CRITICAL NOTE: Replace AquaForest commentary with Reef Factory. Both European. Totally mixed those up. Oof. I feel kind of terrible about that, my apologies to AquaForest.
I haven't followed this, but on my own had seen the shift and found myself cross-shopping *everything* after being a BRS loyal customer just a year or two ago. These changes create a new vacuum that I hope is filled sooner rather than later. Just removed the app from my phone. Taking my business to other places.
I’m glad someone touched on this subject . I’ve seen the good days of this company . Endless choice of products now it’s like walking in the Kalahari desert 🌵. I recommend people getting replacements parts for some of the equipments they still carry because lot of theirs products are being discontinued
Replacement parts themselves are a whole other facet of this. They’re starting to shift away from replacement parts entirely. Fodder for another episode. But your advice is sound.
If bulk reef supply aren't going to sell bulk stuff there really is no use for them. Sure they own many of the companies that make many of the products and you can argue there is a use for them but not brs specifically. It is kinda amazing how fast they changed but at the same time initially there wasn't that much change, its just all this change for the worse is happening quickly. I somewhat agree about not needing to grow the hobby and all that you just end up with people that probably shouldn't own reef tanks but if brs goes away or just stays significantly smaller then they were you may also find people have more success since there aren't videos telling them they need 3 radions and an apex to control their tank full of ghost white rock and a frag rack with 2 barely living corals on it.
I just cannot imagine that their current plan is yielding them higher numbers. I don’t get it. They’re crashing through the floor. Agree with you on all of these thoughts. 100%
While I emphasized this multiple times in the episode, I’ll say it plainly here again: this interpretation of what’s going on, and projections about possible future paths for BRS, are all just conjecture. Clearly something is going on, but I can only work with my knowledge set and publicly known details. Nevertheless, I felt it warranted discussion.
One thing you didn’t touch on that I would be interested to hear: Why would Aperture do this? I get that they’re venture capitalists but if they’re profit driven, why would they buy up a bunch of companies, drive their value into the ground, and then let them fail/bankrupt/disappear? There would have to be a reason for it.
That’s the two pathways I posited. I probably spread out the discussion too much! So I think either: 1. They don’t have the money to pay for gear from other manufacturers anymore (hence why everything is discontinued or out of stock), or 2. They are offloading everything reef-related and hoping that a large entity like Spectrum buys them whole (or at least pieces of them).
Also, as for the “reason” for this end, it’s often the case that venture capital fails. Reefkeeping is a unique bird. I highly doubt any of the Ivy League business people they put in charge of Aperture really understood the hobby. And that showed, as respect for Aperture plummeted following them taking over.
There’s entirely too much energy being spent on this subject. Venture capitalist have a playbook, and what’s happening to BRS is part of that playbook. Sure maybe they weren’t straight up with their intentions with the owners of BRS when they were courting them, but this isn’t the first time a venture capitalist has done this. My wife worked for 30 years for a major luxury retailer. We watched various venture capitalist buy the company gut it and sell it and then it happens over again. Products that are good and worth their salt are gonna find other outlets if some companies get hurt because they got in bed with BRS then so be it. If they’ve got any strength at all they will weather and learn something from it. As for me, I spread my cheese around to champion lighting supply, saltwater aquarium, and TSA aquatics when I’m not visiting my local fish stores. Can we just talk about reefing, please?
There are myriad other podcasts for you to listen to, full of guys yupping it up about their favorite fish or coral of the week. That sort of content is not what I generally do. Sorry to disappoint you. Incidentally, though, my next episode, which is already uploading as I write this, is just me casually chatting about my reefkeeping methodology and my tank, so that might suit your taste more. I don’t exclude the “fun and games” content, I just don’t trend toward it exclusively, like many other reef-centric podcasters do.
It’s getting rough my two saltwater shops by my house hurting one guy does DoorDash part-time trying to keep the doors open, and the other guy had to get rid of half of the staff
I cant help but wonder if Ryan and his partner saw the numbers growing far more than expected and saw lots of profit and decided to reach out to Apeture and other investors to pitch their businesses and convince them that it was a great investment but were smart enough to know it may not last but what a time to sell at top dollar. He agreed to stay on to not piss people off but knew he'd eventually leave with excuses all in a charade to make us think that shit just happens. Plot twist. He had already gotten Neptune and Ecotech to sell too as a package deal. Lol
It’s possible. I’m not sure who called who, we may never know, unless it’s been stated and I just haven’t heard. But him just quitting in the middle of the new “52 Weeks” makes it seem like he just got totally fed up. Lol.
I like AF there stuff is pretty good and it works but this is the same thing like the railroad/big RUclipsrs all get bought up and liquidated basically and then the company shuts down or runs on skeleton of what it used to be but imma capitalize on the sales tho
Oh I have definitely capitalized on some sales! I try to redirect my dollars, but sometimes, that price is just too sweet. Hopefully everyone has snagged a thing or two. A deal’s a deal.
Champion Lighting & Supply, SaltwaterAquarium-dot-com, Premium Aquatics, etc. There are many smaller distributors out there who aren't controlled by big venture capital operations.
Can’t believe I mixed those up. They’re both European and I flipped them in my head. I added a pinned comment instantly. Nobody else caught it. I feel awful about that.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Just listening now and I wondered wtf is he talking about. AF is a very strong brand in Europe with a good reputation. I think they'll find a new distributor here and move on. Reef Factory just did the same thing that Ryan did, took the best financial option. Business is business.
@@gomisreef I don’t hear it! I tried to listen for it twice. I muted the entire video before marrying it to the spoken audio, there shouldn’t be any noise. That’s so weird.
Brs is dead to me. I got back into the hobby about 6 years ago and brs was my place. Once they sold out there not the same at all. I do think the hobby has priced itself out of a lot of people’s budget more so now than ever.
Absolutely. Too many companies and corporations taking advantage of prices of everything going up, and hiking their prices like crazy. Massive profit is all fun and games until suddenly the spigot starts to give out.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Roc Steady (feat. Flo Milli) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HozPPyqW0dY/mqdefault.jpg)
CRITICAL NOTE: Replace AquaForest commentary with Reef Factory. Both European. Totally mixed those up. Oof. I feel kind of terrible about that, my apologies to AquaForest.
Saltwater aquarium and Champion lighting and premium aquatics are good
I haven't followed this, but on my own had seen the shift and found myself cross-shopping *everything* after being a BRS loyal customer just a year or two ago. These changes create a new vacuum that I hope is filled sooner rather than later. Just removed the app from my phone. Taking my business to other places.
Same here. Anything I may have once just mindlessly bought from them, I now compare with many other vendors.
Brands we own supply
Now that’s pretty good.
Another thoughtful video. Thank you
I might be totally wrong. But I used what perspective I could offer to hash out what I think could come to pass.
I’m glad someone touched on this subject . I’ve seen the good days of this company . Endless choice of products now it’s like walking in the Kalahari desert 🌵. I recommend people getting replacements parts for some of the equipments they still carry because lot of theirs products are being discontinued
Replacement parts themselves are a whole other facet of this. They’re starting to shift away from replacement parts entirely. Fodder for another episode. But your advice is sound.
If bulk reef supply aren't going to sell bulk stuff there really is no use for them. Sure they own many of the companies that make many of the products and you can argue there is a use for them but not brs specifically. It is kinda amazing how fast they changed but at the same time initially there wasn't that much change, its just all this change for the worse is happening quickly. I somewhat agree about not needing to grow the hobby and all that you just end up with people that probably shouldn't own reef tanks but if brs goes away or just stays significantly smaller then they were you may also find people have more success since there aren't videos telling them they need 3 radions and an apex to control their tank full of ghost white rock and a frag rack with 2 barely living corals on it.
I just cannot imagine that their current plan is yielding them higher numbers. I don’t get it. They’re crashing through the floor. Agree with you on all of these thoughts. 100%
While I emphasized this multiple times in the episode, I’ll say it plainly here again: this interpretation of what’s going on, and projections about possible future paths for BRS, are all just conjecture. Clearly something is going on, but I can only work with my knowledge set and publicly known details. Nevertheless, I felt it warranted discussion.
Add Eheim to the list of companies BRS is no longer selling.
@@brianbaier1616 For real? Of all companies. Eheim. Wow.
One thing you didn’t touch on that I would be interested to hear: Why would Aperture do this? I get that they’re venture capitalists but if they’re profit driven, why would they buy up a bunch of companies, drive their value into the ground, and then let them fail/bankrupt/disappear? There would have to be a reason for it.
That’s the two pathways I posited. I probably spread out the discussion too much! So I think either: 1. They don’t have the money to pay for gear from other manufacturers anymore (hence why everything is discontinued or out of stock), or 2. They are offloading everything reef-related and hoping that a large entity like Spectrum buys them whole (or at least pieces of them).
Also, as for the “reason” for this end, it’s often the case that venture capital fails. Reefkeeping is a unique bird. I highly doubt any of the Ivy League business people they put in charge of Aperture really understood the hobby. And that showed, as respect for Aperture plummeted following them taking over.
There’s entirely too much energy being spent on this subject. Venture capitalist have a playbook, and what’s happening to BRS is part of that playbook. Sure maybe they weren’t straight up with their intentions with the owners of BRS when they were courting them, but this isn’t the first time a venture capitalist has done this. My wife worked for 30 years for a major luxury retailer. We watched various venture capitalist buy the company gut it and sell it and then it happens over again.
Products that are good and worth their salt are gonna find other outlets if some companies get hurt because they got in bed with BRS then so be it. If they’ve got any strength at all they will weather and learn something from it. As for me, I spread my cheese around to champion lighting supply, saltwater aquarium, and TSA aquatics when I’m not visiting my local fish stores.
Can we just talk about reefing, please?
There are myriad other podcasts for you to listen to, full of guys yupping it up about their favorite fish or coral of the week. That sort of content is not what I generally do. Sorry to disappoint you. Incidentally, though, my next episode, which is already uploading as I write this, is just me casually chatting about my reefkeeping methodology and my tank, so that might suit your taste more. I don’t exclude the “fun and games” content, I just don’t trend toward it exclusively, like many other reef-centric podcasters do.
It’s getting rough my two saltwater shops by my house hurting one guy does DoorDash part-time trying to keep the doors open, and the other guy had to get rid of half of the staff
Oh it’s bad. For sure. The hobby’s hurting.
I'm in the camp of if I was Ryan I would have taken the bag....I'm thinking after his sabbatical he retires.
I think there never was a sabbatical. He's gone, as far as I'm concerned, and always was.
@@kalamazoo_reefertotally! It was probably away to transition and live up to his contract terms.
Now that would’ve been a brilliant move 🤣
I cant help but wonder if Ryan and his partner saw the numbers growing far more than expected and saw lots of profit and decided to reach out to Apeture and other investors to pitch their businesses and convince them that it was a great investment but were smart enough to know it may not last but what a time to sell at top dollar. He agreed to stay on to not piss people off but knew he'd eventually leave with excuses all in a charade to make us think that shit just happens. Plot twist. He had already gotten Neptune and Ecotech to sell too as a package deal. Lol
It’s possible. I’m not sure who called who, we may never know, unless it’s been stated and I just haven’t heard. But him just quitting in the middle of the new “52 Weeks” makes it seem like he just got totally fed up. Lol.
Some supply
They are running brs into the ground
Is Ryan anything to do with brs nowadays ?
@@hixyhicks Not that I can tell. Sometimes does a talk at a show. Not sure how strong the connective threads are to BRS now.
I like AF there stuff is pretty good and it works but this is the same thing like the railroad/big RUclipsrs all get bought up and liquidated basically and then the company shuts down or runs on skeleton of what it used to be but imma capitalize on the sales tho
Oh I have definitely capitalized on some sales! I try to redirect my dollars, but sometimes, that price is just too sweet. Hopefully everyone has snagged a thing or two. A deal’s a deal.
Who are the best alternatives to BRS for buying Reef Supplies?
Champion Lighting & Supply, SaltwaterAquarium-dot-com, Premium Aquatics, etc. There are many smaller distributors out there who aren't controlled by big venture capital operations.
Aquacave
Is that true about aqua forest? I knew that was trh deal with reef factory. I didn't know AF did the same
Can’t believe I mixed those up. They’re both European and I flipped them in my head. I added a pinned comment instantly. Nobody else caught it. I feel awful about that.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Just listening now and I wondered wtf is he talking about. AF is a very strong brand in Europe with a good reputation. I think they'll find a new distributor here and move on. Reef Factory just did the same thing that Ryan did, took the best financial option. Business is business.
Ha yeah, I added a note to the episode about the mixup and apologized in the episode I posted today. Sorry AF 😂 Only human.
1:01:45 what's the whirring in the background? Please tell me it's not that awful autofeeder
@@gomisreef I don’t hear it! I tried to listen for it twice. I muted the entire video before marrying it to the spoken audio, there shouldn’t be any noise. That’s so weird.
@@kalamazoo_reefer Maybe it was in my apartment haha
Brs is dead to me. I got back into the hobby about 6 years ago and brs was my place. Once they sold out there not the same at all. I do think the hobby has priced itself out of a lot of people’s budget more so now than ever.
Absolutely. Too many companies and corporations taking advantage of prices of everything going up, and hiking their prices like crazy. Massive profit is all fun and games until suddenly the spigot starts to give out.