What I’d love in a lfs is if they could find harder to find fish or would at least try for their customers. Like you could have a little box where people could write down their contact information and the specie(s) they’re looking for and someone gets back to them to confirm they saw it and then later if they are able or unable to find the species.
That's actually a really good idea.
At the place I worked, a lot of suggestions were made on Facebook and we had to be careful of what we took. Some of these people weren't even in the same country. This would simplify that, and make sure what's being ordered is for people who actually come in.
I do understand that a lot of it is supplier issues as well. Some fish are "seasonal".
If the suppliers don't have them, they can't be ordered, and the lists are so random sometimes. Hueta gar showed up twice while I was working, we got them the first time, but the second time by the time we ordered, they were already out.
On top of the supplier issues is the health of and the size of the fish. I ordered a tetra (I don't remember what kind) at one point because so many people were asking for it, and received a bag of fry. Nobody wanted them because they were so small.
Another time, pea puffers, they all arrived sick or dead. It's not that we weren't trying, it's that the option wasn't there, or it wasn't great.