The past few years have yielded great change in our society. It has been building since before 2012, though it took a pandemic to push us all off the cliff. Big box stores, not just pet stores, but the whole concept has been growing for decades. Mom and Pop retail stores have been disappearing since even before this. Online shopping growth was slow at first and what has really shifted here of late is home deliveries are faster and more convenient than ever before, at least for those living in populated areas. It was gaining popularity before the pandemic and now there is no going back. Why not get the products you need delivered straight to your door? The big box stores are convenient for some, though they just don’t cut it for the serious hobbyist. See my blog on big box stores here. The growth of transportation and online retail is a fascinating story, though here we are only looking at how they impact your local fish store (LFS).
Certain items lend themselves well to sitting in a warehouse and then shipping over long distances, livestock simply do not fit into this category. Aquarium merchandise does. Aquarium products have been and will continue to find many avenues for distribution. The local fish store is being pinched by the big money operations and I don’t see the LFS surviving in their current numbers or current form. Store owners have been forced to match online prices and this cuts into profit. Many LFS have joined the online marketplace in order to compete, while others have a more local, laid-back approach. Even livestock are available online for those seeking the harder to find fish, plants, and inverts. This puts shipping costs on the consumer, so it depends on the availability of LFS or Box pet stores. I find it odd that folks will order fish online when they could just go down to their local LFS and get them. Most LFS will order any livestock you need that is available. I foresee a big market for locally bred animals, since the supply chain is making it harder to find and get them. Historically, the aquarium fish hobby has been all about breeding and trading, while many these days are supplementing their income selling to LFS. Of course, many hobbyists are selling online too, through social media. It seems the numbers of hobbyists who trade through the local aquarium society has also drop of late, probably for the simple reason of having more options these days. The LFS’s are finding ways to compete, or they are simply closing their doors.
We have a few LFS that handle used equipment, and I see this niche being open to more stores taking advantage of the high turnover rate of aquariums and other used aquatic items. The real advantage LFS’s have is a connection to the community and so this is going to be a key to their survival. Both by acting as a distribution center for large brands and manufacturers, and as an avenue for hobbyist breeders. Service is the way forward! If the store is a service to the community, then it has a greater purpose than simply profit, and thus motivation along with resources to stay in business. Nothing new about this though, I just see it coming back in a big way these days.
The fat is being squeezed out of the system, meaning it is the middlemen who are becoming obsolete. We will still need distribution warehouses, but the old way of having 5 levels of commerce or more slowly goes the way of the dodo bird. Products are being manufactured and distributed by one big corporation. The big box stores are one avenue of distribution, while the LFS are another. The LFS sponsors various brands and seem to cater more to the high-end product, while the mass-produced aquarium products are moved through the box stores. Of course, there is cross-over, the above observation is in general terms. Sponsorships exist at every level of the hobby now days, from the hobbyist business to the big box stores. Volume and audience are the key elements to finding a sponsor, because this then becomes a win-win-win.
Another thing affecting all of us is the lacey act (read Amazonas magazine to stay apprised of the impact it has on our wet pets) which still looms over the pet industry. The future of the LFS remains nebulous. It could take years before things are worked out with this legislation. All we can do is remain positive and contact our state representatives and let them know not to support any bill which cripples the pet trade. I look at this as a wild card. So, Let’s keep our eye on things and keep moving forward by supporting our Local Fish Store. The future can have a local fish store where we can go to get the fish and merchandise we need, while chatting about our aquariums, or it will be a world without these social hubs of commerce where we get our items delivered to our door. Or are searching through a big store for what we need which will not come with the social aspect. I personally can do without the isolation in the name of convenience and saving a buck or two. I suppose what I am saying, to summarize, is the world I live in will have a Local Fish Store nearby which has the fish, plants, and inverts I need to support my hobby and in the rare case they do not have what I need then I order online and have it delivered to my door. The last resort for me is going to the box store.
Sequoia Elisabeth
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