Hi there
I can give some advice on this as I have been involved in opening a fishing tackle shop in the past, and is something I woul personally not do again.
Its a tricky business to get into, and most of the big names will not allow certain shops to stock their brands for various reasons, either they are new and have no credit rating as such within the Industry or other shops nearby already stock their brands.
Its a hard slog and very frustrating, and not being able to stock the big brands is a very big downside.
You have had some good advice already, but here is what I found.
Daiwa, Shakespeare,Shimano and ABU were a BIG no go. They would only allow certain shops to stock their brands, and wouldnt take on new shops no matter how much money they had to spend on stock.
Penn said yes, but insisted on a £10,000 minimum order.
A tackle shop owner I knew very well took years to get an account with Shimano and had to provide 3 years of good profit making to get it !!
A lot of the big names are all now part of one company and I understand that things are no better.
The big mail order boys also get good discounts, making it very difficult for the tackle shop to compete, and more people now buy on line.
The ones I found ok at the time were Fladen,titan,breakaway and gemini, however, mainly sea fishing.
Those that might help now are Tronix,Ian Golds,Anyfish Anywhere.
There are smaller companies that sell lures etc that will help.
Suffix were also very good.
Berkley were a no no.
Kiddies (if they are still going) a wholesalers were good as well, and stocked quite a bit and a few branded items.
I wouldnt just go for cheap fishing gear. Its ok to an extent in sea fishing but not for course/carp as these boys like their brands, and this is where I had a problem with companies such as fox.
There isnt much to be made selling sea fishing gear to be honest, but the carp boys do like their gear and do spen, however, you ahve to have the big names or its not wirth doing !!!
There are now companies such as Awa-Shima (sea fishing), but their items are quite expensive and not yet tried and tested.
Then you need to think of good baits which can be a nightmare. there are companies that will sell you some course baits, but its also knowing how to store all the baits, such as maggots, and have good freezers/cool areas etc
With sea baits getting peeler crabs is a nightmare, and you will need a good supplier of fresh lug and rag, no good thinking you can dig enough of your own, as you wont have the time to dig enough, and storing them can be a problem.Then there are the frozen baits, mackeral,squid, sandeel,razor fish etc etc. Ammo may help. I wouldnt go down the farmed rag route either.
If you are still going to go ahead, you will need plenty of money for stock !!! You will also need plenty of money to keep you afloat for a good 2 years. One of you amy have to do a full time job elsewhere for quite some time to keep things going !!!
Let me know if you need any other advice or help, and I will do my best to help. I may still have some contacts for bait and stock, depending on where abouts in the country you are !!
I wish you luck if you go ahead, but be careful.
Its a hard slog in the fishing tackle shop environment, and I wouldnt normally be all doom and gloom, and would encourage anyone to start their own business, but this in one that is very very hard !!
Let me know if I can help with anything else, and if I think of anything will let you know.
Good luck
Regards
Mike
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