The LFS, a dying breed....

[dr_girlfriend]

I just found out my favorite LFS is closing in a few weeks. I guess my only choice now is Wally-World or Petco/Petsmart
NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I guess I better get those QT into high gear....and stock up on meds.
Its really sad that small businesses are getting trampled out of existence. I'm guessing theyre closing because they just can't compete with online retailers and big chain stores anymore.
RIP "The Aquarium"
I will miss you........

 

[Bearfan]

I've been bent over by LFS for decades. It doesn't bother me that I can get things overnighted online for about 1/2 the cost.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

well for most hardware I agree, but for livestock? You want to buy fish x for 12.99 but have to pay 45.99 to ship? Screw that. And what about tanks? I'm not going to pay to have a tank shipped.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Have you tried searching online for lfs? I searched on MSN Yellow Pages and found MANY in my area that I never knew existed. We have visited 4 of them so far and found that they are actually ALOT better than the places we used to frequent. I have to drive a little farther, but it is definately worth it.

 

[redwhiptailplec]

Ahhh but in the short term you might be able to get some fantastic bargains! Just think of all those tanks and fishes...Generally you can get excellent prices from LFS closures, especially for the tanks etc.

Take out a loan and go crazy...well maybe not.....

 

[mandi]

Have you tried searching online for lfs? I searched on MSN Yellow Pages and found MANY in my area that I never knew existed.

LOL -- my poor kids will either grow up LOVING or hating this hobby because we take "LFS Field Trips" all the time making a day of touring a list of shops from the yellow pages. We are in a small rural area but are close to several larger metro areas in all different directions so there are lots to see

 

[1tankneverenuff]

LFS are either bad or good in my opinion. No in between. It sucks that some may close up, but perhaps it's because they didn't know how to run a successful business. This hobby is HUGE, you just have to know how to take control of it and understand the long road ahead of you if you decide to become the owner of an LFS. We've been in business for 2 1/2 years, and although we're not millionaires, we're still growing every day and refuse to give up. If we only carried more exotic fish (fresh and salt) and had more live plants (which we will soon) I think we'd be the #1 LFS in our city. And one day, I hope that we reach that point...

 

[dr_girlfriend]

well I actually found out that they're going out of business because of insurance problems. Guess they couldn't get covered anymore. Theyve been around for 18 years, so im not sure exactly what the details are.
There are 2 other lfs nearby, and theyre ok. ones really small, ones rreally big, but thier stock isn't great, and one has prices so high I don't know why anyone would ever buy anything there.
I went today to their going out of business sale, all the tanks were gone which is what I really need, half of their freshwater fish were gone. I did pick up 2 gouramis, and 2 cories, and 2 shell cichlids though and some other stuff.

 

[qwertie]

I hate Pet s Mart!
They got sued out of britain by animal rights people, about 50 stores were mistreating animals, one incident was a hamster with its leg biten off, the person in chargee got the hamster and whaked it on theyre desk, it didnt kill it the first time but after repetedly doing so it finally died, there must be some pet s marts in the US that do this?? well about lfs s I think that they are the best place to get fish, because of theyre variets, but tanks....... wow theyre expensive in local fish stores, today I saw a 125 litre tank in Pets At Home for £ 130 with inbuilt filter lights heater, stand, everything, and some rocks and driftwood, I saw a 120 litre tank in my lfs for £210, with everything I mentioned before, and a few tacky plastic things at the bottom, Tanks can't die though, fishes do, the fish in the lfs looked healthier and happier than Pets At Home, who looked like they were gasping for air, because people that own lfs could go out of buisness in one seccond, due to a fire ( yes these can happen in water filled places!) people not liking their stock, in that shop ( big superstores have shops everywhere so they don't care) lfs owners look after there stock more.
So if you have the choice, I would reccomend going to your LFS.

 

[whitetiger_CJ]

The Petsmart here isn't allowed to euthanize any anymals, we have a vet that we take all sick animals, and treat them accordingly. once petsmart payed $120 for the care and meds for an eight dollar hamster. The petcos around hear are crappy, and the only thing that I dislike about the petsmart is there selection.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We have never had any problems what so ever with Petsmart. They take great care of their animals (around here anyways). I have seen more dead fish in tanks at the lfs than at Petsmart. We bought our 150 gal from petsmart for $690 (tank, stand, lights, hood, and ugf (not being used anyway)). The lfs wanted to charge us $1300 for the same setup. Actually, we bought an All-Glass and the lfs was some other brand that I've heard isn't as good. So, just because petsmart in the UK is bad doesn't mean that they are all bad. And actually, that in no way compares to the treatment of fish at Wal-Mart stores in the U.S. About the prices, the lfs jacks up their prices so high on everything. A Master Test Kit for $40? You have got to be kidding me! Bala Sharks at 4 inches for $22 each! I prefer to purchase from lfs just because it keeps small businesses up and going, BUT, there comes a point when you can purchase African Cichlid's at Petsmart for $4.99 versus $16 at the lfs. You have to draw the line somewhere.

 

[Toirtis]

Its funny...I live in a city of 1 million....we have probably the greatest ratio of petshopsopulation on the planet, and a mixture of LFSes and big shops....interestingly enough, we are now getting more LFSes than we had 5 years ago, and the LFSes here have better livestock, better drystock, and better prices on both than the chain shops.

 

[TomK2]

My local petsmart has the best fish gaurantee, and the best goldfish tanks withing 20 miles. Other LFS will get more unusual fish, but for goldies petsmart is the place.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Ours lfs (plural) won't guarentee cichlids. That's a bunch of crap! They say it's because of aggresion, BUT, even if they have a disease, they won't guarentee them. Now, PetsMart and Petco on the other hand will.

 

[Drake]

I have had several lfs go out of business around where I live. There still are several others but they are atleast 15 to 20 minutes away. For Petsmart they are ok but their selection of fish sucks compared to the lfs. Also I have had some bad experiences with employees at Petsmart because they have no idea what their doing.

 

[1tankneverenuff]

You have to take into account how large of a company places like PetsMart are. They can have tons of regular, common fish and practically give them away for free because they make so much money in their other departments as well. That's why they have lower prices on equipment and fish SOMETIMES. But, as stated before...most of their employees are highly uneducated and just know a few basics about the hobby. And when it comes to equipment, they mainly carry the cheap "combo" setups. I hardly see any high-end quality equipment in their stores, if any at all. In the long run, an LFS is by far better...unless the LFS is a scam and is only in it for the money. And there are a few of those unfortunately. When it comes to prices, it all depends on the LFS. Some are very high-priced and some are not. It depends where you live in my opinion because I know we have some damn good prices on fish and equipment compared to other LFS in our city...

Places like these huge chain stores also have the poorest selection of fish and some can be hybrids.

 

[dr_girlfriend]

tanks runa bout the same price between the lfs and petco/petsmart with some variations. but petco/petsmart only carry a few sizes of tanks, and its usually not the size i'm looking for. plenty of 29, 55, 10 gallon, but rarely a 40 long or a 50 gallon. and the cabinets and stands? cheap mdf for wayyyy to much. i don't mind mdf, but i mind paying 125 bucks for about 15 bucks worth of materials.
Plus I don't buy alot of fish from stores (just started getting community tank going), but I always look whenever i'm in petco/mart, and most of the time I see dead or dying fish, sick fish, etc.
And the employees really pi** me off. One was trying to tell a woman that an african cichlid full grown(i think it was an electric blue) would be perfectly fine with her small juvi angel fish. And another time telling a woman that her betta doesn't nee a bigger container than the one they are sold in;"they don't like bigger containers". And when I asked if they carried sponge filters, they reacted like I was some freak.
I just like being able to go somewhere where I can get exactly what I need (and not be completley ripped off) where the employees actually know something and take care of their stock. Is that too much to ask? I think it may be.
1tankneverenuff, when is your website going to be complete?

 

[1tankneverenuff]

1tankneverenuff, when is your website going to be complete?

The design is complete. I'm having to wait on a few things unfortunately. One is an article a local newspaper wrote about our store and apparently we have to have their permission to have it on our site. It will be our main homepage. I'm still finishing up the programming for the online store. The hardest part is calculating the correct shipping costs ...takes alot of time. I'm also still working on warranties and specials we will have when we first open it up.

PS - I've also had to scan and crop each picture of each product to place into the website...that alone takes FOREVER. And all this on top of my other two jobs!