what happened to all the lps's?

[lectraplayer]

We used to have many locally owned pet shops. Most were mom 'n pop stores that could get dang near anything I wanted. Now, the only one I can find is edspetworld.com in my area.have these chain stores been what has done ol' Ed bad? ...or do most people buy over the web?

 

[Huro]

Most simply can no longer compete with the online marketplace, along with the chain stores who can offer much better deals because they are able to buy in bulk.

 

[NinjaTetra]

In Arizona theres 5 or so within 75 miles of Phoenix, but in the same area there are probably 100 Petsmarts, Petcos, and Foodclubs. Id say, mostly because the privately owned stores hae no advertising besides word of mouth, they gt less business.

 

[All_fish]

In sd we have at least 5 within 15 min from my house and also a few petcos and petsmarts.

 

[Delapool]

There's about 5 new pet stores that have opened in my area - I've no idea how they can all make money. I try to go to the original lfs but will get stuff online that none of them have.

 

[Mebbid]

It's a money game. Most just cc ant afford to stay in business.

 

[Brookster123]

It's the walmart effect.. Sad, I'm guilty if shopping for hardware and dry goods online and at big box stores.. My specialty Lfs is the only place if ever buy fish from, pricing aside the quality of stock and selection is key.. But a big bottle of prime is $20 and an ac 50 is like petco's $1/gal :/

 

[BillD]

The advent of the Big Box store has hurt small, privately owned stores in every area of business. On line stores add further insult to the injury. While everyone likes to save a buck, when all the LFS have gone out of business, where will you buy your fish? Tanks and such you can get from Big Boxes, but do you really want to buy all your fish on line, sight unseen? The big boxes don't offer the variety of species nor even a fair price in many instances. Never, even once, I have I seen a fish in PetSmart I would be interested in buying.

 

[Delapool]

True - I've just given it another go at online buying and getting past West Australian quarantine (I assume) laws. If it works, I'll get twice as much for the same cost (even allowing for postage).

Dry ferts if I can order them online will save a bundle.

Mind you I've just spent another small fortune on plants for fish snacks so the lfs doesn't miss out completely.

 

[Andy Sager]

I started this thread last year to help explain this issue. Hopefully it will help you understand.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f114/support-mom-and-pops-262747.html