West coast vs East coast reefer

[ycnibrc]

Post a question on forum, you get 5-10 answers after 24 hours.. hopefully.. before it get into some weird argument.. half of the answers are "SEARCH"..

Post a question on facebook group and you get 50 answers immediately. only issue is it's harder to distinct a pro from some random new guy.

now there are soooo many different facebook coral groups.. makes me not want to look at corals or buy anything anymore.

I miss spending time at lfs on the weekend trying to find a nice piece. Nowadays everything is online. But it's tough for the LFS to compete with 10$ frags unless they have to go high-end like Jason Fox or wwc. LFS soon will be like flowershop competing with those corner street flower seller and soon will be extinct.

 

[five.five-six]

Hobbyists frag swapping puts negative pressure on retail prices and makes being a LFS harder to do. It’s a mixed bag, being able to buy thins on the cheep from fellow hobbyists means there are fewer and less profitable LFSs

 

[lakai]

Once you see the stores in Florida, you will see why. WWC, TSA, and Living Reef are all superb stores that put many of our LFS in So Cal to shame. They should take a page out of their book. Aquaculture is a big part of that. Very few stores in So Cal have any type of online presence, website to make purchases, the list goes on and on.

The answer to that is probably much simpler than we think. If you look at similar retail space you will find that anywhere in LA costs 3x more $$$ to lease compared to Orlando.

Los Angeles = $30-$144+ per sq. ft / year
Orlando = $12-$26 per sq. ft / year

On top of that electricity costs are also 3 times more in LA.

Most important is the income tax in Orlando is 0%.

TLDR: Overhead costs

 

[ycnibrc]

Once you see the stores in Florida, you will see why. WWC, TSA, and Living Reef are all superb stores that put many of our LFS in So Cal to shame. They should take a page out of their book. Aquaculture is a big part of that. Very few stores in So Cal have any type of online presence, website to make purchases, the list goes on and on.

Haha I bet they will not going to survive here when we can buy frags for 5$ on the forum all days. Not mean to brag but west coast reefer can grow corals like a boss. For example when I give bubble gum digita for free when someone buy my Coral they declined lol and TSA still sale it for 60$. Monti cap is go straight to the trash I don't even waste my time to frag it.

 

[Jadams]

I was born and raised in Orange County. Lived in Huntington Beach and 1 year ago (last October) moved to East Tennessee. I can say first hand, the East Coast sucks for this hobby LOL. Very few LFS, and the prices are insane. I set up a tank when I got here, but refuse to buy any corals. Only Fowlr tank because the lack of hobbyist and LFS make for ridiculously priced anything... Its very sad here. No fun IMO.

Praying to move back to SoCal next year 2020

PS: as stated above, the power outages here are crazy! The power goes out at our house a few times each week. It may only last a few minutes, but it seems to go out all the time. SMH

 

[BeanMachine]

Haha I bet they will not going to survive here when we can buy frags for 5$ on the forum all days. Not mean to brag but west coast reefer can grow corals like a boss. For example when I give bubble gum digita for free when someone buy my Coral they declined lol and TSA still sale it for 60$. Monti cap is go straight to the trash I don't even waste my time to frag it.

They would because they sell all over the country, which was mainly my point. They are a step above in all areas of marketing. They all have actual aquaculture farms, which I've seen, and are INSANE. Yes we have hobbyists in our area that can play ball, but no stores even come close. Aside from a few LFS in So Cal, most are dark, not well kept, no aquaculture, etc.

I get your point and yes we do have a lot of reefers out here in So Cal. The East Coast reefers are catching up though and the prices will follow accordingly IMO.

 

[Jamie1210]

I think socal had the best LFS's about 10-15 years ago, and now they're pretty much all gone.

Remember Reefhotspot in west LA? Man, I remember being a grad student and blowing off research time just to drive over and check out their stuff, even in rush hour! And Reefermadness in Torrance? Then we also had Miguel's Fragglereef.

And don't even get me started on OC! Tri and I would devote a whole day to go to LFS's there! There was Eye Candy! OC Aquatics! Ali's! (Thank goodness Ali's still around) We'd still head out to the controversial Tong's, because hey, diseased LFS is still an LFS to check out! Then there were the smaller ones too. Blue Ocean, Jeff's (or was it Jim's??) And Aquarium In Motion, and Coral Collection! Then Reefraft opened a store too. ...

And now, we're down to almost nothing

WHAT HAPPENED??!??

RIP 2006-2014 = Golden Age of Socal LFS's

 

[ycnibrc]

I think socal had the best LFS's about 10-15 years ago, and now they're pretty much all gone.

Remember Reefhotspot in west LA? Man, I remember being a grad student and blowing off research time just to drive over and check out their stuff, even in rush hour! And Reefermadness in Torrance? Then we also had Miguel's Fragglereef.

And don't even get me started on OC! Tri and I would devote a whole day to go to LFS's there! There was Eye Candy! OC Aquatics! Ali's! (Thank goodness Ali's still around) We'd still head out to the controversial Tong's, because hey, diseased LFS is still an LFS to check out! Then there were the smaller ones too. Blue Ocean, Jeff's (or was it Jim's??) And Aquarium In Motion, and Coral Collection! Then Reefraft opened a store too. ...

And now, we're down to almost nothing

WHAT HAPPENED??!??

RIP 2006-2014 = Golden Age of Socal LFS's

Hmmm some reefer name pga selling 200$ goni for 25$ kill the LFS hahahaha

 

[ycnibrc]

They would because they sell all over the country, which was mainly my point. They are a step above in all areas of marketing. They all have actual aquaculture farms, which I've seen, and are INSANE. Yes we have hobbyists in our area that can play ball, but no stores even come close. Aside from a few LFS in So Cal, most are dark, not well kept, no aquaculture, etc.

I get your point and yes we do have a lot of reefers out here in So Cal. The East Coast reefers are catching up though and the prices will follow accordingly IMO.

Yeah but for them to open big retail space they had to have foot traffic. If their business base mostly internet sale then they can do like Jason Fox. The problem with socal is we are so spoil with buying from hobbyist we don't even go to lfs anymore. So even u have a nice store no one show up. Dont u see every sale thread what is the common question on the first post? Do u free delivery ? Lol.