Aquascaping Store in France

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Wow that is very cool! You see pics of these types of shops every so often but I sure don't have one like that near me!!
 
GreggZ said:
Wow that is very cool! You see pics of these types of shops every so often but I sure don't have one like that near me!!
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Yep, you don't see to many of these in the states. i certainly don't have one near me. I know there are some like AquaForest in San Fran and probably a few others, but in Europe/Asia I think the culture is different (more mature) for our hobby.
 
In Egypt we don't have any specialized aquascaping stores, one of my to do list items is to open my own store when I retire, all what I would be doing is selling aquascaping stuff plus ready-made aquascaped tanks like the ones that Green Aqua sells :)
 
There are very few stores of this quality in the US. In Houston, the Aquarium Design Group, AquaForest in San Fran. One in the Portland or Seattle area that I can't recall the name. Unfortunately, most others barely keep plants.
 
Art said:
There are very few stores of this quality in the US. In Houston, the Aquarium Design Group, AquaForest in San Fran. One in the Portland or Seattle area that I can't recall the name. Unfortunately, most others barely keep plants.
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Yep, know about ADG. Weren't they the first ADA distributor in US? I view them a little differently though since they are everything aquatic (not to take away from the stuff they did in planted.) I think Aquaforest and this store featured here in France are pretty much all planted.

I found many LFS (whether planted or not) can't survive without a very deep install base. That's where they move the most product. Although having websites certainly has changed this dynamic somewhat.
 
JPog said:
Weren't they the first ADA distributor in US?
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Nope. That was me...

JPog said:
Although having websites certainly has changed this dynamic somewhat.
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👆This. I think LFS owners need to embrace the Internet and social media in order to survive and grow. What's more, they need to do more to be present in their communities and promote themselves via clubs (even forming them) and events. Few do, sadly.
 
Seriously. I started importing them on a very small scale back in 1996-7. I was the first one when they decided to export to the US. I was exclusive for about a year and then they decided to expand to others.

The market back then was minuscule in the US and you had to pay them upfront plus shipping to get product. They refused terms. They were ADA after all.

Sadly, that priced their products at 2 to 3 times what they were selling in Japan for and WAY above anything in the US. Of course, few people knew who ADA was and it was the early days of the Internet so that wasn't any help. Forums were not a thing. Believe it or not, people back then were very wary of purchasing items online. Sales were impossible so I ended the business.
 
Wow, didn't know that. Sorry it didn't work out. Sounds like the timing of it all was just bad. The shipping alone can kill you. I know ADA eventually ended their agreement with ADG. Now of course they're are many dist. plus a ton of competitive products.
 
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