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Thinking outside the box — the cube, the rhombus — leads to thinking up such shapes as freestanding, walk-through, arching tubes. And that is leading to success for San Diego’s West Coast Aquarium Industries, for which manufacturing unique aquariums (forget the plural "aquaria"; this is a business magazine, not an academic journal) are de rigueur (but French phrases are still okay, when apropos).
WCAI manufactures custom acrylic aquarium designs, often on descriptions suggested by its customers, who in turn have come up with their own design permutations after visiting WCAI's Internet showroom (www.aquariumdesigners.com).
Although founded in 1990 in San Diego, it would have been a stretch to call WCAI a manufacturer until this year. The company used to contract out the actual fabrication of the aquariums it designed, reports Louie Ortiz, the firm's founder, president and CEO. That all changed in February when the company acquired the 1,500-square-foot Vista plant and equipment of one of its acrylic suppliers.
"Now we’re able to produce a cheaper aquarium — 20 percent less — for the retail customer, but our margins are a little higher," Ortiz says. "We’re hoping our volume will improve."
WCAI recorded $1 million in gross sales last year and is growing 25 percent annually. Ortiz forecasts sales of $5 million in two to three years with added global sales and distribution. The company is about to begin making aquariums for a pet store chain in Germany, whose owner Ortiz sold on the idea during a recent sales trip abroad.
Besides the tank itself, WCAI also makes and provides its own acrylic filtration systems, components, the aquascape — aquarium decorations like decorative coral and synthetic reef forms — and even the fish. It will handle delivery, installation and weekly maintenance. About two-thirds of its sales are to businesses; the balance to residential customers.
For a customer outside Southern California, the company will, before shipping, pre-assemble the aquarium along with the filtration system and decorations. "We use a network of authorized service companies for the installation and maintenance," Ortiz says.
WCAI doesn’t ship fish for its aquariums, but it does acquire, quarantine and nurture aquatic life forms from the Philippines, Hawaii and Florida for its local customers.
It also provides ongoing maintenance, generally once a week, at the company’s aquariums in restaurants, including Humphrey's, Reuben's, Blue Point, Szechuan Mandarin and Rubio's. A typical Rubio's aquarium is 8 feet long, 18 inches wide, 30 inches high, holds 225 gallons and costs between $3,000 and $5,000, Ortiz says.
Other aquariums — the biggest hit 1,200 gallons — can cost upwards of $50,000. Among WCAI's larger jobs have been the King Crab tank at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage (where Ortiz attended the University of Alaska, majoring in marketing) and, recently, cleaning apparatus for Hippo Beach at the San Diego Zoo.
More than half of WCAI's workforce of 24 is devoted to making aquariums, which generally require two to four weeks to fabricate, depending on size. The acrylic panels are shaped by a variety of routers, saws, drill presses and benders, and stuck together by a solvent weld WCAI makes itself.
The acrylic isn’t cheap; a 1-and-1/2 inch to 2-inch thick panel costs between $50 and $100 a square foot. "With one 4-by-8 panel, you've got a couple thousand dollars sitting around," Ortiz says.
The immediate goal of the company is to consolidate operations. WCAI's corporate office is in Kearny Mesa; the plant is in Vista. "We'd like to get that acrylic shop down to San Diego. We'd hoped to have that done by now," Ortiz says. "The rents are just crazy right now."
Ortiz also had considered operating the manufacturing plant as a maquiladora. "We looked into it but we have lots of quality control issues, so we’re more comfortable with having it (the plant) in the U.S. than in Mexico," he says.
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