This NJ guy just opened an exotic fish store and he’s only 18

Think teenagers are lazy? Think again. Kudos to Randy Fisher. He’s 18 years old and in the middle of a pandemic that has been a challenge to running a business to say the least he’s trying to make a go of it with his own fish store recently opened in Flemington. He’s been open less than a week and already has hundreds of fish for sale and is growing that number daily.

It’s a fish store unique in many ways.

You can buy ordinary fish for two bucks all the way to very exotic fish for thousands of dollars. The video from NJ.com shows some of the cool marine creatures he has like motoro stingrays and albino arowanas. You can do a children’s birthday party there that includes a shark and stingray experience. And through his store you can set up a very special visit to his home where you can see his private, beautiful, elaborate 12,000 gallon koi pond and pick out your own koi. Want to enjoy your tank without all the work? They do in-home maintenance too.

The store is First Choice Aquatics at 174 Route 31 in Flemington. They are on 31 basically across from Hunterdon Medical Center and near BJ’s Wholesale Club. Here’s a link to their website.

I hope you’ll check out this special store because this young man is a special guy. He’s a Flemington resident his whole life. When he was young he was an elite gymnast and had to travel to Westfield constantly. His mom would break up the long, often daily car trip by stopping at two fish stores along the way for Randy to look around. It was these stops that forged his interest in marine life. When he was 5 years old his mom got his dad a fish tank and almost immediately young Randy took it over, caring for the fish and the tank meticulously. He was poised to go on to college for a degree in marine biology when the opportunity to open this store came about. He says he may still choose that but for now he's giving this a try. With the determination he showed when I spoke with him, I'm sure he'll eventually do both.

Again it’s First Choice Aquatics in Flemington. I hope he makes a go of it here in my town. Bring your kids by his shop. Maybe they’ll become the next Randy Fisher.

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. Any opinions expressed are Jeff Deminski's own.