Martens Outdoors
Martens Outdoors
Ellicottville Aquatics owner expands into hunting, fishing supplies and firearms
In 1948, at the age of 18, Richard “Dick” Stack opened a fishing tackle store in Binghamton, NY. In time, Stack grew his small, boutique business into the Dick’s Sporting Goods empire that most people know of today.
In 2016, at the age of 23, Ellicottville native Skyler Martens moved his expanding Ellicottville Aquatics pet business out of his basement and into a spot in the Salamanca Antique Mall.
Standing in his store and listening to Martens talk about the evolution of his business, you can begin to understand how it all might have happened for Dick Stack.
“It was a hobby gone wild out of my basement,” Martens admitted. “I never would’ve dreamed in high school that I would end up doing this for my career - but it’s been really exciting every step of the way.”
When Martens first opened Ellicottville Aquatics in 2016, his shop consisted of about 10 fresh water fish tanks in a room the size of a one-car garage. He now can recall having to remove three interior walls in the building he’s in to accommodate the rapid expansion of his business.
Looking around the shop, one gets the idea it would take a week to see everything he has for sale. Shoppers can find items to feed, grow, maintain, house and display creatures as diverse as house cats, hedgehogs, Mexican salamanders and water plants.
And now, alongside pets and plants of all shapes, sizes and colors, the business stocks long guns, shotguns, ammunition, fishing tackle and live bait. With a smile on his face, Martens will tell you, “We’ve definitely snowballed into a lot more than just fresh water fish.”
The idea for the ‘Martens Outdoors’ portion of the business began a couple years ago, when Martens went to his closet looking for hunting gear.
“I’ve always been a hunter and I was getting into it again a little more heavily and then I realized I didn’t have any of the stuff I really needed,” Martens explained. That’s when I started looking into (what it would take) to move my business in that direction.”
Some of what it took included going through the arduous, six-month process of obtaining his Federal Firearms License and then having to invent his own supply chain for ammo during the shortages brought on by the covid pandemic.
Martens explained that gun ammo shortages from last year have eased to some extent, but he still considers it “a daily computer game” to find and purchase inventory.
“Right now, we have in-stock a pretty good selection of all the most sought-after kinds of ammunition,” Martens explained. “We also have more coming in every day, so if we don’t have it, we can get it for you.”
Martens says he is waiting for his pistol license to come from Cattaraugus County, so he’ll soon be able to sell handguns, in addition to the long guns and shotguns he already has for sale in the store.
“I try to service all the basic needs of a hunter walking through the doors - including selling New York State hunting and fishing licenses,” Martens said. “We also are authorized to sell the Seneca Nation Fish and Wildlife licenses.”
Around the time the entire world went into lockdown for covid, Martens added fishing tackle and live bait to the growing number of departments of the Martens Outdoors brand.
“That first year, we couldn’t get the fishing gear in the store quickly enough!” he exclaimed. “And now that the ice is receding from the area lakes, the fishermen are going to be coming out of the woodwork for all their supplies and live bait.”
The store stocks worms, grubs, mealworms, salted minnows, egg sacks and live bait fish, but if you’re looking to land the big one with an artificial lure, Martens says the Walleye Assassin brand of fishing tackle he features is a customer favorite that seems to disappear from the shelves overnight.
Martens is a 2010 grad of ECS whose attraction to keeping fish spans nearly his entire life. “I’ve always had fish around,” Martens reflected. “I can remember having a fish tank in my bedroom when I was ten years old.”
By the time he was in his early 20’s, Martens was breeding Clown fish in his basement for commercial sale to businesses throughout Western New York and at the same time working a full-time job as an operating engineer. When he decided that his hobby could no longer be contained by his basement, Martens opened Ellicottville Aquatics with evening-only hours and ran heavy equipment on construction jobs during the day for the first couple years after the store opened. Before long, he decided that splitting time between two careers wasn’t working anymore, and he gave the fish operation his undivided attention, opening for regular daytime hours seven days a week.
Soon after he opened his retail location, Martens says some of his fish customers started asking if he’d ever consider expanding his business to include other animals and pets. He certainly took that suggestion and ran with it! He began selling small animals like hamsters and birds, and he acquired a federal license as an exotic pet dealer. At that point, the list of animals he could offer to folks who were looking for unusual pets became almost zoo-like, with creatures ranging from exotic hamsters to tarantulas and scorpions, to turtles and chameleons and many, many more!
He began selling food and accessories for cats and dogs a couple years ago and now stocks the basic necessities for the feeding and maintenance of just about any kind of small animal a pet owner might have. He feeds his animals with foods approved and used by major zoos throughout the U.S. and also makes those foods available for sale in the store. His massive inventory includes all the items necessary for building ecosystems unique to each of the exotic pets he sells, including specialized plants, rocks, lights and so much more.
“I’m proud to say that at least 75% of the coral we sell for use in salt water tanks is considered “agricultural” because it's grown on-site and not taken from the wild,” Martens said. “We make and sell (coral) fragments, so people can start their own coral without using something that was growing wild.” Martens also finds that the species of coral he “frags” and grows in-house seem to be hardier than what comes directly from the ocean.
Seventy years ago, Dick Stack’s little fishing store was only the seed that grew an empire and while we may not be quite ready to say, “Every season starts with Skyler’s” just yet, from the pet enthusiast with no experience whatsoever, to the outdoorsman with a lifetime full of it, Skyler Martens and Ellicottville Aquatics/Martens Outdoors offer most everything one could possibly need.
Ellicottville Aquatics / Martens Outdoors is located at 4343 South Whalen Road, Great Valley, NY 14741. Follow both businesses on FB/IG or call 716-265-2857 for more information.