my lfs is shot

[FuriousFish]

LFS are by and large a dying breed.

The cost and overhead of running a brick and mortar fish store, especially in an area with high rent, is significant. Downward cost pressure from box stores and the Internet have pretty much wiped out margins.

We're pretty close to having no LFS in the Washington, DC area. That's likely to be the case in a lot of the country!

Matt

In Maryland so many places have gone... But the once customers of a closed fish store will just go to the next "open" fish store and for every store that closes, the existing stores get new costumers! This could go on until only 1 or 2 stores remain... (Hopefully and most likely not.) places like house of tropics in glen burnie and beltway aquarium are not going anywhere anytime soon.


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[krichardson]

Yeah I remember there used to be quite a few stores in Maryland.I used to drive down to a few back before the gas prices got crazy.

 

[sabmakj21]

LFS are by and large a dying breed.

The cost and overhead of running a brick and mortar fish store, especially in an area with high rent, is significant. Downward cost pressure from box stores and the Internet have pretty much wiped out margins.

We're pretty close to having no LFS in the Washington, DC area. That's likely to be the case in a lot of the country!

Matt

Well said bro, you just described the situation in Hawaii.

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[ryansmith83]

i think that the people that are aggravated with me for starting this thread are envisioning me bashing on some run down little fish shaq that's all poor and trying their hearts out to stay afloat . don't romanticize it. the place is huge,upscale and booming. their prices are jacked up 30-75% higher than they should be

THEY are the ones putting the little well run local fish stores outta business.its my region if any one knows it its me. this place has the other local independant places by the balls.

when there is a store less than 20 minutes away that sells the same fish for about 1/3rd the price cant someone say something atleast on a forum without being looked at as a basher of some sort. ANDICCA frequents the same places as me. he said it its called trying to get over. its about the moola ching ching if they could sell it to you for a grossly high price they will benefit and that's all its about 4 them. I sort out the b.s. I go there ALL the time they wont work out a deal they want the price and that's it. they had a tank full of 3 inch flowerhorns listed for like 25.99 or something like that. my friend picked one out and he goes wait this ones 39.99 (it was literally a centimeter bigger than the others) i told him screw it bro its not worth it and he ended up getting one from petland for like 6.99.

So stop going in there. For someone who doesn't like this place or buy fish from this place, you sound like you spend a ton of time there. I don't understand why you're on a mission to try and convince everyone that it's terrible. We get it -- you think it's overpriced and you can find the same fish for a cheaper price elsewhere. Great. Buy them there. Stop going to the other store.

Why are you trying to haggle, anyway? I have never done that at an LFS. Fish are priced a certain way and either I'm willing to pay for it or I'm not. It's a little insulting to expect some business owner to cut you a deal. Maybe if you were a friend, or a longtime customer, or did a lot of business there.

I run a small business. We have been through a terrible time since 2008. We've gone from 16 employees to 4, watched our sales go from $1.07m to $800k to $500k, and there have been many weeks where I didn't take a paycheck so that our other employees could. I've put myself in credit card debt trying to stay afloat with my bills. The last thing I need is for someone who doesn't know crap about owning and running a business to come in and tell me that my prices are too high, or god forbid go and blast me on the internet for it. You don't know what the overhead of each store is, or what their personal finances look like, so you really don't get to dictate how they run their business or set their prices. It isn't up to you. If you want it cheaper, go find it elsewhere, but stop acting like these people are robbing you blind because A) you aren't buying stuff from them anyway, and B) you aren't being forced to shop there.

 

[soon hock]

So stop going in there. For someone who doesn't like this place or buy fish from this place, you sound like you spend a ton of time there. I don't understand why you're on a mission to try and convince everyone that it's terrible. We get it -- you think it's overpriced and you can find the same fish for a cheaper price elsewhere. Great. Buy them there. Stop going to the other store.

Why are you trying to haggle, anyway? I have never done that at an LFS. Fish are priced a certain way and either I'm willing to pay for it or I'm not. It's a little insulting to expect some business owner to cut you a deal. Maybe if you were a friend, or a longtime customer, or did a lot of business there.

I run a small business. We have been through a terrible time since 2008. We've gone from 16 employees to 4, watched our sales go from $1.07m to $800k to $500k, and there have been many weeks where I didn't take a paycheck so that our other employees could. I've put myself in credit card debt trying to stay afloat with my bills. The last thing I need is for someone who doesn't know crap about owning and running a business to come in and tell me that my prices are too high, or god forbid go and blast me on the internet for it. You don't know what the overhead of each store is, or what their personal finances look like, so you really don't get to dictate how they run their business or set their prices. It isn't up to you. If you want it cheaper, go find it elsewhere, but stop acting like these people are robbing you blind because A) you aren't buying stuff from them anyway, and B) you aren't being forced to shop there.

Great post.

 

[festaedan]

In Maryland so many places have gone... But the once customers of a closed fish store will just go to the next "open" fish store and for every store that closes, the existing stores get new costumers! This could go on until only 1 or 2 stores remain... (Hopefully and most likely not.) places like house of tropics in glen burnie and beltway aquarium are not going anywhere anytime soon.


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I've never been to house of tropicals but I love beltway.

 

[festaedan]

So stop going in there. For someone who doesn't like this place or buy fish from this place, you sound like you spend a ton of time there. I don't understand why you're on a mission to try and convince everyone that it's terrible. We get it -- you think it's overpriced and you can find the same fish for a cheaper price elsewhere. Great. Buy them there. Stop going to the other store.

Why are you trying to haggle, anyway? I have never done that at an LFS. Fish are priced a certain way and either I'm willing to pay for it or I'm not. It's a little insulting to expect some business owner to cut you a deal. Maybe if you were a friend, or a longtime customer, or did a lot of business there.

I run a small business. We have been through a terrible time since 2008. We've gone from 16 employees to 4, watched our sales go from $1.07m to $800k to $500k, and there have been many weeks where I didn't take a paycheck so that our other employees could. I've put myself in credit card debt trying to stay afloat with my bills. The last thing I need is for someone who doesn't know crap about owning and running a business to come in and tell me that my prices are too high, or god forbid go and blast me on the internet for it. You don't know what the overhead of each store is, or what their personal finances look like, so you really don't get to dictate how they run their business or set their prices. It isn't up to you. If you want it cheaper, go find it elsewhere, but stop acting like these people are robbing you blind because A) you aren't buying stuff from them anyway, and B) you aren't being forced to shop there.

Well said

 

[tiger15]

LFS are by and large a dying breed.

The cost and overhead of running a brick and mortar fish store, especially in an area with high rent, is significant. Downward cost pressure from box stores and the Internet have pretty much wiped out margins.

We're pretty close to having no LFS in the Washington, DC area. That's likely to be the case in a lot of the country!

Matt

Not just DC. Many long time LFSs in Philly area are closed. When I traveled to DC, I used to browse the huge Aquarium Center in Randallstown, Baltimore, a store in Shady Grove, MD, and another one on Georgia Ave behind Outback to get inspiration from their display tanks. All gone. Browsing youtube fish tanks isn't the same as browsing real display tanks.

 

[krichardson]

Here in Philly there used to be a store in just about every part of the city but the good old shops have slowly closed down.I went into a depression after Zoos shut down.

 

[darth pike]

So stop going in there. For someone who doesn't like this place or buy fish from this place, you sound like you spend a ton of time there. I don't understand why you're on a mission to try and convince everyone that it's terrible. We get it -- you think it's overpriced and you can find the same fish for a cheaper price elsewhere. Great. Buy them there. Stop going to the other store.

Why are you trying to haggle, anyway? I have never done that at an LFS. Fish are priced a certain way and either I'm willing to pay for it or I'm not. It's a little insulting to expect some business owner to cut you a deal. Maybe if you were a friend, or a longtime customer, or did a lot of business there.

I run a small business. We have been through a terrible time since 2008. We've gone from 16 employees to 4, watched our sales go from $1.07m to $800k to $500k, and there have been many weeks where I didn't take a paycheck so that our other employees could. I've put myself in credit card debt trying to stay afloat with my bills. The last thing I need is for someone who doesn't know crap about owning and running a business to come in and tell me that my prices are too high, or god forbid go and blast me on the internet for it. You don't know what the overhead of each store is, or what their personal finances look like, so you really don't get to dictate how they run their business or set their prices. It isn't up to you. If you want it cheaper, go find it elsewhere, but stop acting like these people are robbing you blind because A) you aren't buying stuff from them anyway, and B) you aren't being forced to shop there.

Extremely well said.