Petco

[Luis]

About three years ago PETCO at Encino, CA tried to sell Corals and they finished with a reef tank that looked more like a frog pond...of course they are not selling corals anymore, I'm sure; this story is going to repeat there! I'm sorry for all those creatures...

 

[mark78]

Mark,
Your observation on the ferrets kept w/ woodchips....
I live surrounded by Petcos. I can visit them anytime I have 10 minutes to spare...and walk from tank to tank and make observations like your ferret one all day long.
What happens in the tanks ...ie nearly every tank is analogous to your ferret commentary and very sad. You care about ferrets? I do about the fish.
Crypt, red ulcers, uranema, oodinium, white slime, pinched bellies, unsuitable species etc. etc. all day long. Animal abuse is policy.

I'm not arguing that, I was just reiterating thier fish situation with use of another animal they carry.

How do you think they pay the bills? They might not be raking in millions, and undoubtedly they "are" in it for the love of aquariums, but they are still in it to make "money", whether its to pay the bills, to buy their 2 cars and a house, or whatever. They are still in it for the money.

Sorry let me rephrase that, LFS's aren't in it to be rich, of course thier in it for money, read the whole sentence, for money doing something they enjoy.

Theres a lot more people out there then what we see on websites and msg boards.

This thread wasn't about how Petco treats its livestock, we all already know its %#@&

 

[Reef Guy11]

All I have to say is that if they stick to the planogram that they have, Then yes thing won't be compadable. When I worked there I new more about reptile then fish. I went ahead and rearrange every reptile to there correct habbit temp, decor, etc. and instead of them saying good job thank you. They told me to put everything back the way it was. It is Corp. that don't care about the animals. I am lucky that were I live now at least the petco fish dept. is beingran by my friend who use to be a manager of a Mom and Pop store in New york. So that is no prob. there.

 

[erickrebsbach]

Well said mark! Its not just the fish that suffer the birds the lizards the snakes. Before you know it they are going to turn into a puppy mill spitting dogs and cats out like they are rabbits 8O P.s they have those too :wink:

 

[Fozza]

Sorry let me rephrase that, LFS's aren't in it to be rich, of course thier in it for money, read the whole sentence, for money doing something they enjoy.

I did read the whole sentence. I said what I said because in previous posts, people were trying to claim they weren't in it for the money. They are in it for the money, so I stand by my statement.

 

[Anonymous]

Look, clearly no one in their right mind is going to go into a business like this if they can't make a living at it. But, implicit in the statement that "They're in it for the money", semantically, means that you believe they'll make a great deal of money, something akin to what Brian De. might make. And that, my friends, is most often not the case.

 

[clarionreef]

As in the fish,
'Acceptable losses" in the reptile department is company policy and preferred to the extra investment in providing better care...to save them.

In it for the money....?
I love this one.
The pet biz for many is like quicksand. You get into it with illusions of making money doing what you like.
Then you find that you work harder then all your friends to make less money then they. Then you find you don't 'make money' at all but just maintain for the most part.
The extra investment to do it right erases the profit margin.
Unlike Petco...you still care for the animal and take the "acceptable losses"... in your own income. With your lifes investment in it...just getting out is not as simple as uninvolved people suggest.
The margin of profit may well be in the difference between abuse of animals and non abuse. Dumb schmucks like us normal, consciencious dealers find the calculated abuse policy unacceptable. Distant engineers of corporate policy in chain stores do not.
It costs more to care.
Theoretically consumers will recognize this. Generally they do not.
It becomes our cross to bear.
Steve

 

[Fozza]

Most LFS owners have a house, they have a car, they have a business, yea, their doing real hard at life.

I can't be bothered to argue, I know I'm right, I'll leave it at that.

 

[clarionreef]

Fozza,
You said most have a house... a car and are doing well.
You might also say that most have a mortgage, a serious car payment and a monthly stack of bills. Like many mature Americans in the working class...most 'have stuff' and are working like hell to stay ahead of the steam roller and keep it.
Didn't you get your allowance this week?
Steve
PS Sorry Len.

 

[Fozza]

*delete*

I'll delete it, not worth falling to your level.

 

[Anonymous]

This has been a great thread with great information, and the discussion has been a long time coming. Don't get it locked now with juvenile crap like this.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Fozza]

I ain't allowing them to give out mis-information.

LFS owners aren't these hard done by, struggling to live peoples. It is total rubbish. Their a damnsite lot better off than they are trying to make out.

 

[Anonymous]

Last time I checked most people who work at Walmart had houses and cars too.

It's all relative. If I had put the some amount of money, energy, and time into a clothing store as I have my pet store, I'd be posting from the Bahamas right now.

 

[Fozza]

Actually, most people at Wal-mart are either kids who still live with their parents. Or spouses to someone with better paying jobs.... and tend to be working at Wal-mart solely for the benefits they offer.

 

[Fozza]

It's all relative. If I had put the some amount of money, energy, and time into a clothing store as I have my pet store, I'd be posting from the Bahamas right now.

I ain't debating that, undoubtedly you would. But I seriously doubt your struggling to live either.

 

[Anonymous]

Who said strugglin'. The point is that this industry does require more work for smaller profits than most, so from a strictly business sense, the only reason to get involved is if you have a genuine interest in it. Otherwise, it still affords the owner the same benefits that owning any business does.

 

[Fozza]

Who said strugglin'. The point is that this industry does require more work for smaller profits than most, so from a strictly business sense, the only reason to get involved is if you have a genuine interest in it. Otherwise, it still affords the owner the same benefits that owning any business does.

Exactly....

it still affords the owner the same benefits that owning any business does.

Your still in it for the money.

And unlike someone elses perception, "in it for the money" does not indicate being in it cause your make millions, or even hundreds of thousands. It means your in it to make money, period. Its as simple as that.

Now all these posts are pointless, cause its what I've said from the off.

And its detracting from the original point. Will Petco building super aquatic stores be harmful to the industry? and will it hurt the LFS'? (I'd rather stick to this point now)

If Petco stick to their current ways of dealing with livestock and giving out information, then it will be hurtful to the industry, ten's of thousands of fish will die. Hundreds, thousands possibly of new fishkeepers could possibly be given false info, get disheartened and leave the trade, instead of moving on to bigger tanks and what not.

Now "IF" Petco do change their ways, it could lead to bigger and better things for the industry. Many more hobbyists, many of whom could get deeper involved in bringing more home grown specimens, rather than those taken from the reefs.

Now to the question, will it hurt the LFS'? Yes, it will, but it could also aid them.

Many stores will succumb to closing, due to not being able to obtain stocks. But it could aid those who survive, by the influx of new hobbyists.

This of course is all just my speculation. I could be way off, and to be honest, it won't be the first time I'm wrong and guaranteed it won't be the last.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree. :mrgreen:

 

[dizzy]

Let me try to explain this a little better for Fozza. I know quite a few lfs owners that actually earn a decent living. The reason they earn a decent living is that they work 70 plus hours per week. The reason they work 70+ is because they have to if they want to make a living, not because they want to. The Petco type stores will never be able to get the same devotion from their managers and employees that many local fish store owners put into making their store a success. I know cause we generally don't get anything much extra out of our employees either. While the cat's away the mice will play is pretty much right on. We do have some good employees, but no one ever does it for you like you would do it. I got a news flash for you America: Overall your doing a fairly lousy job of bringing up your kids these days. Over half of the people we hire are spoiled and lazy and never did an honest days work in their life. Their strongest attribute is that they have learned how to bs their way through an interview. They have this sense of entitlement that is very unbecoming for the children of hard working parents. Even the good employees get burned out in a few years if they have to carry the lazy people or just from dealing with an often ignorant and increasingly spoiled public. If that description strikes a nerve or if there is a feeling the shoe fits, my advice is to stay far, far away from this business. :wink: Oh I realize there are plenty of burnt out owners that worked too much and it shows in the quality and cleanliness of their stores. I like to see some of you critics walk a mile in their shoes and see how well you hold up to the grind. Opening a pet store can be tough and is defintely not for the lazy or the faint of heart. Some are probably better business people than others, and some may be held back by very strong Puritan ethics.

Do we want to be paid for working all those hours? DAMN RIGHT WE DO. It doesn't however mean we get into this business because we think it is the short cut to easy street. Anybody that can earn a living in this industry could earn a living doing something else. If the truth were known most of us could make more money for less work in other professions. We could damn sure could have more time at home with our families. After typing all this I just realized I really don't know what your point was Fozza. :? Anyway I hope this explains things from at least this lfs owners perspective.
Mitch

PS
If your at work and your not the owner, then you probably should get off this site and back to work.
The boss.

 

[Anonymous]

This has been a great thread with great information, and the discussion has been a long time coming. Don't get it locked now with juvenile crap like this.

From the standpoint of exposing a victim mentality and hypocrisy among LFS owners, it sure has.

From the standpoint of intelligent discussion, it has been a horrible thread.