New tropical fish store set to open

AIRWAY HEIGHTS – A goal that has been in the works for close to 20 years will soon be realized by longtime resident and City Councilman Dave Malet, as he is set to open a new tropical fish store.

Two Fish Aquatics, 12924 Highway 2, Suite 2, will open in the near future.

But Malet, who has lived here 20 years, said he doesn't have an exact date set because he is still waiting on supplies.

He hopes to be open and operational either the week before or the week after Christmas.

The 65-year-old councilman said he got interested in tropical fish at a young age, and designing tank setups and working with different types of fish became a hobby.

He started working in a pet store in 1974 and his interest in business ownership grew. He has been in the pet business for more than 45 years overall.

The entrepreneur said he likes running a tropical fish shop because it's a good business that can bring a lot of revenue.

Malet said the pet business is strong and consistent through times of economic struggle as well.

He has already owned and operated two shops in the past, and his store in Davenport closed nearly 20 years ago when he went through a divorce

From that point, Malet worked in aquarium maintenance and bus driving, and has been slowly building on his dream to dive back in to shop ownership.

Malet said he has been a councilman since 2012 and has also been driving a school bus for nine years, but is excited to retire from driving, turn a page, and "get back into business management."

He said he has been working on getting the space ready for months.

"I don't get a lot of hours in the day for remodeling because I'm still driving a school bus every day," he said, "It's finally coming together."

Starting with bare walls, Malet said his family have helped prepare the building with a fresh coat of paint and some new wiring his son installed.

The 1,400-square-foot shop have more than 55 fish tanks of various sizes. And 15 of those tanks will hold saltwater fish, he said. The rest of the tanks will showcase a wide variety of freshwater fish.

Malet's expectations are high.

"The store should be quite busy being completely unique to Airway Heights and opening around the holiday," he said. "Moving into next year tax season is always a good time for sales."

The business owner said he will be a distributor for several industry brands for food, gravel and other supplies.

Malet also said being a local store, he will carry products that big box stores don't.

Looking forward, the entrepreneur said he would like to franchise his business and potentially open a Spokane Valley location within the next three years.

Matthew O. Stephens can be reached at [email protected].