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Re: Kent's LFS
> Roger's answer to allowing small plant growers to advertise on the Digest
> was a bit too personal.
Kent,
I said nothing like that. A few days ago I wrote saying that I have no
problem with the state of advertising on the list.
> I live in an area of about a million people, but
> finding plants here is sketchy at best. I'm sure there are large numbers of
> enthusiasts
> who do not live anywhere near a LFS that carries exotic plants. These folks
> will
> depend ENTIRELY on outside sources.
As long as people continue to buy their plants by mail order they will
never have a local source for plants.
My LFS - like most, I think - always sold a few basic plants; anarcharis,
vals and so on. They started getting into the market more after they
started seeing hobbyists bringing in plants for trade and found that they
could resell the plants with very low losses and almost no overhead.
Pretty cool compared to livestock.
Some of their older employees developed an interest in plants and one
employee took up the task of purchasing plants; she also trained other
employees at least to the point of being able to recognize common plants.
Then they converted a marine invert display to sell plants (its pretty
much the same setup used for plants at the local Petsmarts). They also
have plants in many of their other tanks. They've always carried Tetra
products, including Florapride, Initial and Hilena, now they also carry
Kent, Hagen and some Seachem products for planted tanks.
Now, you can go there and buy almost everything you need for a complete
planted tank. They don't sell great lighting fixtures, but I bet they'd
custom build them; they don't sell CO2 outfits, but I wouldn't be
surprised to see that show up in the near future.
The store has become a good source because local hobbyists took their
interests and their success back to the store and created a market that
made it worth the store owner's time and money. Now when I go in there's
a "plant guy" on staff and there's almost always someone buying plants and
equipment for planted tanks; kids getting their first tanks, people adding
plants to their existing setups and committed hobbyists expanding their
horizons. *That* is advancing the hobby and it's very cool to watch.
Roger Miller
who's interest in the hobby sprung from golfish tanks in the back of the
Woolworth's store.