BFT store in sourthern Ca

[wiperhunter2]

When I was in Ca. near LA I got a picture of the BFT store and thought some of you guys would like to see were it all started. The area is called Seal Beach.
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[Kayote]

Are there other BFT store around?

Good Fishing, Kayote
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[wiperhunter2]

I really don't know but I don't think so. I know The Angler would know, I think he is the guy that got this site going in the first place. I thought it started in Texas but when I was in Ca. on vacation, I was on my way to a friends house when I found the store, I had no idea it was there. Here is another picture of the the inside of the store through the window. WH2
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]That's quite a shot, WH2. You back yet? Ready to see those Raptors play and drink 1/2 price beers?[/size][/font]
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes I'm back my friend, just say when, I always like watching the Raptors lose and drinking half price beer. WH2
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[fuzzyfisher]

yeap thats it guy's the store is about the size of a 7-11.. but a great place to stop and get bait on the way to long beach harber.. or if you just want to go fishing on bellmont peir..

from the fuzzyfisher------------------fish on dudes
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[wiperhunter2]

It sounds like you have some first hand experience Fuzzyfisher, do you know if they book fishing trips or have charters? WH2
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[fuzzyfisher]

yes they do book charters and fishing trips..but if you want to do all that call peir piont in long beach they have a bigger verity of boat's to go on..
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[wiperhunter2]

Thanks for the info, the next time I'm out there I'll give them a try at long beach. WH2
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[theangler]

[size 2][size 1]Hello Guys,[/size]

[size 1]WiperHunter, sorry I missed you, I got your email a bit late but only live about 15 minutes from that store. Next time your down it would be great to get out on the water with you! Drop me a line if your up to it and we'll get on the fish.[/size]

[size 1]Guys I also received an email with some questions from oldcoot, he was curious about some things and thought this would be a great place to post the reply. Here is an excerpt of his email: " It got me thinking . . . how about giving us Utah guys a little background history of BFT? (How and when it all got started, who were/are involved in the venture, what are some of the best and worst things that have happened to BFT, where is the server located, how many store fronts are there, what are the plans for the fututer, etc.?)"[/size]

[size 1]Well here goes guys:[/size]

[size 1]Bobby Lienau Jr. (the owner of the store) and an associate of his Billy W. started BigFishTackle.Com in September of 1998, and hired a company I owned at the time (a web development company) to design and develop the site. The original site was an information site for local anglers and an on-line Tackle Store. By November the site was doing well and Bobby brought in his Father Bob Sr. to invest, and his sister Tiffany as CEO to Manage and increase the site substantially. About the same time I sold my company and was working with BigFishTackle.Com consulting, marketing, and setting up an in-house development department so the site could be developed full time. [/size]

[size 1]In May of 1999 I came on board full time as Marketing Director and development coordinator of BigFishTackle.Com at which time we started hiring additional developers, customer service people, etc..[/size]

[size 1]Over the next couple of years we grew BigFishTackle.Com into a national information fishing resource, and had expanded our tackle sales to over $95,000 monthly and were shipping to all states nationally and over a dozen countries. Because we shipped far more inventory and products then the store was equipped to stock most of our sales were drop shipped directly from distributors and manufacturers. At the volume of sales we were drop shipping it creates a serious problem in that drop shipping dramatically effects your product margin. This being the case we were faced with the decision to either start to inventory far more product in a new facility or to change our business model. [/size]

[size 1]The decision was made in September of 2001 that we would seek out a partner that could efficiently handle our volume of sales and reimburse us accordingly (the details of this arrangement are protected by a non disclosure agreement). After reviewing 7 counter proposals to our original proposal we opted for Bass Pro Shops. Our goal was then to implement their store solution at our site and aggressively start to expand the fishing resources, articles, information sections of our site, concentrating on a full service National fishing portal.[/size]

[size 1]After almost a year of trying this we realized that there were challenges that prevented this from being a viable solution so we opted to change our business model once more, to an advertising platform for on line retailers, manufacturers and companies wishing to reach the fishing market.[/size]

[size 1]During this process the original owner was focusing on opening another store in Dena Point California and concentrating more on the area he is most passionate about which is tackle sales. This and his many other fishing related ventures started to demand more of his time. [/size]

[size 1]Finally in December of 2002, Bob Sr. whose love of the business was largely fishing, and working close with his son (who was no longer able to devote as much time to the business) decided he no longer was interested in devoting so much time to this business (he also has many other business interests that require much of his time). So on December 19th I formed a new company which purchased BigFishTackle.Com L.L.C. [/size]

[size 1]The original owners are still involved in the site and do retain an option to re-acquire interest in the site but concentrate on their other business ventures.[/size]

[size 1]Our site has been hosted in-house, collocated with AT&T, and epoch Internet. After much trial and error we have been with and are happy with our latest host (a Canadian Company) for a couple of years and are very happy. Our site demands very heavy bandwidth, a dedicated server, and scalable hosting to account for growth, so after trying many solutions we have found one that fits all of our needs. [/size]

[size 1]Our plans for the future (abridge version of course) are to create a National Interactive Fishing Club of the Future. We intend to create a fishing club that remains free to its members, provides all of the current services offered by fishing clubs and includes an unprecedented amount of interactivity for its members. The cornerstone of this model includes the internet, and is working backwards from traditional methods, by creating an on line membership that brings on more traditional features such as periodicals, services, member kits, and member services as time goes on a and membership grows. It is our intention to build a large enough member base that our revenues are generated from advertisers who see the value in reaching large amounts of anglers and thus provide members additional incentives. The beauty of the model we are working to achieve is that everyone wins! Members receive unprecedented incentives, events, interactivity, and resources free, advertisers reach the largest concentration of anglers anywhere, and we are able to build an institution that contributes to a our passion, supports the future of this great sport and enables us to do more of what we love! "Fishing". The last part of this has proving to have back fired so far, in that we don't get on the water as much as we would like (there always seems to be more to do) but we hold on to the hope that there is some truth to the old adage "nothing worth having comes easy"[/size]

[size 1]Well OldCoot, I hope I covered the questions you had without rambling to much. But I figured I would try to be as thorough as possible and the folks that found themselves nodding off could just click off and the ones who were interested would get their questions answered. [/size] [center][size 1]By the way, Utahan's you are AWESOME!!
We appreciate your friendship, support & community spirit!!! THANK YOU!!![/size][/center][/size]
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[aquaman]

hi angler thanks for the info someone just asked me the other day when bft started had to give him the shoulder shrug hope all the fulture plans for the site work out hope fully i'll make that trip out that way next year and hook up with you guys

chris
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[wiperhunter2]

Thanks theangler, a lot of us have wondered how this site started, now we know the whole story. I'll let you know the next time I'm in Ca. and take you up on your offer. WH2
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[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]Thanks Angler,[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]I enjoyed the read ... fascinating.[/size][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2]WH2 ... Thanks for the pics. I'll bet it was quite a surprise to see a BFT store front.[/size][/font]
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[wiperhunter2]

Yes, I was really surprised, I had no idea the store was there, I went on and on about it to my wife and sister. What are the odds that the store would be right on the corner by my sister's, boyfriend's house. As soon as I got back to my sister's house I used her computer to send a PM to TheAngler. WH2
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