I've been quite for a while, but have the dealers gone?

[cyclonebri1]

So not visited any dealers as lost no fish and all have grown on. (not lost as in the last few years), Surplus orfe etc moved on along with the bland offspring I bought to grow on so looking for the odd fish or 2.

Now, don't know if this is national but several dealers I used to frequent seem to either have gone out of business or downsized, thinking LE KOI in notts plus another Notts wholesaler and Mitchkoi in Staffs. Any views on the general situation?

[pacman75]

Mitchkoi disappeared couple years back and the reason has never been disclosed (well not to my knowledge). It literally went over night. My local shops around Blackpool are still about but I've got enough koi so tend not to go so i don't get tempted to buy! Lekoi still advertise on ebay although a tempted move to new premises/merger with another firm didn't come off.

[cyclonebri1]

Mitchkoi disappeared couple years back and the reason has never been disclosed (well not to my knowledge). It literally went over night. My local shops around Blackpool are still about but I've got enough koi so tend not to go so i don't get tempted to buy! Lekoi still advertise on ebay although a tempted move to new premises/merger with another firm didn't come off.

I was talking to a favoured local dealer of mine yesterday, he told me Mitchkoi couldn't pay the monies owing to The Israel company that supplied them, this was in 2015 as you rightly say. They were forced into liquidation/bankruptcy.

Sign of the times it seems.

I intend to visit LE Koi this weekend, not been to their new place. Interestly enough both Mitchkoi and LE Koi grouped together for their buying trips to Israel. Must be something in the water,

[Feline]

Many koi keepers at the top end of the hobby (i.e. buying the more expensive fish, attending koi shows etc.) make a positive choice to buy only Japanese koi. Those shopping for Israeli koi are often unaware of the the issues surrounding KHV, and so shop based on price. No doubt all these factors can make it harder for businesses dealing in only Israeli fish.

In my area the main dealer of high end koi is still very much in business (Yume). There was a guy in the Weston-super-Mare area though who used to deal and has been closed down for a few years. The recession probably made it hard to survive in an area that isn't all that affluent.
The local koi club here is now inactive, so there's nowhere for people new to the hobby to get good info other than the internet. Garden centre aquatics chains sell very low quality Israeli fish only- often tempting people by their low prices and multi buy offers to get fish their pond and filters are unsuitable for. This doesn't do much to attract people to the hobby I think.

Then there is internet sales of dry goods undermining what someone with premises can afford to price these goods at. If I wanted to get rich (or just make a basic living) I certainly wouldn't look at opening a koi dealership these days unless I was also going to invest in a substantial internet store venture.

On the plus side, English bred koi (of Japanese origin) have never been better in the UK with Cuttlebrook in Oxfordshire. Just like all retail it's an ever changing market dynamic.

[cyclonebri1]

Actually the ones in my area were sellers of Israeli koi rather than Japanese so maybe that's it.

I was breeding parakeets etc back in the 80's it was a popular pastime and self financing hobby for working men back then. That absolutely stagnated with the decline in mining and steelworking etc, prices now are still below what they were then and they cost more to keep than can be raised.

Any change in economic climate can have a dramatic effect on what we spend our pocket money on.

[cyclonebri1]

Yet again today I was at a local retailer near Matlock. Called down 3 times so far as no new fish this year and wanted to be there for first dibs.

The place was great previously but this year,

No new fish this year.

"have you got any alfa grog", yeah, both sizes over there, Oh, we must have sold it all it should be there????

Didn't need to ask many questions as the disgruntled guy in the shop was on the phone to his boss or colleagues all the times I've been.

"He's not been in for a week", "not had my wages either".

"He's that busy he's not taking on big ponds anymore"

and today "He's up in the lake district doing a pond, he's not had a chance to order new fish as if he isn't there in person to pick they just send us shit"

And all this within full hearing of me and others in the shop.

This 1 will fall by the wayside very soon methinks as they are in the grounds of a very expensive garden centre.

[finn]

i think it would be good if it did shut as my experiance with garden centres isnt good they will sell you anything no matter if the fish isnt well just to make a fast pound throught the summer

[Feline]

Why don't you go to Chris Masters, you're not that far away from him?
His fish are all either home bred or from Ogata koi farm in Japan http://www.koimasters.net

[bowsaw]

got talking to a guy in the train back from the airport, turned out had run a freshwater shop till quite recently, reason they closed, dry goods people come in ask a bunch of questions and as they walk out do a net search and order from a online store, and the modern new builds with the shoe box garden does not lend them self to a proper pond and the insides so small, its not good for anything but the smallest of tanks and then people try and offload things and expect money for them when they outgrow them

[cyclonebri1]

i think it would be good if it did shut as my experiance with garden centres isnt good they will sell you anything no matter if the fish isnt well just to make a fast pound throught the summer

It's not a garden centre though, they rent space to the rear and have been around for many years on this site and a previous 1. Management and staff are totally independant, just seems to be on the slide like a lot of others round here.

I've visited LE Koi twice this year, moved to premises 1/2 the size and now very cramped and confined compared to what they had previously. Must be something in the water around here.