By Liz Leamy
House of Fins, the renowned aquarium store located on Bruce Park Avenue, has been as busy as ever providing its clients with full service, guidance and information on all things that are aquarium related.
Ever since Robert Bray purchased House of Fins in 1989 at the age of 24, he, along with his dedicated and loyal staff, have been all about striving to be a dynamic go-to destination for their clients and visitors.
Upon walking through the door, the House of Fins experience is a good and memorable one, as after being welcomed by Bray and the rest of the store’s staff in a warm and friendly fashion, one is immediately drawn into one of the aquarium displays there.
With aquatic animals playing the central role of this organization, customer service and satisfaction represents its other main focus that has helped make it the successful operation that it is.
Ever since first taking the helm of House of Fins, Bray has cited customer care as being the main priority so that anyone visiting or connecting with the store on any level would always be made to feel welcome and taken care of.
“It’s all about providing the best service and experience possible,” said Bray. “We are all passionate and knowledgeable ‘fish guys’ and want to share that knowledge with everyone whether they are beginners starting out, advanced hobbyists or just visiting the store to see the fish and reef aquarium displays. The people are why this place is so fun and exciting.”
The aquariums at House of Fins are remarkable, as they house colorful fish, coral, invertebrates and other fascinating beings and animals, including a giant clam, a specimen Bray said had been a new arrival there.
“Our selection of fish, plants, corals and invertebrates are hand picked by my team and each specimen undergoes extensive conditioning to thrive in an aquatic environment,” said Bray. “Through the conditioning process and continuous observation, we are able to provide our clientele with specimens that eat a variety of foods and are well adjusted to their living environment.”
Bray further elaborated on the aquatic life there.
“We have something for everyone, but we do focus on the rare and exotic. By making sure our selection is second to none, the animals are of great quality and that our knowledgeable staff guides the customer to ensure the animals they take home are compatible with their other aquarium inhabitants ensures that our customer experience is sensational over and over again. That is something I am very proud of.”
Bray’s passion for fish goes back a ways, for certain, as his pursuit of this venture first began when he was age five when he had taken over a fish tank that his older brother, Ed, had not shown any great interest in.
A few years later when Bray was fifth grade, he had set up 11 tanks in his bedroom of his parents’ home in town, indicating the beginning trajectory of this what would turn out to be a lifelong pursuit.
Certainly, Bray’s longtime passion for fish and the world of aquatic life has served as the inspiration behind the whole House of Fins operation, something he has also been involved with since childhood.
As a youngster growing up in Cos Cob, Bray would often stop by the ‘original’ House of Fins store, which was then located on East Putnam Avenue in the same building that Trovare Home Design and Beam and Barre are now based, after school.
“I loved seeing the fish and all the animals swimming around,” said Bray. “It drew me in and instantly took me to a whole other world. I still get lost looking at an aquarium.”
By the time he was 12, Bray had been such a regular visitor of the store that he was offered a job in exchange for five dollars an hour in store credit.
Bray, who continued to work at the store through his college years and into his 20s, further went on to develop his knowledge and experience in regard to the world of fish and aquatic life while at the store.
“I was always at the store and was trying to learn new things. Knowledge and passion are everything in this business,” said Bray. “In my senior year at Greenwich High School, I had learned House of Fins had gone up for sale for just eleven thousand dollars and I wanted to buy it so badly, but it wasn’t yet the time. My parents correctly pushed me into the direction of college.”
At age 24, Bray went on purchase House of Fins, a benchmark juncture in which he started to go full throttle in terms of his business and a big-picture plan, having gone on to build it into the major force it has become today on Bruce Park Avenue.
Over the years, House of Fins has effectively earned a stellar reputation as an aquarium destination in and around town as well as throughout the entire tri-state New York area.
At the same time, House of Fins has become renowned for its custom aquarium installations that it has been providing for homes and businesses since the 1990s.
During the 1990s and through the next several decades, House of Fins continued to build and establish its reputation as an aquarium destination, growing at an exceptional level and branching into the areas of providing aquarium maintenance and large custom installations.
Today, House of Fins maintains a fleet of seven trucks that can often be seen buzzing on the street around town so its staff can provide services for their clients at their homes and businesses, showing its terrific presence in town and its surrounding areas.
Meanwhile, technology allows the organization to provide 24/7 monitoring for its customers’ aquariums that are crafted in all different types and sizes and feature state-of-the-art lighting and equipment so the inhabitants are healthy and thriving.
Over the past several years, the House of Fins has continued to grow, even during the uncertain Covid period in 2020 when the whole world had been homebound.
“It was a tough time, but we were able to provide services for everyone,” said Bray. “We became an outlet for them and a way to escape everything that was going on in the world at that time.”
Through his work and passion for the aquaria realm, Bray has certainly made a mark on many over the years, something, in his characteristic humble fashion, he likes to give credit to his customers and staff for.
“It’s all about passing on the knowledge, information and our infectious enthusiasm around the aquarium hobby,” said Bray. “It’s a transportive thing in all regards and that is what I strive to share with everyone who walks through our doors or experiences our work.”
