This post is MAINLY to RCMike and fishdoc, but since it's a FORUM, all are welcome to post thoughts and OPINIONS... Just keep it thoughtful and civil, please. No replies written in crayon, thank-you.
Mike, I totally agree with you. In fact, I don't know HOW everyone got the idea on this thread that somehow the lfs or myself were whining about the competition from the 'net or from swap meets. I am NOT saying that the LFS are crying, nor was it correct for people to throw out the "change or die" advice. No, that was a case of people taking the ball and running (too far) with it. All I KNOW (from talking with the owners, managers, and staff of virtually all the LFS) is... They have to walk a fine line between keeping the members of the MTRC completely happy, and blowing them off altogether. It was as the point was that someone raised earlier in the thread... Does a LFS attend and support a swap meet, and then sell at their cost? Do they mark it up to what they should and then get blasted for it? Or, do they just skip the whole thing with some excuse of being too tired (they could always schedule staff AROUND such events), and hope the whole phenomenon just goes away?
I'm not here to SPEAK for ANYONE from any of the other LFS. When I say I've spoken to them, and I may know a different version of a truth, that does NOT mean they ALL feel this way, or even to the same degrees. Therefore, all the anecdotes about the AC, etc. are "silly" (as fishdoc would say). They are irrelevant, because the CUSTOMERS' perspective is NECESSARILY going to be different from MY perspective (that of a shopowner, talking SHOP, with other LFS owners). Just because a store's "parking lot is ALWAYS full" doesn't mean for one minute that the people who drove those cars are actually spending money, or even if they are- that they are buying things that make a hill of a difference in the bottom line!
Did I KNOW my delivery was harsh? [insert big, sheepish grin] No way!!! [wink] But you old-timers knew my style when you saw the name on the reply (that's why you clicked on it- tell the TRUTH)! But the fact remains that my opinions stand. Every reef club member jumping on the thread and recounting every bottle of Joe's Juice they've bought in the last twenty-four months does NOT undo the threat that swap meets pose to the bottom line of the LFS. Sorry, it just doesn't. Also, before the refrains of "if they can't compete, they should just die" start, consider this...
In the last two years, brick-and-mortar retailers have had to contend with: A war on "terror", a world dumping dollars for Euros, many dollars going toward tsunami and hurricane relief efforts, high gas prices, larger-than-ever internet purchasing volumes, etc., etc... It's easy to say "well, they should change or die", but that wasn't my point. I'm not here to comment on whether it's "good" or "bad" that LFS are having a tough time. I simply came here to say that they don't totally support EVERYTHING the reef clubs are about (although, in spirit, they support them 99% of the way!), the ARE in danger of becoming obsolete, and do we all agree that it is okay with us? If your grandfather is in the next room on life-support, do you just pull the plug and say "well, he should've been younger and healthier" or "it's not MY fault he can't compete with the younger guys"? For most people, the answer is an emphatic "no". You do what you can to help your grandfather until it's obviously "time to go", because you recognise his value as a member to society and your family. Like pickupman66 said... It's the LFS (or granddad) that teaches us how to bait a hook, so to speak...
Some posters have intimated that the LFS engage in too high of mark-ups... This is so preposterous, but you would have no way of knowing if you aren't on this end... Right now, manufacturers (of filters, lighting, etc.), are selling to people they should have no right to, who then make virtual pennies on their dollar as a sideline. People who drive trucks for a living (for an example), buy a truckload of [whatever widget you want to say], fill their basement with it, and ship it to the public via UPS. They have no "extra" overhead, they have no staff, may not even pay their full share of taxes... And so no, THEY don't "mark up" the product as much as the poor guy down the road who has ten times the overhead of some "guy" who does this as a sideline. To the selfish person, it's all good, right? The same product (the "widget") gets sold to DISTRIBUTORS to the pet trade, who then tack on their necessary margins. By the time a LFS buys many of these products, they are already more expensive than they are often being offered on-line. You then say "well, why doesn't the LFS buy them on-line?" For two reasons. One, DISTRIBUTORS exist because, like a grocery store can't buy product from EVERY grower of peas, cows, tomatos, corn, etc., on the planet- (it would take FOREVER to gather a weeks' worth of product, and nothing would ever get sold!), so too can retailers not buy every product they carry from each individual manufacturer. Furthermore, it's FEEDING THE SYSTEM. What NEEDS to happen (but probably won't) is, the darn manufacturers NEED to go back to selling ONLY to authorized dealers! Could you imagine if Honda and Toyota suddenly started selling their cars straight off their production lines to YOU and your neighbors? You COULD say "well, it's not MY fault the auto dealers can't compete!" or "It's not fair that the auto dealers have to put their HUGE mark-ups on the car!" But this would be unfair and really, incorrect. For YEARS, the auto DEALERS (another way of saying "distributors") helped MAKE the manufacturers who they are, only to have the producers suddenly circumvent that portion of the system which helped them get to this point! Eventually, they'll need them again, but by the time they REALISE IT... Will it be too late? THAT is what I'm saying- when the distributors and LFS dry up (like the auto dealers), THEN where will we be? You'll be at the MERCY of the manufacturers, because the competition will be virtually ZERO. Please... THINK about it long and hard before hitting the keyboard... THINK...
LFS don't need your pity, they just need your understanding. Instead of being BEWILDERED why they don't ALL donate a nanocube, or attend every gathering (no matter how impressive- which, by the way, props go out to you all- I heard from friends who attended that it was an impressive turn-out), just UNDERSTAND that they're supporting as much as they CAN right now. No one is begrudging you if you buy stuff on-line, but you can't argue the fact that it has a negative effect on the overall economy (and if you think you can, let's you and I take it to e-mail so I can straighten you out, proper!).
And as for the poster mentioning a LFS having dead fish... That isn't fair. One of the owners of that store has been suffering from health problems for a LONG time, and the other owner works their you-know-what off. I've worked for ALL the major LFS, and they ALL have dead fish. Every day. All the time. It's just a matter of who's able to get 'em out before you SEE them. If you're going to hold someone to a bad day, I recommend that YOU try to open and run a retail shop that sells live fish and other animals. It would be another matter ENTIRELY if you went in, day after day, and it was this way ALL THE TIME (which, I know it is not).
So, I don't know if I have the power to put an end to this thread or not (prolly not), but I'd like to. We've all had a chance to get our .02 in, and although I can't speak for YOU guys, for me, it's been great fun. But I must get back to the business of running MY business. Just know that no matter WHAT people tell you, your LFS needs you right now, and just do what ya can. That's all!
Happy reefing, dudes!
~Roberto
