Petco

[DaisyPolyp]

yes, the dreaded big box pet retailer. They are HQ'ed here in San Diego and I just got a sneak peek at theri new remodel strategy. They have a store that is grand-reopening tommorow in Escondido that has a "saltwater supercenter" inside. My take? ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY 8O
They had fish of all sizes, and prices; softies; inverts; clams... I had to go outside and look at the front of the store to make sure I was actually in a PetCo. The thing that impressed me most? They had these ingenious saltwater "gas stations" that people can bring in containers and fill up with RO water mixed with InstantOcean salt in these huge tanks that are constantly aerated. Huge dry-goods section, and great prices on tanks (I picked up a 10G QT for $9.99 8O ).
...They even had fully stocked 125G reef tanks (fully stocked) on display and available for purchase.

Coming to a town near you!

 

[insearch]

Not good news for the mom and pop shop.

 

[monkeyboy]

Indeed very poor news for non-chain retailers... although the biggest problem w/ Petco is the lack of knowledgeable staff, which will likely not change due to the nature of their business. Well run LFS's should still have a good advantage with all but bargain shoppers.

 

[Unarce]

I have to admit that it's promising news for the store at my location.:? I do know a couple of the staffers are reefkeepers themselves.

 

[Anonymous]

Boy, I sure would like to know who's behind THAT!

<sm, former Petco HQ/DC employee>

 

[Anonymous]

Not good news for the mom and pop shop.

So?

 

[fishfanatic2]

No fair. We have none of that special stuff here like the gas station, and the nearest good LFS is at least 1.5 hours away and in Greenwich, so the prices are sky high. :evil:

 

[mark78]

Without a change in employees and training and acually being able to find someone who works in the fish dept. and not needing to hunt down some guy in the dog section to get you fish...It will just be the same old petco, with a larger selection of dead and diseased fish.

Would you really trust a Petco to replace thier RO/DI filters as needed or test thier TDS?

If they expand thier dry goods selections to include more then...crap, it may effect some LFS's, but then again a lot of those people would just order online anyways.

 

[monkeyboy]

Not good news for the mom and pop shop.

So?

Clarification for the industrially challenged:

There are many very good 'mom and pop' type shops that deliver good advice and quality livestock to their walk-in customers. Most of the new people that I run into on a daily basis at the shop are not members of any reefkeeping boards, have done little to no research on the internet, and rarely even own a beginners saltwater book. It's for people like these that genuinely conscientious (always have to glance at Bob's book to spell that, gosh I'm dumb) sales staff are needed to help keep these people from failing and killing tons of livestock in the process. You're going to be hard pressed to find educated sales staff at most chains, most of the time good advice is only found from the better 'mom and pop' type stores. Bottom line, you wipe out all the small shops that are passionate about what they do (for clarification, not all 'mom and pop' shops are any good, we could definitely do without many of them) and what's left? Petco and the internet. Places that newbies can impulse buy to their hearts content without anyone saying "hey now, that's not a good idea...". I suppose the argument of "research before you buy" could be inserted here, but you actually need to be doing a little research to pick up on that, something many consumers skip.

I'm only looking at it from sort of a conservation point of view, but it also could be noted that your favorite LFS is likely not going to be able to compete with these mega-fish-marts and you're going to be out of luck. I think I'm rambling now, i'll stop.

 

[Anonymous]

I got my (BEST) start at a "Mom and Pop" - though Mom was never there, it was "Pop and Son". It's since been sold, nothing like it used to be, but MAN was this a righteous shop that would put any chain to shame.

I can attest to the serious lack of knowledgeable staff at Petco at the very least. Unless they've changed requirements or added "required reading", training seminars, etc., it's strictly going to be a hit or miss adventure going into one.

Again, I really want to know who was the "brainchild" behind this (Craig Parsons, are you still out there?), how much money's gone into development and deployment, who's handling supply line of livestock, and how.

 

[dizzy]

If Petco adopts this as a store wide strategy it would have to be considered very bad news for the hobby in general. Tens of thousands of marine fish will no doubt be killed as a result. The quality of care will vary from store to store and there will likely be a few here and there that have a good knowledgeable staff, but that will be the exception rather than the rule. Good mom & pops can actually feed off of the new hobbyists that are getting setup and given poor advice. The potential increase in hobbyists is likely to put increased pressue on the collectors to further exploit already over taxed resources. I see this move as expediting legislation to shut down the importation of marine wildlife. Petco does have the muscle to hog up the fish supply from certain wholesalers. We have already seen this with tank raised clowns. When Petco wants loss leader fish the rest of us have to do without. :evil:
Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

That's assuming certain bridges haven't been burned. (And that's all I'm going to say about THAT!)

 

[DaisyPolyp]

well I can tell you that the staff may be min wage workers without the faintest idea what size tank a Naso Tang needs, but someone set up those tanks and did one hell of a job.

 

[DaisyPolyp]

I've got a great idea... I'll run down tonight and take pictures to post... expect them in about an hour.

update... will have to wait until tommorow

 

[Bojangles]

Um...Please let me remind everyone this IS Petco. I give it 2 months and every fish in that store will have ich. They'll still be telling you to put goldfish in your reef tank for cycling and then flush with copper. I used to work in a "mom and pop shop" and I've seen what a single stupid employee over there can do. People come in and say things like "why did all my fish die after I cleaned my tank?", "What did you clean it with?", "well the people at Petco (BAM problem identified) told me to take everything out, soak the tank in bleach and then restock it." "How long did you wait?""I did it right away, so that it doesn't fill back up with bacteria"

8O :x

 

[Anonymous]

Lets see how long it will last..i noticed other than lack of knowledgable staff..(that lionfish will be safe with clowns) but the maintance performed..i notice on the small tanks at my local Petco that brown sand seems to be the norm(diatom blooms)..Bojangles is right too..ICH...i notice that is also in abundance...Good Luck Petco....

 

[Anonymous]

I sincerely doubt that Petco will threaten the store that I run the marine section for. We pretty much have the stranglehold on business within an hour's radius, which includes another 6 pet shops with salt fish.

Peace,

Chip

 

[Black96WS6]

DaisyPolyp,

Where exactly is it in Escondido? I'm in San Diego too...

 

[dizzy]

I sincerely doubt that Petco will threaten the store that I run the marine section for. We pretty much have the stranglehold on business within an hour's radius, which includes another 6 pet shops with salt fish.
Peace,

Chip

As a retailer that statement strikes me as extremely cocky and arrogant. If you had the stranglehold you claim I doubt those 6 stores would even continue to sell marine fish. The new AMDA is trying to build a coalition between brick and mortar retailers to level the playing field. We do not want to see the big box stores use muscle to hog up the fish supply, and yes it is a very real threat. Especially if certification comes into the picture. Even the beloved etailers should feel threatened by this latest Petco move. I doubt Petco will warehouse 1000s of fish and have them sitting around dying, so look for cutthroat discounting to become the norm. That last post by a salivating SD hobbyist should serve as a wake up call. It's about time retailers lost this "holier than thou" attitude and learn to work together to fight the changes that will seal their fate if not contested.
Mitch

 

[Anonymous]

As a retailer that statement strikes me as extremely cocky and arrogant. If you had the stranglehold you claim I doubt those 6 stores would even continue to sell marine fish. The new AMDA is trying to build a coalition between brick and mortar retailers to level the playing field. We do not want to see the big box stores use muscle to hog up the fish supply, and yes it is a very real threat. Especially if certification comes into the picture. Even the beloved etailers should feel threatened by this latest Petco move. I doubt Petco will warehouse 1000s of fish and have them sitting around dying, so look for cutthroat discounting to become the norm. That last post by a salivating SD hobbyist should serve as a wake call. It's about time retailers lost this "holier than thou" attitude and learn to work together to fight the changes that will seal their fate if not contested.
Mitch

Pardon me for being realistic. I'm confident in my ability, my retention of my current client base, and my regular influx of new clients for the marine hobby. By the time one of these marine Petcos gets around to opening up near me, I'll be retired.

Also, the other stores may continue to stock marine fish, but every day they lose another customer to my shop. We are continuing to grow as a business, and they remain stagnant.

So, they may still stock marine fish, but because they are in a holding pattern while we rise means we have the stranglehold.

Get the info before you comdemn.

Peace,

Chip