South 'west' Jersey needs more LFS

[Crimson]

Lets just split NJ into a southwest area counties including: Camden, Gloucester, and half of Burlington. Nickname of SWNJ.

Been in the hobby since 1989 and tbh off the top of my head I only remember a few.

-Aquarium Center (still kicking)
-Bills wonder land of pets (at one time had a good selection back in sumerdale days) when it was next to a wawa. Haven't been to the new location.
-Paradise pets in woodbury
-Zoos in deptford -now a blinds to go
-Pet store in the deptford mall too, but wasn't as good as zoos (though zoos started to fall apart at the end)

We need a hidden reef (I heard they were going downhill though) in this area. Why does it seem like most of these stores always have a good strong start then fall apart?

Someone float me a million or so. I will leave my stable IT job and make a good reef/fish store. Any investors?

 

[saltkreep88]

could not agree more, our lfs options suck. hidden reef is great for hardgoods, but their livestock went downhill.

 

[Classklown90]

Bills has become a petsmart with a different name. No salt and hardly any fresh. Dog food is the money maker and the emphasis is obviously on cats and dogs here now.

I started this hobby through AC but I am continually unimpressed with their prices. Coral selection is meh but I do buy fish with confidenece. Besides the price tag, they usually seem quute healthy
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[Alcohol120]

i think the hidden reef is pretty good when it comes to fish. last time i was there i saw a lot of healthy looking corals that were pretty fairly priced, which is a first. and if youre going to go there you might as well stop at the other place which usually has a pretty decent selection of both fish and coral. north jersey is definitely the best but most of the shops are on the pricey side.
running a small business is tough, that's why we see the majority of them fail within the first couple of years. i would imagine a business specializing in fish and coral are even more susceptible to failure.

 

[Classklown90]

I just cant understand why nobody has capitalized on the virtually competition-less market in sj. One good store would be a gold mine.

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[falconut]

Agreed. AC has virtually no competition. Aquarium Discount and In Living Color went out of business, and Value Pets declined, AC is now basically it. Fish selection is really good, just corals are way over priced and really not impressive. When In Living Color opened, it was so nice to have 3 places to shop, plus they were very promising in the beginning. Maybe somebody will open something down here. We seem to have many more members in our area these days.

 

[Xavier613]

No retail salt water site is a gold mine which is Why most places don't even bother with it out switched out of having sale.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Simple solution.....move to Central NJ!


We have OGII, AO and Feng's, just to mention three within a 20 minute drive. We also have Tropaquarium which is in the town of Ocean, but I'm not sure if, on your map, it is in Ocean County or Monmouth County (South versus Central on your map, respectively.)

 

[TanksNStuff]

I've been a customer of Aquarium Center since I got into this hobby a few years ago, mostly because I live about 8 minutes away from it and it's very convenient. They usually have a decent selection of dry goods, pretty good prices on salt, and the fish selection has always been in the good to very good range IMO. Every fish I've gotten from them was healthy.

Corals are something they've only recently gotten into selling with any seriousness. I've been talking to one of their employees (Val) recently and she admits that they are a little inexperienced when it comes to selling corals but they were looking to improve that area of their business. When I told her I have a reef tank and that I'm also the Pres of NJRC, she recognized me as "George from Blackwood" and was wondering who that was. She told me that they were hoping to start repairing their reputation with our club. It seems that in the past, some of our threads basically bashed them and they took it to heart. This is why they never wanted to offer us any discounts and/or sponsor our club. I then explained that most of the BOD and general members are different people now and that our club actually has a growing number of southern members who are looking for a good LFS to buy corals.

She sounded serious about improving the coral section and we went over to their frags for my opinion on selection and pricing. I told her what I thought were some fair prices and some which I thought were overpriced. She wanted honesty and explained that they were pricing their inventory based on a combination of what they paid for them and losses in shipping. I explained that I understand that this is the general method for pricing livestock so I get why their prices are what they are. I then suggested that although it's good to have some eye-catching fancy stuff from the importers... it's a better idea for them to setup a grow-out tank and then sell off frags from their own stock instead. This would allow them to have better priced items due to less overhead (from shipping and losses, etc.) She agreed that was a good idea and said she would mention that to the owner (Dom).

Anyway, the point of my post is that AC is looking to give us better pricing and selection in terms of frags. They may be high on some things, but it's because they are guessing at what the prices should be and may not always be sure what the going rate is for certain things. So, I'm suggesting that instead of making negative posts on websites about their stuff, take the time to introduce yourself as an NJRC member (which will help them understand our club really does have an interest in shopping there) and tell them you are interested in helping make them a better store. Ask them if you can give some suggestions on improving their coral section if you have any. Tell them that you are looking for certain types of corals or equipment that they don't have. Tell them if you think prices are too high... but try to say it without sounding like you are whining or complaining. (I've heard that this seems to be their impression of some of us.) Let them know about your experience in the hobby and what types of things you see at other stores "up north".

I'm convinced that they really want to get some honest feedback that will help them become a better store for us. Let them know you care about their store and tell them you will post positive feedback on our forums for their consideration to our needs. I started patching the relationship... but I need your help to see this through. Let's help them make us a LFS that we southerners can be proud of!

 

[Classklown90]

No retail salt water site is a gold mine which is Why most places don't even bother with it out switched out of having sale.

Not true at all. Look at half the stores in north jersey. Im sure the owners are living quite comfortably, if not then they would be out of buisness. Im talking about the larger well known ones like trop. Gold mine was a figure of speech referring to a successful buisness which is all any small buisness owner wants. With the right price stock care knowledge and background it is achievable especially with no competion in a 40 mile radius...

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[Classklown90]

I've been a customer of Aquarium Center since I got into this hobby a few years ago, mostly because I live about 8 minutes away from it and it's very convenient. They usually have a decent selection of dry goods, pretty good prices on salt, and the fish selection has always been in the good to very good range IMO. Every fish I've gotten from them was healthy.

Corals are something they've only recently gotten into selling with any seriousness. I've been talking to one of their employees (Val) recently and she admits that they are a little inexperienced when it comes to selling corals but they were looking to improve that area of their business. When I told her I have a reef tank and that I'm also the Pres of NJRC, she recognized me as "George from Blackwood" and was wondering who that was. She told me that they were hoping to start repairing their reputation with our club. It seems that in the past, some of our threads basically bashed them and they took it to heart. This is why they never wanted to offer us any discounts and/or sponsor our club. I then explained that most of the BOD and general members are different people now and that our club actually has a growing number of southern members who are looking for a good LFS to buy corals.

She sounded serious about improving the coral section and we went over to their frags for my opinion on selection and pricing. I told her what I thought were some fair prices and some which I thought were overpriced. She wanted honesty and explained that they were pricing their inventory based on a combination of what they paid for them and losses in shipping. I explained that I understand that this is the general method for pricing livestock so I get why their prices are what they are. I then suggested that although it's good to have some eye-catching fancy stuff from the importers... it's a better idea for them to setup a grow-out tank and then sell off frags from their own stock instead. This would allow them to have better priced items due to less overhead (from shipping and losses, etc.) She agreed that was a good idea and said she would mention that to the owner (Dom).

Anyway, the point of my post is that AC is looking to give us better pricing and selection in terms of frags. They may be high on some things, but it's because they are guessing at what the prices should be and may not always be sure what the going rate is for certain things. So, I'm suggesting that instead of making negative posts on websites about their stuff, take the time to introduce yourself as an NJRC member (which will help them understand our club really does have an interest in shopping there) and tell them you are interested in helping make them a better store. Ask them if you can give some suggestions on improving their coral section if you have any. Tell them that you are looking for certain types of corals or equipment that they don't have. Tell them if you think prices are too high... but try to say it without sounding like you are whining or complaining. (I've heard that this seems to be their impression of some of us.) Let them know about your experience in the hobby and what types of things you see at other stores "up north".

I'm convinced that they really want to get some honest feedback that will help them become a better store for us. Let them know you care about their store and tell them you will post positive feedback on our forums for their consideration to our needs. I started patching the relationship... but I need your help to see this through. Let's help them make us a LFS that we southerners can be proud of!

Thanks for the post george. I was not bashing ac in my post, merely offering honest feedback. I even took jing there to buy 75 percent of her equipment. I am a loyal customer there for dry goods. I feel if I walked in there and politely commented on the coral prices that I may be referred to as an a-hole (for lack of a better term). I could be wrong though. Id love to see this store improve and would give them even more business

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[Xavier613]

As a retail store alone in south jersey your going to have to put a lot more effort into it than selling corals out of a store. To make it profitable enough to be worth it, you need to run a service business out of the store as well at the very least if not online sales as well. It can ve don't but it isn't going to be worth it to most as just retail.

 

[Xavier613]

Fact of the matter is that with dry goods, 97% of us would rather walk into a store, window shop, find what we want, then pull out our phones and order it online to save $5. Me included. And not just for fish stores that's for anything. So your dry goods have to be pretty low margin or your not gonna sell much aside from people who don't know or people who need something in a pinch.

With how easy it is to come on here or other sites and find corals for a third of retail costs, and most people just wanting "name brand"stuff that doesn't come in on a wholesale order, your coral sales are limited to either being a grow-and-frag starting from a personal collection, or basic general junk no one wants, for example what AC and value are stocked with for prices of premium corals.

The startup costs are high, and the return on investment is low, in a high cost environment such as new jersey, that's a recipe for failure.

Places up north, at least from who I have talked to, make most money off servicing aquariums, most of which are freshwater.

I would expand more on this topic but ill save it for later. Currently 40 feet in the air on a steel beam and my break just ended.

 

[Classklown90]

As a retail store alone in south jersey your going to have to put a lot more effort into it than selling corals out of a store. To make it profitable enough to be worth it, you need to run a service business out of the store as well at the very least if not online sales as well. It can ve don't but it isn't going to be worth it to most as just retail.

Why would anyone go into a venture like that without putting ALL their effort into it? No buisness is successful without 110% effort from the get-go. My intention is not to argue. We're are talking about a lfs. That includes salt fish, services, dry goods corals and freshwater. The problem is nobody thinks it will work or that it is profitable and nothing is ever achieved that way.
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[Classklown90]

Fact of the matter is that with dry goods, 97% of us would rather walk into a store, window shop, find what we want, then pull out our phones and order it online to save $5. Me included. And not just for fish stores that's for anything. So your dry goods have to be pretty low margin or your not gonna sell much aside from people who don't know or people who need something in a pinch.

With how easy it is to come on here or other sites and find corals for a third of retail costs, and most people just wanting "name brand"stuff that doesn't come in on a wholesale order, your coral sales are limited to either being a grow-and-frag starting from a personal collection, or basic general junk no one wants, for example what AC and value are stocked with for prices of premium corals.

The startup costs are high, and the return on investment is low, in a high cost environment such as new jersey, that's a recipe for failure.

Places up north, at least from who I have talked to, make most money off servicing aquariums, most of which are freshwater.

I would expand more on this topic but ill save it for later. Currently 40 feet in the air on a steel beam and my break just ended.

No need. Lets agree to disagree. I just dont understand how you expect to open a successful store that is beneficial to us hardcore reefers with the mindset that it will fail. This was not the intention of the OP im sure so kets end it here.

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[TanksNStuff]

Thanks for the post george. I was not bashing ac in my post, merely offering honest feedback. I even took jing there to buy 75 percent of her equipment. I am a loyal customer there for dry goods. I feel if I walked in there and politely commented on the coral prices that I may be referred to as an a-hole (for lack of a better term). I could be wrong though. Id love to see this store improve and would give them even more business

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Kyle, I was not directing that post toward you specifically. I was just speaking of the typical posts on this and other forums relating to AC's store. In the past, all I've seen from people (me included) is a post that their prices are high and the selection not that great. I'm asking that we take our thoughts and concerns directly to the source as opposed to just talking about it amongst ourselves.

I think many people may have the same fear of how the owner would perceive you if you commented on prices, but I also think they would much rather hear your concerns in person where they can ask questions or give reasons direct to you. At least that was my impression when I spoke to Val.

I believe that if enough people do this, they will start to listen and believe it to be more than a random complaint.

 

[Alcohol120]

i really don't think the market is there. dreams and hard work can accomplish a lot and I'm not saying it's impossible but business is business. sorry guys

 

[Jing_xoxo]

No retail salt water site is a gold mine which is Why most places don't even bother with it out switched out of having sale.

Im not sure what youre saying. Are you talking about saltwater stores that are online only? I personally am turned off by not just the shipping costs, but also no chance of getting to see the stock personally. Also, theres some relationships that build and loyalty with personal local business owners that are just in my opinion irreplaceable and sometimes are best created in the store setting.

An example for me would be hcker99. He was the first person I bought coral from and my loyalty is off the charts. Hes branching out to a website which is great, but doesnt mean we still cant stop by and check out the awesome stuff he has.

I wish aquarium center wasnt so far from me, but I definitely trust all their stuff because of word of mouth from here ( and of course kyle ) and even got to meet George who helped me weigh the pros and cons of my first fish ! I think stores are essential as its a good balance to be able to serve all types of people.

Mom and pop grocery shops make ends meet and are successful, I cannot imagine that with such a strong community especially in Jersey people wouldnt make drives to hit up a nice spot every month or so.

 

[Classklown90]

To get this more on topic, what if we hosted a meeting with aquarium center george? That way we can offer friendly advice and maybe workout a sponsorship. That would give sj a nice lfs if they could improve a bit

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[Xavier613]

To get this more on topic, what if we hosted a meeting with aquarium center george? That way we can offer friendly advice and maybe workout a sponsorship. That would give sj a nice lfs if they could improve a bit

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I second this, they already have the best salt prices around which means I need to go there once a month anyway, and I've gotten most of my fresh and saltwater fish from them already, all we need now is a Good coral selection