Aquatic Wearhouse?

[leslie]

I went by yesterday and it was closed. I tried to call but no answer. It looked like people were working in there. Have they moved, closed,??

[LoneStar]

hmmmm

[captexas]

Not sure about AW, but I've noticed FA hasn't been keeping thier schedule either lately. I've gone up there on two different days only to find them closed during regular business hours. Kind of strange.

[brewercm]

Not that I'm aware of. I called earlier during the week. Sometimes if you go around back if they have the closed sign up Louis will have the big garage door open and will still be more than willing to help you out.

[blueboy]

i was trying to call FA yesterday, and got a message saying the number was not in service. i just talked to them last week. i'm glad i didn't drive all the way down there.

[TexasTodd]

Louis closed the shop.

He's still doing tank maint. for his accounts and I think he may continue to sell items from his house. But don't know for sure.

Back in Portland we had several shops like this...out of houses. They were some of the best to buy at.

I'd PM him if you need to get in to contact.

Todd

[LoneStar]

Wow

Depending on whats in his future, I hope Louis still sells stuff on the side. Not for the fact that he can hook you up but rather the service and knowledge behind the sales. For me I'd rather buy from him (in his garage) than ordering online....

[brewercm]

Argggggggg, please don't tell me we're getting back to the days of the choices being Fintique, Alamo Aquatics, or Texas Tropical being the only ones around.

Well there are still a few others around. I'll have to PM him and see what his plans are since he still lives close by.

[Bill S]

Oh THIS stinks. Actually I typed a couple of other words, but this is a family site. I guess I could see this coming...

I talked to Sarah at FA a couple of days ago. Apparently, she is now having to do their service work, as the guy doing it broke his hand. She says they are looking at changing the hours, but are really trying to get it open by 2.

[tony]

ouch, i went by the other day and he was busy and i didnt get to talk to him but he mentioned in passing that he was busy doing service now

about half of his tanks were also empty (completely)

[theedprado]

Thats too bad, I purchased my very first coral there when Tamer owned it. Best of luck to Louis, he is a great guy.

[SA-DSM]

Wow, Louis is a great guy, and I hope this is only temporary. Hope to see you back real soon.

[dshawls]

is the fish market that bad that people are closing shop left and right? its sad because the fish store thats close to me is having problems also with mold on the roof and they might get shut down if the mold is deemed toxic :(

[Ram_Puppy]

I think there is a lot of competition in the local san antonio market, probably more than the city can sustain, and location is a very important thing. If you talk to a fish store owner that is doing well, they will most likely tell you that MAAST membership makes up a small percentage of the people that shop w/ them. the rest is done through drive by 'ooh a new store' or word of mouth, or probably even fewer through internet searches and phone books.. etc..

All we can hope is that our favorite stores get, and hold onto a following that is greater than the club as a whole.

I can also only imagine the internet makes things even toughter on them w/ online ordering.

[dshawls]

i think the store owners have the advantage versus shipping costs. shipping is what deters me from ordering coral online unless the vendor has a 'buy xxx ammount of dollars and get free shipping'. those are the only types of places ill shop online, and most have a limit higher than i want to spend :(

[TexasTodd]

My understanding is that Louis WANTED to close the retail and just focus on the tank maint. business. Also, Anson had to move....he was doing the most of the maint. for Louis.

Todd

[captexas]

and location is a very important thing



I always thought AW was in a horrible location to begin with. Not exactly easy to get to and not enough traffic to keep sales up. As someone who worked in retail for awhile, impulse traffic/sales do help.

[erikharrison]

yeah Anson got a job and had to split leaving Louis to do the maintainence. He and I had also talked about a new store of which he had a google sketchup of. It would be nice to see a store with a ton of stuff that you can primarily only buy off the internet. Specialty zoos, palys, rics etc. A big prop tank full of some hardcore sps. It would be cool if they had a prop tank that they were doing like Garrett and others with the 6500k bulbs, growing them out like weeds, then moving them to a display to color them up. CB does a good job of this, and it would be nice to see Mark and Louis on top of our taste for the hard to find, beautiful stuff. I know they order from certain distributors trying to get a good rate, but it would be nice to see an owner successful enough to spend some good cash to get some really exotic stuff to propagate and sell.


I just want some cool zoos.

[SACoastie]

This is weird. I just talked with Louis about 2 or 3 weeks ago and he said they had plans of possible relocating. <_< Chime in at anytime Louis and LUK

[edawgm]

Last time I talked to Louis he was in the process of finding a place to relocate to. Don't hold me to it but that was about 2 weeks ago. I hope he has not closed up shop. I enjoyed going by there to chat and get advice. Even though I have to drive from Randolph AFB to the airport, it was still worth the drive.

[carlinsa]

best thing about being in business for yourself is that if you feel you can do best somewhere else and not relocate and just close he can. i have always liked louis and i hope him the best. i hope noone is mad at him for him wanting to better himself and not loose money(if he was i dont know)

[BioCube14]

are they still open i have been calling them no answer

[Richard]

Ummm...


Louis closed the shop.

He's still doing tank maint. for his accounts and I think he may continue to sell items from his house. But don't know for sure.

Back in Portland we had several shops like this...out of houses. They were some of the best to buy at.

I'd PM him if you need to get in to contact.

Todd

[brewercm]

I have to say that from what I've seen and understand in that business, unless you have dry goods you just can't make it in the long run. Probably best to have a good selection of other pet products available also to help offset loses in other areas. I'm sure they make more money off of the dry goods (tanks, different animal foods, maintanance supplies) than they make off of the fish, cats, dogs they sell.
I'm sure others that have been in the business or are currently can add more to this.

Best of luck to him and his new endeavors whatever they are. Still a couple of good store around though.