Where would you like your Hydro store to be?

[Pythagllio]

I've been following the currently active thread "why I never go to a hydro store". I noticed a few things that surprised me and I wondered what the consensus dream hydro store would look like to help alleviate the paranoia that occurs naturally in its customers. What kind of area would it be located? What kind of parking is preferred? So if anyone's interested, I'd like to see if we couldn't plan a hydro store that caters to the needs of its client base.

I'll start the ball rolling by suggesting that video monitoring is out, even for the limited purpose of identifying crooks.

If the store were to offer 'stealth delivery' does anyone find that appealing? By stealth I mean the store would hire someone and be willing to meet you in a totally neutral location. Obviously there would be a cost, but it sure would make me comfortable if I could choose a parking lot or an abandoned loading dock that I had reconned.

 

[kmk420kali]

I would think maybe if you combined it with a Nursery, and made it diverse enough, that LEO would have a much harder time peeping...since they would not know what you are going in there for-- If you have 200 ppl a day coming in, but only a percentage was buying grow equipment/supplies, the rest were just ppl buying gardening supplies, I think LEO would get frustrated--

 

[One Love]

I like the idea of having the hydro guy meet up somewhere. It almost sounds like scoring from a dealer in college. If someone could meet me at my choice of locations I would pay an extra $20, as a tip, right to the person who delivered. I don't worry 'too much' about being tracked from the hydro shop, but some trips have made me a little nervous.
I do think that hyrdo shop equipment should be sold at nurseries as well. When i first started (about 7 years ago) I thought that this was already the case and went to about 5 garden stores asking about "HPS and hydro nutrients". I was lucky enough to be turned down at each place, allowing me to realise everything for a newb was at home depot.
Are they really watching everywhere?

 

[3dDream]

I like the hydro store in a neighboring state. You have to pay zero tax and you get the goods next day even if it's shipped ground.

 

[Smokerman]

I have 6 hydro stores within a 20 min. drive from me. Not such a big deal around here. (Toronto, Ont.)

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

I have 6 hydro stores within a 20 min. drive from me. Not such a big deal around here. (Toronto, Ont.)

sam here (so-cal) but some are discreet and some arenot.

i like the warehouse ones in the middle/back of the ind. complex, no signs on the building(s) saying "hydro" need to have 2 cash registers, so i can get in-and-out, parking along a block wall is best, i like to backin to hide my rear plate(no front). the wall prevents popo's with camras from far-off survailance.

 

[high road]

my dream store

my dream store

I pull into the parking lot of Dave's Garden Center. The first thing I notice is a greenhouse off to the side of the building and plants growing in containers out front of the store.

I walk to the front door and I see grandma over in the corner of the greenhouse, picking out her heirloom tomato starts that are for sale.

I open the front door and am greeted by hand shovels and lawn gnomes and bird bath's. I wonder to myself, "am I in the right place?".

I walk past the lawn care and pest prevention isle before I notice the fluorescent lighting a few isles over. A ha! Indoor Lighting! I walk towards the t5 that is illuminating a small ebb n flow machine filled with daisies. It's not until I get to the unit and start to look around do I see all the HID and hydro gear.

I take in the beauty of the daisies for a minute, then I walk towards the hydro section. I see a couple different small ebb n flow machines, a few drip buckets, and a water propagation machine. I notice a few t5's and a few HID kits for sale. I think to myself, "this can't be it?".

I walk to the front to ask the clerk if they have more hydro gear. He assures me they have everything I need. The clerk walks me past the showroom floor to the warehouse. Eureka! Carbon filters, thousand watters, 4x8 tables, oh my.

As I stroll through the isles of sunshine and coco and rockwool I notice a loading dock towards the back. Perfect,I can pull my car around and load up. It will be nice to not have to load my 5k order out through the front door.



That is my dream store. The unassuming garden center that handles 100+ transactions a day...mostly to legal farmers.

lucky for me there are several stores that are 'close enough' to my dream store in norcal. Several in humboldt and several in mendo, you can find em all up and down the coast.

 

[metamorf]

My hydro store does stealth delivery.. They meet up in the middle of the woods if ya want it.. Not that that wouldn't be suspicious but you get what I'm saying.

 

[DIGITALHIPPY]

I pull into the parking lot of Dave's Garden Center. The first thing I notice is a greenhouse off to the side of the building and plants growing in containers out front of the store.

I walk to the front door and I see grandma over in the corner of the greenhouse, picking out her heirloom tomato starts that are for sale.

I open the front door and am greeted by hand shovels and lawn gnomes and bird bath's. I wonder to myself, "am I in the right place?".

I walk past the lawn care and pest prevention isle before I notice the fluorescent lighting a few isles over. A ha! Indoor Lighting! I walk towards the t5 that is illuminating a small ebb n flow machine filled with daisies. It's not until I get to the unit and start to look around do I see all the HID and hydro gear.

I take in the beauty of the daisies for a minute, then I walk towards the hydro section. I see a couple different small ebb n flow machines, a few drip buckets, and a water propagation machine. I notice a few t5's and a few HID kits for sale. I think to myself, "this can't be it?".

I walk to the front to ask the clerk if they have more hydro gear. He assures me they have everything I need. The clerk walks me past the showroom floor to the warehouse. Eureka! Carbon filters, thousand watters, 4x8 tables, oh my.

As I stroll through the isles of sunshine and coco and rockwool I notice a loading dock towards the back. Perfect,I can pull my car around and load up. It will be nice to not have to load my 5k order out through the front door.



That is my dream store. The unassuming garden center that handles 100+ transactions a day...mostly to legal farmers.

lucky for me there are several stores that are 'close enough' to my dream store in norcal. Several in humboldt and several in mendo, you can find em all up and down the coast.

is this a real place or some distant dream????
i would LOVE to shop there......

 

[Papa_Moña]

My perfect hydro shop, which i WILL open, would be a complete home garden service, like, we'd sell and maintain kits for people to grow herbs and other consumables in their homes. and for people who prefer to set up their own stuff, because, ahem, you know, to avoid the extra charge, we would draw up plans for the spaces they wanted and "tomato" nutrition calendars, haha.

 

[stoned teacher]

Two perfect types of hydro shops....

The local one hat i borrow a friends car and go to (I haven't heard of any facial scans technology around here)

The one that ships stealthily, to a friends house....plenty of options there...

 

[high road]

is this a real place or some distant dream????
i would LOVE to shop there......

Like I said, there are several like this throughout humboldt and mendo.

Southern Humboldt Feed and Ag., just north of g'ville is very close to this thread.
Sparetime in willits is probably my all time favorite.
NHS the McKinleyville store is good, but more like a hydro store.
Hydro Pacific in ukiah has amazing stock and isn't shady at all.


Dirt Cheap down in fort bragg is the style I would go for...but this shop in particular doesn't have the stock that some of the other big boys have.

 

[rightwingblazer]

well ican tell u were not to have one. a couple years ago as a newb, i used to go to this hydro store right next to the local airport. i swear 2 this day, i thought they would try to follow me home by plane or copter. it was a ritual to stop by a friend/non-growers house on my way home till the coast was clear. never drive your own car to the store. just have a friend/non-grower take you. barry cooper has a new vid out called never get raided, check it out