Hello Geoffrey, how long have you owned or operated the store?
I took over the store on December 1, 2022, which I had already managed for 3 years.
Why did you decide to run a fishing store?
I decided to work in the fishing industry because it was my dream to turn my passion into a career.
As a keen angler, I travelled all over France where I saw many different stores in which I could see many things I liked and things I wanted to avoid in my future own store.
When I set up my store, I wanted above all to be autonomous and to have a place where it's easy to find your way around thousands of items, and where every angler would have at his disposal what he needs according to the type of fishing he does.
How did you become a fishing enthusiast?
At the age of 5, I asked my mother if I could go fishing, and it was my grandfather who took me out to catch my first roach with a rod carved from bamboo. But the fishing that got me totally hooked, I discovered a few years later. I used to fish for perch with ultra-light lures several times a week.
Can you tell us about the store?
Fish on Shop is a 620 m² store located in Chasseneuil-du-Poitou, France. 3 of us work full time and we also have a student on a work-study course. We stock around 14,000 items, mainly for carp, predator and spearfishing, but not only. We work with the biggest brands to satisfy as many anglers as possible. We don't have a website, so we sell our products directly in store.
What do you think of France's fishing economy?
Economically, fishing has, in my opinion, come back in the mid-2010s. In fact, fishing experienced a very sharp increase after COVID, but this effect has faded. We have to remain vigilant to the economic situation, as inflation has hit the fishing world hard, and we are extremely vulnerable to climatic conditions that can jeopardize the state of rivers (droughts, repeated floods) and therefore the practice of fishing.
Social networks have also taken on a dominant role in our customers' consumption habits, perhaps to the detriment of their technical evolution. Fishing like so-and-so because he's made fish, rather than knowing whether it's suited to the environment he's fishing in.
If there was one thing you could change about your job, what would it be?
I'd like to see more sales training with brands at the water's edge. It's not the same thing to sell a product that's been advised by a salesperson, or to sell a product that you believe in because you know how to get the most out of it at the water's edge, and with which you've caught fish.
And the one you'd like to keep at all costs?
Customer relations are at the heart of our business. Seeing a customer leave the store with products and, above all, advice, and then seeing him come back a few weeks later with a big smile on his face, telling me that he's made plenty of fish. These moments of sharing are priceless.
Why do you think your customers buy from you?
The customer experience, I like to think that when a person enters the store, he or she arrives in a world dedicated to fishing to benefit from our experience and advice. That's what's closest to my heart. the company's motto, "Technicality at your fingertips", symbolizes this.
The wide choice of equipment, product availability and the ability to place orders and get products quickly are also strong points of the store.
Do you still have time to go fishing?
I can't go out 5 or 6 times a week anymore, and that's quite normal.
I take the time to go there regularly. Despite talking about fishing all day in the store, the passion is still there. And for nothing in the world would I miss a trout opening on the Touvre, the pike opening or go on vacation without a fishing rod in the car.
