It is mid-May. You are at work. It is sunny. You have your gear in the car and you are wondering if fly fishing conditions on the Grand River are worth cutting out early.

In a word: YES!

Temperatures on the upper reach are perfect. Water clarity is excellent, Hendricksons are still coming off and we are seeing some craneflies, grey foxes and the beginning of a tan caddis hatch. Tell your boss you are not feeling well and you need to go home… and if he/she falls for it stop into WILSON’S Fergus at 105 Queen Street West to say hello!

Today is a special day here at WILSON’S because it is the beginning of our 15th year in business! Our store opened on April 20 1998 at the corner of Wellington and Scott Street in downtown Toronto and it is both ironic and humorous that as we prepare to open our new store in Fergus this Sunday we are experiencing the same trepidation we had all those years ago. What goes around comes around…

We are truely thankful to be some of the lucky few who are involved professionally in the fly fishing retail community and we appreciate the opportunity to meet people on a daily basis who share our passion for the sport. To that end, please join us tomorrow between the hours of 9am and 5pm for the ‘soft’ opening of our new store at 105 Queen Street West, Unit 6 in Fergus We are excited about this next chapter in our history and look forward to sharing it with you!

Today’s Globe and Mail has an article on the front page of the sports section entitled, “The Rules of Trotz” by Eric Duhatschek and it talks about how Nashville Predators coach BarryvTrotz has built his team into a winner by using sound business techniques and principles. The article lists five basic rules that can apply equally to any business including ours:

1. Help the players get better because it is good for the team;
2. Give the players ownership and listen to their input;
3. When something is broken fix it;
4. Always do the right thing; and,
5. See Rule No. 1.

Not surprisingly these same rules can apply to, say, a fly fishing trade show…:

1. Help the (Forum) get better because it is good for the (fly fishing community);
2. Give the (attendees) ownership and listen to their input;
3. When something is broken fix it;
4. Always do the right thing; and,
5. See Rule No. 1.

Just a thought…

On a business note, we are continuing to set up our store in Fergus this weekend so if you are in the neighbourhood please drop in and say hello! The phone number at our new fly shop is 519-787-3474.

One of the critical ingredients to running a business is having the right people in place. This is especially true in specialty retail and perhaps even more so in fly fishing retail. Unlike a run-of-the-mill retailer that sells, for example, shoes a fly fishing store does not have the luxury of being able to hire someone off the street, giving them a uniform and a name tag and putting them behind the counter to take orders. Customers who walk into a fly shop expect that the person behind the counter will know at least as much about fly fishing as they do – and hopefully more. People expect a level of expertise in fly shops that is frankly tough to find as an employer. Not only do these employees need to know fly fishing they need to know how to sell the product and, most importantly, how to treat customers. People come into a fly fishing store to shop the first time but they come back because they enjoyed their experience. Finding employees who understand the concept that the customer comes first is surprisingly tough in fly fishing retail. We don’t quite know why but in our experience many potential employees who we think are normal, sentient beings undergo a sort of transmogrification when they get behind a sales counter that turns them into complete knobs. Some put it down to the ego that is unfortunately found all too often in fly shops. We attribute it to being just plain stupid and the bad customer service that results is the reason why we have had to let go more than a few people over the years. These people for whatever reason could not grasp the concept that the sun in fact does not shine out of their derrières.

We are fortunate to have a great team in place in our Toronto store that is lead by Vasilios “Bill” Katraouras. Backing up Bill are Hugo Ma, John Lambert, Danny Desiato and Sheldon Seale. They make everyone feel welcome and we are lucky to have them all on our team but these guys can’t be in two places at once and with a second fly shop opening shortly we have been faced with trying to figure out who we can get to help Rob Heal who will be running the new operation under Bill’s guidance.

Well, we have! We are delighted that we have found a second full-time and 2 part-time employees to work alongside Rob in our new Fergus store. In addition, we have added 3 more fly fishing guides to our team all of whom have drift boats. There are temporary signs in the windows of Unit 6 at 105 Queen Street West in Fergus to make people aware that we are opening our fly shop on the banks of the Grand River shortly but the most important issue – having the right team in place – has now been resolved. We will be posting pictures and bios in the coming days as we start to move inventory and fixtures out of our store in Toronto (and my garage at home).

Watch for more details shortly – our team is growing!

We have been informed by the landlord in Fergus with whom we have been negotiating that the current tenant in the space we have leased conditionally has agreed to vacate as of March 31st. That means we have an increasingly green light to open our Grand River Fly Shop in April – but we still have a few issues (two in particular) to iron out before that happens. First and foremost we have to finalize what items the current tenant will be leaving in the premises. Secondly – and of equal importance – we have to come to terms with the Landlord on the head lease.

Are these items a piece of cake for the friendly guys at WILSON’S? Nope. Are we a bit on edge? Yup.

Stay tuned…