What's missing in your LFS?

RobB'z Reef · Jul 22, 2020

LegendaryCG said:
yeah Wisconsin is pretty dry for local stores although has a big online game. LiveAquaria is in Rhinelander.

My local store is alright for salt water fish, they do have some coral but I might be the only person that has ever bought any of it because I know the frags by heart.. Definitely could do better on the coral side.

Tell me about it! I heard about Rhinelander, that's about two hours north east of me. We used to have an LFS but they stopped caring salt water products a couple years ago. Just weren't enough ppl in the area to support the hobby I guess. But that's what I love about western Wisconsin, no people lol.

Heabel7 · Jul 22, 2020

Billldg said:
The store!!! No quality stores in ATL, IMO.

That why I am like a kid in a candy store when I go down to Orlando and visit my mom. ;Woot ;Jawdrop;Greedy

Same in The burbs of Chicago. No SPS in all directions

TriggerFinger · Jul 23, 2020

I have 6 nice places within an hour from me. Healthy fish, nice coral selections, decent prices, friendly and knowledgeable staff...but NO live food except pods...I really want to be able to buy live worms but it’s not a thing around here.

Doctorgori · Jul 23, 2020

Reasonably priced, quality made, and CURRENTLY fashionable aquarium "furniture" (pardon)
Advanced breeding supplies & lab-ware
Used/re-purposed hobby related magazines
Local custom acrylic workshops or at least a business card board for local craftsmen
Easy to read or universally understood consumer "symbology" specific to the pet industry/aquarium hobby (similar to a garden nursery tag). **this should be a community/industry effort/thread
Certified/guaranteed disease free/quarantined fish & inverts (with inverts housed separate)
A limited/moderated consignment area for livestock sales/trades (yes I know it sounds counter-intuitive)

Gooners · Jul 23, 2020

trvsty said:
Hey everyone,

Even the best LFS is always missing something you want in it. What is it for you? Is it a specific product? Or maybe a fish/coral you wish they could carry more often?

With mine, if I want or need anything they will get it.
A lot of others are pretty good at doing it as well, my biggest bug bear and thing that's missing with most aquatics shops is good honest advice. They will sell the unsuspecting shopper anything just to get a sale. Without asking the fundamental questions.
I've aquariums for years and found this out at the beginning with tropical fresh water, having moved onto marines I never rely on lfs advice but always use online sources like R2R.

2BeAlive · Jul 23, 2020

Diverse cleanup crew, raw life rock.

jkunsman · Jul 23, 2020

The store! I don't have a LFS within an hour of where I live unless you count PetCo (not!). I'm In central Virginia and we have to either go to Richmond or up towards Washington DC which is a nightmare.

rogersb · Jul 23, 2020

Coral and a variety of fish. The closest place has two 40 breeders for coral and a hundred clownfish and fifty yellow tangs. Not much else. There is a good place but it's a little over an hour away. Prices on fish are a little steep.

sfin52 · Jul 23, 2020

Wish my Lfs stocked decent coral. All they keep is about 20 pieces. My LfS is going down hill just because they wont order stuff

Pntbll687 · Jul 23, 2020

I have one decent store in my area and wish they had the following

1. diversity of coral. Lot's of softies and regular zoas, a hammer or two every once in a while. No sps at all

2. It's the same products. They stick to the brands and lines they like and don't venture outside of those too much. Lots of Seapora, Marineland, Aqueon tanks, all the same sizes and look. From working in distribution I know it's because these companies give the biggest discount on products

3. Pricing is probably 10% higher than online. If I need it in an emergency I have no problem paying for it, but usually I look online first.

ZoWhat · Jul 23, 2020

a CLEARANCE isle..... lol

WVNed · Jul 23, 2020

There are no LFS close to me and the ones that are a reasonable drive away aren't worth going to.

Pntbll687 · Jul 23, 2020

Cell said:
Just more open space would be nice. So many LFS are tight on real estate.

They need to maximize the square footage they have. Most LFS that I deal with know the dollar per square foot they need to be profitable. If you have more open space, that's less space for money making products (fish, coral, dry goods).

Do some LFS cram things as tight as possible and it feels like things are falling on you, yes. I've dealt with many stores like that. The thing that they seem to have in common is they want to try every product, and bring it in without a plan on where to put it.

kkelly007 · Jul 23, 2020

Billldg said:
The store!!! No quality stores in ATL, IMO.

That why I am like a kid in a candy store when I go down to Orlando and visit my mom. ;Woot ;Jawdrop;Greedy

Have you tried Pure Reef in Alpharetta—husband and wife owned, clean, very knowledgeable staff?

EMeyer · Jul 23, 2020

Online buying. Let me browse and buy online, then pick up in store. I don't know why, it seems like every basement frag seller is able to put together a website but every LFS is still expecting you to wander around looking at unlabeled tanks and asking about prices.

If I could buy online then pick up in store, thus avoiding shipping costs, I'd buy much more locally.

Ippyroy · Jul 23, 2020

The LFS itself is missing for me. I am at a minimum 2 hours away from the nearest one.

92Miata · Jul 23, 2020

Pntbll687 said:
They need to maximize the square footage they have. Most LFS that I deal with know the dollar per square foot they need to be profitable. If you have more open space, that's less space for money making products (fish, coral, dry goods).

Do some LFS cram things as tight as possible and it feels like things are falling on you, yes. I've dealt with many stores like that. The thing that they seem to have in common is they want to try every product, and bring it in without a plan on where to put it.

I took about a 15 year break from the hobby - and most LFS to me look exactly like they did 15 years ago (except using LEDS). Its pretty amazing how few of them have done anything to modernize.

They're still largely tailored to selling crappy equipment and inappropriate fish to newbies who will be out of the hobby in a year. Most are still so absurdly overpriced on equipment that everything is covered in a layer of dust - if you can't make a profit on something while selling at a reasonable price - just don't sell it - or drop ship it.

Its depressing that most LFS don't have a reasonable web presence. Its frustrating that they don't keep track of inventory. Its irritating that they're still selling things that nobody can keep alive, and that most are hostile to selling frags/captive bred fish/etc from local keepers (hostile in that they give so little credit that its not worth driving over).

What I want from an LFS is to give me something that BattleCorals, or LiveAquaria, or whoever can't. Find something you can do better than they do. And don't say 'give advice' - because I don't go to the LFS for advice - I come here for that. Fish forums have been telling and showing me since the 90s that LFS give crappy advice. Because right now the online places not only win on price - they win on service and selection and usability too.

trvsty · Jul 23, 2020

Doctorgori said:
Reasonably priced, quality made, and CURRENTLY fashionable aquarium "furniture" (pardon)

Advanced breeding supplies & lab-ware

Used/re-purposed hobby related magazines

Local custom acrylic workshops or at least a business card board for local craftsmen

Easy to read or universally understood consumer "symbology" specific to the pet industry/aquarium hobby (similar to a garden nursery tag). **this should be a community/industry effort/thread

Certified/guaranteed disease free/quarantined fish & inverts (with inverts housed separate)

A limited/moderated consignment area for livestock sales/trades (yes I know it sounds counter-intuitive)

could you explain symbology a bit more. it seems interesting but i don't completely understand it

jaxteller007 · Jul 23, 2020

Everything lol.
Our area's LFS aren't exactly great. At least not after you learn some stuff and realize they are just trying to sell you stuff, no matter if it's a fit or not. Like "Hey, sure a sailfin tang is fine in a 75g tank, in fact you should buy a sailfin and a blue hippo today". Or "Sure, you're tank is only 3 months old, you're absolutely ready for a BTA".

Pntbll687 · Jul 23, 2020

92Miata said:
I took about a 15 year break from the hobby - and most LFS to me look exactly like they did 15 years ago (except using LEDS). Its pretty amazing how few of them have done anything to modernize.

They're still largely tailored to selling crappy equipment and inappropriate fish to newbies who will be out of the hobby in a year. Most are still so absurdly overpriced on equipment that everything is covered in a layer of dust - if you can't make a profit on something while selling at a reasonable price - just don't sell it - or drop ship it.

Its depressing that most LFS don't have a reasonable web presence. Its frustrating that they don't keep track of inventory. Its irritating that they're still selling things that nobody can keep alive, and that most are hostile to selling frags/captive bred fish/etc from local keepers (hostile in that they give so little credit that its not worth driving over).

What I want from an LFS is to give me something that BattleCorals, or LiveAquaria, or whoever can't. Find something you can do better than they do. And don't say 'give advice' - because I don't go to the LFS for advice - I come here for that. Fish forums have been telling and showing me since the 90s that LFS give crappy advice. Because right now the online places not only win on price - they win on service and selection and usability too.

I couldn't agree more!!

Most stores I deal with in my sales job are trying to change, but the don't really want to. They put half an effort into online and social media, and it doesn't pan out right away so it drops by the wayside.

I think more LFS would carry better equipment if it was available through distribution channels, and they could still be competitive with online retailers. Ecotech/Kessil/RedSea are only available through certain distributors and pricing isn't always the best for the store when they can only buy product from one source.

MAP pricing is hurting retailers more than helping them in my opinion. If BRS carries 10k items, there is no incentive for the end user to buy from the LFS. Why would someone wait for an LFS to order a light like Radion or Kessil and buy the miscellaneous stuff the LFS doesnt carry from BRS when they could just get the light for the same price from BRS in one order???