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thegreenmachineonline

Has anyone ordered TGM book yet? Just made one. TGM was my first impression and inspiration with aquascaping
 
AnhBui said:
TGM was my first impression and inspiration with aquascaping
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It was for me too, had been away from the indoor aqaurium for quit some time. Than i saw Findleys making of "Natures Chaos" and it lit a spark again.. After seeing "Tributary" a was convinced and a week later i started scaping myself a year later again MTS struk now i have 3 indoor planted aqauriums.

Pitty his idea with TGM didn't work out.. It was a good try never the less all tho it's e very difficult trade to keep your head above the water. Yet not enough aquascaping nerds around to make a living of it... At least not with such a drastic and masive undertaking behind it..
 
I guess that was somewhat inevitable...maybe we should form a syndicate and do it ourselves.
 
Better than a situation where the distributor won't quit but also rarely does any (import) shipments
(& for some reason ADA does nothing 😕)

It's a shame to see TGM disappear (it was a lovely shop)


maybe we should form a syndicate and do it ourselves.
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Worth investigating at any rate (especially as you may know someone who knows someone 😉 )
 
It is a shame, James's video's were what made me start my first ever planted tank 3 years ago and the reason I found this great website.

Escarpment nature was my fave at the time because it was a lovely small tank.
 
Stu Worrall said:
Well. That’s your lot for Ada in the uk until (if ever) a new distributor is found. It’s Europe only after Tgm sell out their last stocks 🙁

http://www.adana.co.jp/en/release/detail?id=554
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I think sponser Aqua Essentials used to sell a limited ADA range but were stopped by TGM as their right as the main UK distributor. Maybe ADA need to relax there conditions a little.TGM also had Tropica so maybe its possible, be a shame as you say Stu if that a UK retailer cannot happen
 
I think quite a few UK retailers sold ADA products at one time...I also think the reason they don't could possibly have been more to do with the distributor's business strategy rather than anything else.

I could well be wrong, but I suspect the strategy was to control the supply chain and monopolise the market, probably by inflating prices to the point where retailers had little or no margin on the retail value of the products. And/or ADA set the price point too high in the first place. In which case James may have decided it'd be more efficient to use the business as a vehicle to promote his aquascaping career.

Either way the result is possibly the same - availability becomes limited, and in an emerging niche market there is always the risk that this will in turn throttle your own market place, especially when customer service isn't always on point, and when there are a growing number of similar products continually entering the market at a more competitive price point...and perhaps more importantly, are widely available.

If anyone is going to make a go of distributing ADA in the UK, I guess they'd need to get it out to as many retailers as possible and at the right price point. I suspect this will prove incredibly difficult, because the average UK hobbyist shopping in their LFS, or even in the Maidenhead Aquatics chain, isn't necessarily going to appreciate the wonders of optiwhite glass and the finer points of seamless silicone work, for instance. I get the feeling it would require an enormous amount of education and marketing...which equals an enormous investment in time and money.

It would be considerably easier if the price point of ADA products in this country matched those in Japan. I doubt ADA would consider that, for one thing they'd be worried about devaluing the brand. But if they did, any distributor would still probably have to import a vast amount to gain the economy of scale necessary to make it worthwhile, and that'd be a huge risk. Not least having a huge amount of capital locked up in product that potentially no one wants.
 
The advantage that ADA had when it came to quality has disappeared as competitors have got a lot better.
If you look at the tanks NACD and Aqua Evolution are now making there are now minimal differences.

The only way I can see to increase there market share would be to start importing the glass panels the same as evolution does and assemble them under license.
This way you could bring shipping costs down to something reasonable, a 40ft container from Japan cost roughly $1200 you would get a lot more glass panels in it than you do tanks.

To be fair James at green machine doesn't do himself any favours with his opening times.
I've tried to visit a collection of times to buy tanks/rocks etc but he's never open when I'm not at work.
He's closed every weekend and bank holidays. Wouldn't it make sense to take off Monday to Wednesday off every week.

It doesn't give me much chance to impulse buy expensive rocks/hardscape and spend a fortune on ADA stuff.
 
I will miss this shop, i believe Jim and the Green Machine are exactly what this hobby/life requires.
I too ordered his book, and after reading have found it to be a very well laid out unbiased reference guide. I would encourage begineers and experts alike to have a read. The detail in the photographs have captured the fine art of the planted aquasacpes perfectly.
 
Receive my copy today. Book looks great although it’s taking awhile for delivery. Totally worth for waiting
 
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