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Do you think this "holier than thou" attitude might be a common denominator with specialty shops of any kind? I distinctly recall Massachusetts tack shops having the same attitude. Unless you were spending a thousand dollars on a new, high-tech pair of riding britches or boots, you didn't really warrant their notice. I don't think any fly shop has ever made me feel as inferior as a New England tack shop.
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I personally introduce myself to every new patron who comes to the library. I instruct my volunteers to greet every patron when he or she enters. Over time I have learned dozens of patrons' reading preferences and I have adjusted my reading stocks to match. Patronage is up, the number of books checked out is up and we are receiving accolades from the community. I treat my library patrons the way I wish to be treated. It works and it works well. Arrogance is an awful affliction. Genuinely engaging a person is the cure.
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Unfortunately, far too many of today's specialty shop owners seem to have forgotten the old adage, "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice."
Will
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Another point I would like to make. I know several fly shop owners and all of them have stated that the money makers are not the high ticket items but the incidentals; flies, leaders, tying materials etc. With that in mind I would think the shops would be more interested in selling you flies every week then a rod every couple of years if that.
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I assure you that at least in this case, it was not me with the bad attitude Kerry. On the contrary, I was eager to find out more about this event, PAY him for booth space and enjoy the show.
I was nothing but polite and this guy was ridiculous.
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Jeff - AKA Dr. Fish
If it has fins and swims than I must chase it!
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Local fly shop offered to let my scouts use his loaner rods,Help teach them basic casting stroke, and use his tying stations in shop to tie their own simple pattern. His charge was that there be at least one parent for every three scouts as he didn't want the responsibilty when they did something dumb. Pretty cheap lessons and probably fly fishers for life.
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There are good and bad shop owners and employes all over this country. I live in an area that has more shops than just about anyother in the country. And I will tell you that there are good shops and bad ones here to. Having guided out of a lot of them over the years I have found here are good employes just as there are bad customers.
I know one shop that has changed big time and it is do to the person running the front of the store. You walk in now and you are greeted and asked if you need help. If you tell them you do not need help they say "just let us know if you do". In years past you could go into that same store and you might get waited on in a month or two or if you had a lot of money. Good to see the change.
I went onto a shop this past year as I lost my bottle of fly floatant. That was all I needed and my son and I went in and bought one bottle. The owner was less than nice from the start.(I was not from out of state) Even though I tried to be nice to him it was more like I was a pain in his neck than someone buying something. Granted I was not buying a rod but I was spending money. The thing that set me off was the floatant was $3.95 a bottle and I gave the guy $4.00 and started to leave I had forgot that area had a tourist tax.(Most of Montana does not have any sales tax) As I was walking away the guy Yells "Hey buddy you are short here" I was short 3 cents. Now I don't know about you but for 3 cents it would not have made it worth my while to yell at a customer for those 3 pennys. I went back and gave him his 3 pennys and I also told him that I was a fly fishing guide and outfitter and that I would be sure and tell everyone that I knew about how nice he and his shop was. I then left. Nope I wouildn't go back on bet.
There are a few other in this area that think that if you don't have money they don't want to talk to you. But there are a lot of them that are just good down home people to. It is up to each of us to find out which is which. Part of being a shopper I guess? Ron
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We basically have two full service fly shops in town here...and then one marina store that also carries fly fishing stuff. The two honest-to-god fly shops are almost next door to one another...little more than a stone's throw.
Walk into shop #1 and you're greeted warmly and well taken care of. Info does not come with a price tag. They have hot coffee all the time and it's free. And they give loyal customers a "volume discount."
Walk into shop #2 and you'll have a hard time prying a word out of the shop owner. Ask a question that's not leading up to buying a new rod or a set of waders (of which he doesn't even keep a really good stock) and the response always seems to irritate him. His wife is a bit friendlier, but pretty condescending. The air is thick with arrogance and apathy.
The 2 shops have not been next door to one another for long. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
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Fishing the Ozarks
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A couple of summers ago, in July I think, a friend and I went to Ketchum, ID to spread the ashes of a good friend of his. (It was a wonderful experience and brought a lot of closure to my friend.) We'd fished our way down from Missoula, MT. We wanted to fish Silver Creek and went into a local fly shop to get the 411. The place looked really up scale and was. The young fellow who helped us, however, was not the least bit snooty or arrogant. We had both been on the road and river for 3 days and smelled and looked like it. The young man helped another customer when I told him we were just looking. I then hit the fly counter. He comes by, I tell him our plan, he pulls out a couple of trays of flies and made some suggestions. I bought a couple dozen flies and a pair of gaitors. It was a perfectly pleasant experience. He gave us more info than we could consume and off we went. I was expecting to get the attitude, but the opposite was true. When I am in that neck of the woods again, you know where I'll go.
I've had the opposite experience several times, and, of course, those shops are off the list. Several of them have closed. I'm pretty sure I know why.
Jeff
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Jeff,
I know where you are coming from with this. I am the greenest of greenhorns when it comes to fly-fishing. Last fall I was invited on a duck hunt. While traveling to the duck hunt I went through some amazing country that I had only heard about after being introduced to fishing with a fly, the Catskills. I was so excited to see some of the rivers that I had heard many stories about as I passed through. I decided that I would only hunt the morning of the last day so that I could stop at the fly shops in Roscoe on the way home. The last day of the hunt came and I was off and runnin'. I went to the Orvis shop and a couple others. It was awesome for me to be in that area! And THEN, came a well known shop(I won't mention the name, BUT SHOULD; you know who you are!). As I walked in, the two fellas working the shop totally ignored me. They were too worried about figuring out how to get a piece of plywood there for a display. After about ten minutes of browsing and hearing foul language, not even a HI, I wandered across the street and spent my money. I WILL be back to the area to fish as often as I can till I'm pushin' up daisies(I'm only 35), and I can assure you that I, and anyone who is with me will never set foot in that store.
Talk about blood pressure,sorry about the rambling.
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Land Em',
Carp