rehabbing mentally ill parrots. She also does some small in-house breeding on what she can.

Her prices are usually higher, but I happily pay them since she goes so far out of her way to give back to the community and because she's so stinking kind. The gerbils I adopted from her (and later had to rehome again due to allergies) she rescued from being snake food. (She only offers f/t rodents and will only take in snakes that eat f/t.) She's offered to help us out with the kittens we found. She took in an abandoned guinea pig when we didn't know what else to do with it, even though he was underweight and it took her a month and half to get him to the point where he could go to home with someone. I recently got a micro hermit crab from her that had gotten attacked while molting because she wanted him to have the best possible chance. I (and many others in this area) think of her as an animal rescue with a shop attached.

And probably the most important thing is that she's so personable and open, that everyone calls her and her husband by name. My husband and I refer to it as "going to Emily's" for supplies more than we actually call the store by name. (We're in there about once a week for something, even if it's just crickets.) Facebook has been a huge help in that aspect, I think. Many of her customers check in to see what new things and animals she's gotten in, and they're able to communicate with her easily. I love the fact that I can make requests for anything she doesn't have in stock, and she can order in exactly what I want.

I was shocked that they managed to do so incredibly well in this economy, but they were the right people who found the right niche. They have not had a day off in over two years now, but they seem to be okay with that. If you can sell yourself as different from the other stores, and there's enough customers in your area that feel the same way, I think you could do quite well. But you have to have a LOT of knowledge to set yourself apart from the big box stores and normal local pet shops.

The local pet store that recently opened up in my town has been wildly successful as well! But, that may be due to it's lack of competition. For a few years, people have had to commute to nanimo for anything pet, even something as simple as crickets! Then Faye opened up her store, with food, critters, supplies, the works. Her store was barren when she opened, and now it's jam packed. There have been three pet stores that have opened up recently, but they're all just cat and dog food stores
The thing that makes her so special is what she gives back, she's a huge promoter of the "shop alberni" thing going on, that's promoting local business. She's constantly taking in lost dogs and finding their owner, or rehoming all sorts of critters (she even got stuck with a mommy ciclid and about a thousand babies, but she found them all homes) and she's so darn friendly. It's obvious she loves what she does, and isn't afraid to get her hands dirty. Or slimy.. or scaley.. or hairy
She's totally open to help, we're pretty close and she's even ordered a couple hermies for me (violas!) and she was talking about setting up a hermit crab tank in the store, I was excited, until she started showing me the things in her "order book" she was going to get for them. But when I gave her some background info, she was shocked, but she still wants to have a hermie tank, only she wants to do it the right way We're working on it together, and I'm making up a kibble mix that she can sell for cheap in baggies, and I sent her wode's caresheets
What separates local pet stores from chains is the fact that they've opened their store because they care about animals and want to have healthy, happy ones in the community, whereas chain stores chase the almighty dollar and couldn't give a rats pink shiny butt about what actually happens to the animals. There was a local pet store before her that was open for about a month... it was basically a mini chain store, with sickly animals in awful enviornments. People would rather commute than buy from her, and I think the only thing people bought from her was crickets. Chain stores are just stores. Local businesses are so much more, and have so much more to offer. You can feel like family in there, and you can feel the animal love
I really hope it works out for you

Thank you both! I really appreciate both of your stories. Those family businesses sound exactly like what I would want my shop to be. High standards, good quality, friendly, and helpful. But I've always thought that opening a business is a risky endeavor. Like I said, the idea is just kinda rolling around in my head right now, so we'll see what happens!