Travelling through Cinci - Good LFS?

[jenghes]

Hi there! I am from Toledo and I will be travelling through Cinci later this week to go to Louisville. Are there any good LFS's off 75 worth making a stop at?

Thanks for all your recommendations!!!!

Jen

[squier]

NONE :(

[seandanekind]

None??? Have you been to other cities? Cincy ain't half bad at all...

Aquatics & Exotics (http://www.aquaticsandexotics.com/) is worth it just for the 10,000 gallon shark tank.

Monfort's Aquarium (6520 Colerain Ave,4 5239) has good livestock.

Marine Solutions (in Waynesville) is decent (http://www.marinesolutionsinc.com/) and in a greenhouse - tons of cheap frags.

Even the Aquarium Adventure here is better than the one in Columbus, but still kinda pricy.

[intenzity]

Aquatics & Exotics is awesome, if you are looking for SPS & Fish, try them, Monfort carries a lot of good softies and LPS, and House Of Tropicals on US 50 has a good selection of everything as well.

Scott

[squier]

No, I haven't been to any other citys but if they are worse than here I won't be anytime soon! All the ones I have been to, aquarium adventures, aquatics and exotics, and house of tropics are two to three times more expensive than what I can get online with limited selection, but I guess that is the story with most LFS. Aquarium adventures is pretty new still so the store is nice looking atleast.

[seandanekind]

AA better be nice - they are rumored to have spent over $1,000,000 on the building and display tanks.

I'm not a fan of house of tropics due to the condition I've found livestock in in the past, but then again I haven't been there in a long time.

As for the prices, I tried ordered an Aquacontroller from A&E, and when Jason checked, the "wholesale" price that Champion offers to his store was exactly the same as the price I could get from Champion's website as a normal consumer. From that and other instances I've seen, I'd guess that the problem is at the wholesale level more than the retail level... Then compounded by the additional expenses of running a retail LFS.

In my opinion, 2x to 3x is a bit of an exaggeration. Yes, the selection is a bit limited, but most LFS's can't afford to keep more rare items on the shelves because retail space generally costs more than warehouse space.

[intenzity]

e-commerce business has really hurt local retail business because of that reason. I mean why go to a local store at all if you can purchase stuff online for the same price or even cheaper?

The key for local business's is to find distributors that than can purchase wholesale from at a fair market value and still be able to stay competitive with the e-commerce market. This can be a hard thing to do sometimes because lets face it, there are a lot of greedy wholesalers out there.

I believe in supporting the LFS, why? Mainly because despite the sometimes higher cost on some items, you can expect better service...I would rather pay a somewhat higher cost on livestock from a LFS than from someone online, mainly because I have been screwed from almost every online order I have placed for livestock...and whenever I purchase any livestock from any of the LFS's in Cincinnati, I have always been super happy with what I purchased....so for me, it is worth the "sometimes" higher cost on livestock to be able to see what you are getting before you purchase it...and as for rare species, I am sure any to all of the LFS in Cincinnati will order in whatever it is you are looking for, and you can garantee that it will be what you are wanting when it comes in...that to me is worth the extra cash, and it helps support the LFS....

[sixxer]

Gerbers Saltwater wharehouse has a huge selection of fish and a decent selection of corals. While a lot of people claim to have had issues with their livestock, I have only last 2 of the 15+ fish I bought from them. It's just south of Dayton, worth stopping in and just seeing the selection, especially if it's early in the week.

[seandanekind]

Originally posted by intenzity
there are a lot of greedy wholesalers out there.

Actually, I think part of the problem is that ther is not enough competition at the wholesale level in this hobby.

[intenzity]

Yes I am sure that is part of the reason....