Sad to hear! How are the new owner(s) ? knowledgeable, or new to it?

The new owners were not there when we went. They had two people running the store, a father and son team, who seemed nice and fairly knowledgeable. They did not have the computer up and running, so all the sales had to be hand written and they were not sure of the prices.... BTW, this is my first post, so hey to all the society's members!

I was there yesterday at about 1:30, locked up tight.... i'm getting tired of stopping by there to find the doors locked...

I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am Mike, the new owner of the store. I've just arrived in town (on a permanent basis) yesterday (Dec 3rd) and will be present at the store in the future. As I relocated from Washington state, I wasn't able to be at the store the last two weeks.

The SPS coral problem was unfortunate. Although the actual number of bleached heads was far lower than what has been stated, there were quite a few losses as a result of a timer malfunction on the lighting system. While the actinics were functioning normally during the store closure, the metal halides were not. System maintenance was ongoing but the lighting problem wasn't noticed until the damage had been done. Luckily the issue has been addressed and new orders of livestock continue to arrive.

The store has been reopened and renamed Blue Ocean Pets. Hours are Mon, Tues, Thur, Fri 12-8; Wed closed; Sat 10-6; Sun 12-6. We are in the process of remodeling so please excuse the mess.

As for me, I recently returned to the U.S. after living and working for two years on a coral atoll in the Marshall Islands. It was a unique experience but I'm glad to be back. Before that I built and operated several tropical fish hatcheries, managed pet stores, and worked for wholesale dry goods and livestock distributors. I am also in the process of writing a book which should be published at the end of next year.

Please stop by to see the changes that are taking place or just to chat. If you would like to e-mail me, feel free but it will be difficult to reply for the next few weeks (I'll be busy at the store). Dropping by would be best. Thanks.

Mike Goumas
M & G's Blue Ocean Pets, LLC.

Mike,

Welcome to the site, and welcome to SWFL.
The club welcomes all Store owners onto the site to chat, and share their knowledge - Sounds like you've been around for a while & have quiet a bit of knowledge to pass on to others.

Best of luck with the store - Lets hope it won't change owners again & let non-mobile inverts die.

I got a voicemail from you I believe over the weekend mentioning that all previous memberships for the 10% & 20% discounts will be honored, correct?

Thank you for the warm welcome and you are correct, I would love to share my knowledge and experience.

Yes, we are honoring all memberships and keeping the discount levels the same. Even though our computer database is still being reconstructed, we have a hard copy of the old member list so it is not a problem.

Stop by when you have time. I would like to talk to you about the club.

Mike Goumas
M & G's Blue Ocean Pets, LLC.

Hi Mike, and welcome to Fort Myers. After reading my earlier post, I realize it was quite scathing, but you can imagine how I felt seeing all those bleached corals. Especially because I offered the last owners to keep the corals in my system (360 gal) for safe-keeping until the new owner (you) arrived.
I'm thrilled that we now have a serious, experienced reefer in control of the store, and I look forward to meeting you and becoming a dedicated customer again.
Congratulations on your new store, and very best of luck. I'll meet you in person soon.
Take care,
Jay Herbst MD
(RockDoc)