Opening a Fishing Tackle Shop

I am thinking about opening a fishing tackle shop in Surrey and I wanted to ask anyone on the forum who owns a tackle shop if it is still a profitable business or whether the big discount tackle dealers in the Angling Times and the internet have made life just too difficult. Also it is tough to get any information from Fox etc on what profit margins are available on their. Can anyone help me on this before I go any further with my plans.

depends on the location, you will need to keep in touch with the local angling communities and get involved with some of the clubs, give away stuff for events and a bit of sponsorships, many of the larger specialist companies wont deal with you if they are suppliying someone else in the area and then you will need to place a sizable order in order that they will supply you, you will also need to carry a large stock of everything, especially if you go into the specialist side of the trade, then there the maggots, alway fresh, discounts for regulars etc, turn up at events, its bloody hard work and not many of the smaller ones survie very long, it can take years to become established, I`ve have loads of mates gone bump and lost thousands trying to start and establish a tackle shop, good luck mate

yes its one of those things that looks good on paper but the reality is a whole lot different< i dont mind the graft but i am not sure what type of profit margins tacjle shops work off? for example whats the profit margin on a shimano baitrunner or fox bite alarms? can anyone shed a bit of light on the profit margins or is it too much of a trade secret for anyone to let on?

Ask yourself why there is a shortage of small tackle shops --if it was a viable business there would be more of them ....

Most of your money is tied up in stock which may remain on your shelves for ages

Unfortunately for the small dealers (but fortunately for the angler)internet shops and big discount operators now have the lions share of the trade

It would certainly not be a venture I'd put my money into (if I had any !!)

Like the Monk I too know a few people who have tried and failed ...

When I was working in a tackle shop, nearly 20 years ago now, the discount at which you bought at could be anywhere from 20-50% of RRP. Whether this is still the case I really don?t know and its not often you have to pay the RRP anyway these days.

I am sure the tackle trade still does well, but I would imagine it has got harder and harder for the small guy. As for starting from scratch, well I would say that would be a huge risk.

Its not so much the profit margin that should be interesting you, more important is the amount of turnover you think you can generate.

I think it is fair to say that the majority of high value items, top end Rods,reels, poles etc are bought from the bigger shops/mail order/internet companies.

The small local tackle shop will see the bulk of its turnover come from the bits & bats and bait.

I would think the biggest obstacle to starting from scratch would be the investment in stock, these days most good tackle shops are ?one-stop-shops? where you can get everything you need. Unless you have the cash to stock to this extent I would think it would be hard to build up a regular, loyal customer base.


Good Luck !

As Beecy says

It doesn't matter WHAT the profit margins are -- you still have to SELL the item to get it ...

You also need to add up all your expenses e.g. business rates, power and electricity, fridges, rent, insurance, tax and VAT advisors etc. Then you may have a good idea of what you're paying out on a monthly basis before you put a penny in your wallet. Speak to some small shop owners first as part of your research.

Make sure that you open it in an area where people can park outside easy, be prepared to be open early (7.30am) on sat and sun for selling bait. Make sure that you are located correctly and away from competition preferably near or enroute to some fisheries. Stock decent kit at the right price and maintain your stock levels.
Make sure that you allow for the seasons and cashflow accordingly. Remember if you open one you probably wont get the chance to go fishing again. Where abouts in Surrey?

Look on e-bay at the number of internet dealers there who have next to no overheads and have a massive turnover. Many items sold are end of line good quality products, which I presume they buy in batches at the right price, then sell on fast. They keep items in their garage, have no fancy counters, stands or expensive staff and post daily, which the customer always pays for.
It may be a good way to start and in reality if all goes tits up you will not have lost a fotune.

thanks everyone. good tips so far and very much appreciated. i wonder in a funny way if its the type of shop that should really open at the weekends. I wonder how much of the trade is done at the weekend? 90%? maybe the shop sould just stock the bits and bobs plus bait and leave the rods etc to the internet and tesco. perhaps the shop needs to be more proactive in selling. what about free delivery for your maggots and bait on friday evening. i'd go for that and while the vans there i'll have some groundbait etc....have i lost the plot. would anyone else buy from me if the bait was delivered to your door in a nice chilled van? or would you all rather go into a shop for a chat and a browse?

sorry Phil, I was composing at the same time you posted your ebay message. thats a good tip

Honest Nicks (bivvy delivery service), now that could work mate, boilies, kebab, case of stella and a pretty maid in black sussies to deliver it, 3rd bivvy back of the 4th island, the one with the note left out for the milkman!

see I knew there was an angle! cant get that on the internet....actually on second thoughts you probably could...

If you want to see what you would be up against in terms of competition from other areas do this.

Draw a square and divide that into four other squares. In the top left write "SHOP", top right "MAGAZINE ADS", bottom left "EBAY", and bottom right "WEB SITE".

Now decide for yourself how much business goes to each box in percentage terms. Bear in mind, magazines don't sell as much as they used to, and web sites can cost about ?6000 to set up properly and could take 2 years or more before you get anything back. Ebay is a cheaper option and getting popular by the day since many anglers flog second-hand stuff on Ebay and want to spend the funds on tackle.

My guess is you'll probably leave yourself with around 40% of sales through a shop, that includes fresh bait through to rods and reels. Now try to estimate what it costs to run a shop and try and guess at how many anglers there are within a 5 miles radius of where you are going to open it.

Off the top of my head it costs around ?600 per week (maybe more in your area) to run a shop and you'll need to take 4-5 times as much as that through the old Jewish piano (the till). So if you have 1000 keen anglers in your area, they need to each spend about ?13 per month on average.

Sounds simple? Where do they go at the moment? How much do they buy off the net? Do they fish all year round?

You will have desperately bad periods, January through to May are particularly bad, when you may want to hang yourself. Then you may get the odd Saturday (like this Saturday coming) when everyone is packing out your shop buying up stuff for the new season.

But remember, there are those who will just buy a packet of hooks, a pint of maggots, a new spool of line, a selection of shot and two floats and they will pack away their stuff as soon as any one of those items runs out. They're the once a year specialists and they drive you crazy!

Needs a lot of thinking about.

mind you a delivery bivvy bitch service could be a starting point?

Some good advice here.

I have noticed a seismic shift in my local tackle shop. It is now very much dominated by "peripherals" as they say in the computer world...hooks,lines, sinkers, specialist carp/speci stuff and lots of baits. "Big" items such as rods, reel, poles etc are now kept to a minimum. he will get occasional good deals on "biggies" e.g recent supply of seat boxes (had about 6 in). Also the shop has been in business for the 30 years I've lived up here and some more.

Good luck

diversification, ah yes, ours started selling guns, later sweets and now he sells drugs

woody - well done that man. this is getting a bit like the apprentice! excellent.
posh paul - i think its exactly like the computer business. people check the price of rods and reels to the Nth degree but probably wont shop around for the line/hooks/bait etc. just like selling ink cartridges that cost as much as the printer.
i just cant help but feeling the service from tackle shops has not really changed that much in the 35 years I have been fishing apart from the magazines and weeklies getting ever more dominated by the tackle companies trying to punt their latest wonder bait/rig/hook etc. after all at heart its a servicee business more than ever as we have all noted the purchase of big items has moved to the internet and wont be coming back ever. sitting in a tackle shop waiting for punters to come in looks old fashioned to me. if the mountain wont come etc....i'll be knocking on your bivvy door soon! in a nice way of course!

Also think of this: how far away is the next nearest tackle shop and how big is it. If it's bigger than what you intend setting up then they'll be able to buy stock cheaper than you can and therefore sell cheaper. If they sell cheaper and 'your' punters don't have to travel too much further then they'll go for the cheapest option - there is no loyalty when it comes to spending cash.

Think very hard before you go the tackle shop route. And do your homework very thoroughly before you take the plunge. The tackle trade has been on a very slippery slope for some time now and although there are some signs of improvement it's still a high risk business.

theres a new shop opened up near me - the way i found out was a chance comment by someone in France! must pop over and have a look, though i believe they are mainly internet based.....