How many LFS (Local Fish Stores) are in your area?

[Norsynth]

Hiya,

I'm from Minnesota, and sadly with the loss of our beloved World Of Fish I just feel as though we don't have as many fish stores as we used to.

For Freshwater we really only have

• Sea Level (Hopkins)
• Wet World (Eagan)
• Aqualand (Minneapolis)

There are two more that are about in the northern suburbs called Forest Lake Pets and Quality Aquatics, but considering It costs about $10 in gas to get there it makes me question how local it really is.

Saltwater we have New Wave Aquaria and Reef Collective.

Is this about typical for your region? For a population of 3 million in this area I'm honestly shocked by how few stores there are.

 

[Sassafras]

I grew up in the L.A. suburbs of Southern California back in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a LFS or pet shop every few miles and my first job was at a local store, Tropical Caverns, within easy walking distance of my house. I live in the Southeast now and it is a LFS wasteland. The nearest decent local shops are a 150-250 mile drive and I would rate them as "average" compared to those of my youth. The difference between now and then? In my opinion it is, back in those days there were no "big box" chain store pet shops and no internet. If you've seen one Petco or PetSmart, you've seen them all, and they are geared towards beginner, low information aquarium keepers. A majority of folks buy almost all their dry goods online and many buy their fish online also. A person has really gotta love the hobby to brave owning a tropical fish store these days. Very sad, but the reality of our times. I imagine your observations are shared by most hobbyists over the age of 50 who remember what it was like once upon a time. I subscribe to Practical Fishkeeping, a U.K. publication, and read about the decline in stores and the number of people in the hobby there also. Young people are very geared to getting satisfaction from electronic devices. Statistics show that the number of young people interested in any type of animal husbandry has dropped off precipitously over the last few decades. I know I sound like an old curmudgeon, but I really miss the local fish stores.

 

[tlindsey]

It's only about 4 lfs in my area. I personally don't call Petsmart, Petco and other big box stores lfs.

 

[tlindsey]

I grew up in the L.A. suburbs of Southern California back in the 1960s and 1970s. There was a LFS or pet shop every few miles and my first job was at a local store, Tropical Caverns, within easy walking distance of my house. I live in the Southeast now and it is a LFS wasteland. The nearest decent local shops are a 150-250 mile drive and I would rate them as "average" compared to those of my youth. The difference between now and then? In my opinion it is, back in those days there were no "big box" chain store pet shops and no internet. If you've seen one Petco or PetSmart, you've seen them all, and they are geared towards beginner, low information aquarium keepers. A majority of folks buy almost all their dry goods online and many buy their fish online also. A person has really gotta love the hobby to brave owning a tropical fish store these days. Very sad, but the reality of our times. I imagine your observations are shared by most hobbyists over the age of 50 who remember what it was like once upon a time. I subscribe to Practical Fishkeeping, a U.K. publication, and read about the decline in stores and the number of people in the hobby there also. Young people are very geared to getting satisfaction from electronic devices. Statistics show that the number of young people interested in any type of animal husbandry has dropped off precipitously over the last few decades. I know I sound like an old curmudgeon, but I really miss the local fish stores.

Absolutely agree

 

[TyKornblue]

i’m a “young person” lol i’m 16 and love fish keeping…but yeah i’d are not many other kids my age like fish keeping all that much. i have gotten a few of my friends into it though it’s tough though because we don’t have the money you guys have established over a lifetime. everything we get is basically off facebook marketplace and sometimes has to be total fixer upper ranks that need to be resealed and stuff which is a very tough process. when you don’t have the money, it’s very tough to be into fish keeping

 

[Norsynth]

i’m a “young person” lol i’m 16 and love fish keeping…but yeah i’d are not many other kids my age like fish keeping all that much. i have gotten a few of my friends into it though it’s tough though because we don’t have the money you guys have established over a lifetime. everything we get is basically off facebook marketplace and sometimes has to be total fixer upper ranks that need to be resealed and stuff which is a very tough process. when you don’t have the money, it’s very tough to be into fish keeping

I don't think it is especially expensive. I mean we had tanks in college that were just 15g or 20g longs with a sponge filter. Of course, those tanks being so cheap probably doesn't help support local fish stores much.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

Hiya,

I'm from Minnesota, and sadly with the loss of our beloved World Of Fish I just feel as though we don't have as many fish stores as we used to.

For Freshwater we really only have

• Sea Level (Hopkins)
• Wet World (Eagan)
• Aqualand (Minneapolis)

There are two more that are about in the northern suburbs called Forest Lake Pets and Quality Aquatics, but considering It costs about $10 in gas to get there it makes me question how local it really is.

Saltwater we have New Wave Aquaria and Reef Collective.

Is this about typical for your region? For a population of 3 million in this area I'm honestly shocked by how few stores there are.

Depends what you define as my area, I think we have 4-5 general pet shops that have fish. In an area of about 300,000 people.

 

[PhishMon84]

I live in Massachusetts, for a densely populated state we don't have many great LFS.

Within a 35-55 min drive I have 3 excellent stores in my state and 2 decent ones just outside that distance in New Hampshire

I'll only list the good ones.


In MA
Uncle Neds Fish factory- hands down best
All things aquatic
Tropic Isle Aquarium (been open since the late 60's)

In NH
Jays aquatics
Fish Mike aquatics

there are a lot of horrible stores closer but i don't support those stores or like the owners.

If its not on this list its not worth going to

 

[Ogertron3000]

Im lucky to have 4 shops within 20 minutes of me and 4 more within 40 minutes.
This isnt including the big box stores that i never bother with. Quality varies with the independants but its good to spend a sunday afternoon cruising around and seeing whats new.
About 7 years ago a lot of smaller shops closed down but now everything seems stable again and a few new shops have sprung up too. With the current cost of living issues i do wonder how it will affect them over the next few years.

 

[Onerka]

I'm in Wyoming, population of under 60k so petco and petsmart for me. All my shopping is online or 5 hours one way to go to Colorado. When I lived in bigger cities, there was usually 1 or 2 good ones within an hour drive.

Fish and exotics are just a small segment of the pet industry. Even places with a large population can have trouble supporting quality stores. People can easily buy everyday items like food or chemicals online or at a closer chain store rather than supporting a quality store if they have to drive that far