Aquarium store owned by LHHS graduate closing after 12 years - Lake Highlands Advocate

The Aquarium Boutique on Garland Road. Photo by Renee Umsted.

The Aquarium Boutique, a one-stop shop for all things aquarium, is going out of business.

Yuki Shinoda, a Lake Highlands High School graduate, opened the store 12 years ago in the old Boutique Pet Store space on Garland Road, which had been open for over four decades.

Shinoda cited financial issues, some of them brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and ecommerce, as the reason for the store's closure.

"It wasn't lucrative enough for me to stay in it," he said.

Shinoda, whose father attended Woodrow Wilson High School, has been interested in aquariums since he was a kid. A former Spanish teacher, he decided to open his own business because of his love for the hobby.

He used to visit Boutique Pet Store when he was growing up, and The Aquarium Boutique was named to pay homage to the old business. One of the pet store owners even worked with Shinoda at The Aquarium Boutique for a few years.

The Aquarium Boutique specializes in installing, maintaining and servicing tropical fish aquariums and custom aquariums. It sells fresh water fish and plants, and saltwater fish and corals, a one-stop shop for beginner and intermediate hobbyists.

Shinoda said he's happy that he was able to provide job opportunities to people over the years. Moving forward, he's thinking about returning to teaching. But for now, he continues to run the store.

Merchandise is 20% off, and sales will increase until everything is sold. Shinoda said he hopes to be out of the space by July 1.

"Our main missions were essentially that this hobby is so good for people in general, teaching knowledge and patience and love for nature and science," he said. "Coming from my teacher background, I wouldn't ever have gotten into a business that I didn't think was good for society. And I also didn't want it left up to the big box stores, the Petcos and the PetSmarts. But at a certain point, I can't keep going just through passion."

The Aquarium Boutique is located at 9035 Garland Road. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year
Read more