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!

Part of me hesitated writing this but because of the number of inquiries we continue to get on a daily basis we thought we should let you know what is going on… which is this.

We went live with our new website 5 months ago and our website traffic jumped by over 30% but so too did the number of calls and emails asking when the ecommerce part of our site will be live. To our surprise the biggest stumbling block has been the difficulty in getting the right information in a downloadable format from our suppliers. We require high resolution images and product descriptions in a CSV file and when we have approached the majority of our suppliers most have said, “Ummm, we don’t know what a CSV file is. Just go to our website and start cutting and pasting.” This would be okay if we were only dealing with a few hundred items but we have over 10,000 items that we have to transfer into our system so the cut and paste route doesn’t quite cut it (no pun intended).

Well, after a bit of insistence from us many of our suppliers have stepped up to the plate and we have downloaded a considerable amount of product into the site and we are now in the process of screening it for mistakes to prepare for a staged launch that will feature a limited number of products from a select few suppliers. Our ecommerce team is continuing to work feverishly (they have even been threatened with not getting dessert) and we hope to surprise everyone by actually having the site live in the coming weeks.

No one is more anxious than us to have the site live and we hope that you will like what we have done when you finally get a peek!

If nothing else we’re keeping the folks at UPS busy because Sage, Simms, Patagonia and Orvis all arrived this week and Billy, Hugo, Ian and Sheldon are all pulling their hair out at the moment trying to get everything unpacked, into the system and onto the floor.

If you are looking for Canada’s best selection of fly fishing gear now would be a good time to pop into the store! Just an FYI…

The main benefit of being in fly fishing retail is having the opportunity to meet some truly wonderful people from all walks of life and one of those people is a passionate fly angler and professional water colour artist who currently resides in Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island by the name of Diane Michelin. Originally from Montreal, Diane’s fly fishing art is appreciated in private collections throughout Canada, the United States and in Europe and if you are lucky enough it may eventually appear on a wall in your home as well.

There are a few artists whose work in particular captures fly fishing in a way that many may appreciate but only anglers truly understand and Diane is one of those artists. As she says on her website, “My water colours describe the essence of fly fishing as told by exotic paraphernalia, rusty pick up trucks, fishin’ dogs and snazzy tackle. The story is about optimism, bits of fur and feathers, solitude and companionship. Each day on the river is notable in the mist off the water or the misadventure of the moment. Consequently, I am inclined to depict the everyday aspect of our passion amid the complexity of the water, light and colour. For it is this that fuels us in our inordinate conservation commitments and the nonstop chatter in the fly shop.”

For more information on Diane please check out her website at www.dianemichelin.com