Reef Forum threads
- Big List 'O Questions
- Hello Everyone - Glad I Found This Place!
- Hello fellow DIY reefers
- Can someone upload my Avatar pls.
- Call of Duty Lovers!
- Site update, great coral and great pricing
- Should i take the class cover on my fish tank
- Newbie looking for advice
- Fab Friday
- Ventura Frag Swap ,Ventura ,CA on Dec 5th -09
Don’t get us wrong, the LFSlocator is a great idea which will likely become an indispensible tool for travelling aquarists throughout the U.S. but our cursory evaluation of the service for the Colorado region was less than stellar. A search for stores in the Denver area failed to display some of the newer, better stores but instead we were presented with many legacy shops which had long closed the doors, a bevy of service companies, some product distributors and even a used forklift wholesale business. Perhaps this service works better in more static business regions of the country but with the high number of stores coming and going in Colorado, we found the listings to be outdated. We would expect similar results for the Reefing capitals in Southern and Northern California. This database of LFS was clearly taken from some older directories of nearly all aquarium related businesses. Although the service is still young, we expect that with a little human aided editing the website could prove wildly popular. Our suggestion is to at least call businesses found in your area listings to make sure they still exist. Also read Ocean@Home’s review which found LFSlocator to be more accurate at least for their region.
Related Posts
One Comment
Thanks for the link to Ocean@Home Jake! Much appreciated as always.
I’m sure the site populated its database with simple information found on other websites or phone book listings. Once the site goes live (no true launch date I know of yet) I’m sure hobbyists and LFSs will swoop in to make the changes to the site.
I am wondering if there is going to be a peer review area. I know stores aren’t going to want to pay money just to be publically bashed, but without walking into a store yurself, peer reviews are the next best thing.
According to a comment from LFS Locator’s Chris Taylor:
“…I would like to tell your readers about some features that will be added within the week as we prepare for our full launch.
Stores have the ability to pay for a Premium Membership with tons of additional benefits. See a sample here: http://tinyurl.com/dnk7nu
In addition to what you see on the site now, here are some other features we are adding:
Hobbyists will have the ability to login and create their own personal profile and “favorite” their local stores. When their store updates their page with a new sale or promotion, those hobbyists will be notified via email! Special sales and promotions for LFSLocator users are highly recommended.
In addition, the LFS will be able to see who has “favorited” them, and they will be able to view their profile and learn more about their customer.
All the tools, marketing, and support are all geared to accomplish our ongoing goal: to bring local fish stores and hobbyists together like never before. We believe in supporting local economy, and community.”
Should be interesting and I am planning on doing what I can with the stores I know to make sure they are as accurate as possible.
Thanks again Jake!
Brian Blank — Ocean@Home