# The state of Pet shops today..



## wayofthefish (Jan 30, 2012)

*Here is a little about my history in the pet industry.. I worked in pet shops for about 20 years, starting when I was in grade 8 and continued on for along time working in some great mom and pop shops (have always been my Favorite pet shops) Like Pet Boutique when Winston owned it back when it was on Lonsdale in North Van.. I still remember going to the Midnight Madness sale was my fave time to work and shop.. I also have worked in quiet a few mall stores and the horror stories I have from those I will never forget...
As the title suggests, I have done a Tour of a lot of the different pet shops in the lower mainland and I must say I am very disappointed in the state of the pet shops I have seen recently from Big Box ( I have never been a fan of this format ) to smaller shops. From the Quality of stock to price's of fish over $100 for some of the poorest quality of fish I have ever seen. Also some of the poorest customer service I have ever come across. case in point I was in a shop today walked around looking at fish for 45 min and hoping to buy some fish but alas I was never asked if I needed help so I just walked out and did not open my wallet and that it is there loss. The funny thing is there were two people sitting on the counter chatting away.. Now I am not going to name the shops I visited because I don't think it is far to do that.. What I am looking for in this tread is for people to tell me were they had good service and fair prices as well as Quality of fish.. I have a few Questions I hope some one can answer about what is going on....

1) Are there any shops using local importers?? or are they bringing them in fish them selves? I ask this because when I went to local importers and there was anything wrong with any of the fish in that particular tank I did not buy the fish no matter what price they offered to sell them to me.. I am a strong believer of Quality over anything else..

2) What have happened to all the mom and pop pet shops are there anymore out there?? I would love to find one.. (they always have the best customer service)

3) Do any of these shops now a days stand buy the quality of fish they carry??

For me if your going to ask a customer to pay $100 plus for any fish they should get top quality period.. ( I would love to buy expensive fish but I know enough to know if your not going to get top quality then it is just a waist of money.)

So in going forward what I would like to see from this post is what you have experienced and give examples.. I don't want any one to flame one store or name them, but feel free to name were you had good examples of good service as well as good Quality as well as fair price. ( What I mean by fair price is I know pet shops have to make up a fish to make money but to ask $10 for a neon is a little unrealistic LOL this is only an example..

I hope to also help some of these shops to learn what they need to do to get me as well as you as a customer...

Thank you Terry.....*


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Well, just came back from Fantasy Aquatics and have always had good service from them. I knew Mike (the new "manager") from before and Kerry (the owner) a little bit from the VAHC meetings. I guess this would be considered a Mom & Pop operation except Mike and Kerry would have to arm wrestle to see who gets to be Mom:bigsmile:

My last few visits to LFS have been to King Ed's (only live 4 minutes away) and J&L. I have always gotten superior service from both shops (I deal with Robert in the Marine section at KE & John or Rene at J&L usually).


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## CRS Fan (Apr 21, 2010)

My 2 favourite Mom and Pop stores would have to be Aquarium's West (Jeannie and Cam) and Roger's Aquatic (Roger and Antonella). I also really like J&L for their service there.


Best Regards,

Stuart


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## wayofthefish (Jan 30, 2012)

Sound good I will have to check out Fantasy Aquatics soon..


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

in the vicinity here, there are no mom and pop shops that stood out for me, there are a couple where i was treated with disrespect or completely ignored. Partially due to the fact i ask questions and decline the product they push due to my personal brand preferences. Oh and some dont like children in their shops. There is however a couple larger local retailers that fill the void for me atleast.

IPU (burnaby) has given me consistently great service. Their fish room people often are doing chores or checking stock, so sometimes dont notice you running around, but a quick word easily grabs their attention. Their staff at the cash have asked me if i needed help every time i've walked in.

Mr Pets in poco has also given me great service and i like how they ordered in a specific substrate when i asked for it on the forums.

What i like about J&L is they'll find you cheaper solutions within their inventory rather than push you more expensive projects. It gets busy there though with some of the reefers spending habits 

i'll skip naming the shops i wasn't a fan of


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## crazy72 (Apr 22, 2010)

In terms of service, the example you gave doesn't strike me as bad service. Some people (including me) like to have time to walk around tanks without being "harassed" by store employees. If there were 2 employees available, I don't think it's so hard to go and ask them if you want to buy anything. As long as they don't grumble and are happy to serve you when you ask, that's fine with me. Just my personal opinion.

I have always received good service from most of the local stores (and terrible service from 2 that will remain unnamed ). In no particular order, J&L, Roger's, Aq West, April's, IPU and Canadian Aquatics (arguably not a store) have always been very good to me. I like the lady at North American Pet Store too, and I go regularly as it's close to me. And the previous owners of Fantasy were nice too. I still have to visit the store with the new ownership now. 

In terms of livestock, I bought most of my stock from IPU, Can Aquatics and Aq West and I've been happy with quality at all 3 places. In terms of price, to be honest I wouldn't know (to an extent) what's fair and what's not, but I typically go for quality over price. Everyone needs to make a buck, and it's probably not that easy in this business. I have a lot of respect for these folks who manage to make it work. And I try to share my business between all these stores (except the two where I received bad service, these I don't go back) because I like to have them all around.


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## wayofthefish (Jan 30, 2012)

This is Great it is exactly why I started this thread..


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

All sponsors here have great customer service and will be happy to help you. Most of them even advertise specials here, so check regularly.


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## josephl (Apr 21, 2010)

Great thread and I'll list only my good experiences

April's - enough said, always great service and friendly, April's a great lady and fair pricing
Noah's Pet Ark - friendly service, more pricey but usually has fish that no one else carries e.g. constant supply of chocolate gouramis and killies
Aquariums West - service is average and IMO their knowledge of fish is not the most accurate, friendly, prices are high, usually bread and butter fish but great plant selection
Canadian Aquatics - Charles is always super friendly and he stands by everything he sells and he definitely has unique fish - I spend way too many $ there
Multiplex - Old school mum and pa pet store that has birds, reptiles and fish. Bread and Butter fish at great prices and they will leave you alone to wander until you ask them for help. Fraser - Edward the manager is really friendly and helpful, they will leave you alone unless you ask them for help. Cheapest place in town to get LBW
North American Pets - Cleaner, larger(especially the new store) version of Mutliplex. Standard fish and plants at great prices, usually good goldfish selection and Lisa is very friendly
Fantasy - new store is great, especially with the new improvements. Great selection of fish hardly ever seen in stores in vancouver and Mike and Kerry are super friendly and helpful
J&L - can't beat their prices for filters, filter media, Prime , Purigen and bloodworms - I get 100% of my non live food, fish and plants from here. Mostly friendly staff
IPU Burnaby - very friendly staff, drop by their everytime I go to J&L

Pet Boutique in N Van, whatever pet store that is in Park Royal and Rogers Aquatics and Pat in Richmond are good too, just outside my personal travel bubble so I dont' go there....

I'll skip the names of stores that I avoid....


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## Elle (Oct 25, 2010)

I go to Pet Boutique in North Van for a lot of my plants, and AWW works at the North Van Mr. Pets, which has a really nice selection of fish stuff. IPU, April's, J&L and the other stores named above are all really good as well.


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## rwong2k10 (Dec 27, 2010)

i love shopping at april's and pats, with their prices not even too sure how they make money =)

their service is awesome and a great selection of fish

jl has great prices for equipment
king ed's pretty nice prices for fish food


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## lholley (Feb 19, 2012)

rwong2k10 said:


> i love shopping at april's and pats, with their prices not even too sure how they make money =)


Which store is "pats"?


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

He means Canadian Aquatics. Pat and Charles.


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

I'm a 10 minute walk away from Ultimate Pets in Ladner. Not a great destination if you're looking for wide varieties of fish, but the usual suspects can be found there: tetras, livebearers, betas, angels, cories etc. John also deals in reptiles, rodents, birds. I've heard John speaking to other customers about what not to put into their tanks, and what some alternatives would be, which is a nice change from just selling you anything.

The nice part about this store, is I can bring my 2 little kids in, and John pays all sorts of attention to them - lets them pet guinea pigs, hold corn snakes, shows them stuff in the fish tanks. I've gone in a couple times just to ask his opinion about something, and ended up chatting for an hour. Looking for a light fixture for a 15 gallon tank, he went into the back and found a used one for me.

That is what a "mom & pop" store is, IMHO.

Again, if I'm looking to pu some tetras, algae wafers, filter media, or food for my son's hamster, it's a great place, and nice to have in the neighborhood.


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## enzotesta (Dec 20, 2011)

Many big box pet stores are way over priced. They have too much overhead, taxes, rent, etc....
I found one store that has been around for 30 years +. It's not the prettiest store but they are somewhat cheap. If you need anything he can order it. Multiplex on hastings vancouver.
All the plants they sell are always set to one price. 3$
cheers!


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

enzotesta said:


> Many big box pet stores are way over priced. They have too much overhead, taxes, rent, etc....
> I found one store that has been around for 30 years +. It's not the prettiest store but they are somewhat cheap. If you need anything he can order it. Multiplex on hastings vancouver.
> All the plants they sell are always set to one price. 3$
> cheers!


I thought I would clarify something. Why is it often people say big box stores are overpriced because of their overhead etc. Personally I dont understand this, it is all relative. If a store is larger it has more variety and likely more customers. This offsets the higher overhead. Let's look at Best Buy for example, huge stores, are they expensive? Not really, they have average pricing IMO. I think the issue here is pricing in BC seems to be all over the map and not very consistent. I see some of the pricing in the "big box" stores and yes a few items seem high but only compared to some of the low ball pricing around town. At the same time I see other products very reasonably priced. Something to think about and of course, only my two cents.:bigsmile:


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

Seems many hobbyists like the comfortable mom and pa setting that was present in years past. Of course, who would not, this is a hobby and developing relationships and trust between staff and customers is very important. This really depends on the individual staff, how personable and social they are. Of course this is a bigger challenge to achieve with the larger numbers of staff in some stores but can still be achieved to a point. Keep in mind too that the tiny stores, although can be great, also cannot bring in the variety of species and product that other larger stores can.


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## Ursus sapien (Apr 21, 2010)

from the other other perspective (as a former pet store owner) I can tell you that nothing puts you off people quite so much as owning a pet store. Finding the hobby forums was a real treat for me - people on forums (as a general statement) are more interested in looking after their animals properly than the general public.


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## Jaguar (Oct 19, 2011)

You have lots of options over there on the coast... try living in the Okanagan, you'll really learn to appreciate all the resources for your hobby. Here, we have The Purple Seahorse... (







), no local clubs, stores have poor selection, ridiculous prices... it's tough.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

I've had pretty good experiences with most of the sponsors that I've made it out to. Trevor & Roger at Rogers, Nicole & Justin @ Mr.Pets Poco, pretty much everybody @ J&L, Chris @ IPU, Charles @ CA. I'm one of those who'll come and ask the staff if I need help; otherwise I do prefer to be left alone to browse. So there's different kinds of customers out there. Every store has their good and bad days - I'm not going to skewer any establishment for one bad experience. Nice thread too, finding out about other places that've been under my radar.


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## rich16 (Mar 25, 2011)

Rastapus said:


> Seems many hobbyists like the comfortable mom and pa setting that was present in years past. Of course, who would not, this is a hobby and developing relationships and trust between staff and customers is very important. This really depends on the individual staff, how personable and social they are. Of course this is a bigger challenge to achieve with the larger numbers of staff in some stores but can still be achieved to a point. Keep in mind too that the tiny stores, although can be great, also cannot bring in the variety of species and product that other larger stores can.


There is definitely a place for the larger stores, for variety of livestock and products. That's why I frequent IPU, Rogers, and Aquariums West, etc etc as well as visit other sponsors here. There is just something...comfortable maybe? about being able to walk into a smaller store just to visit, and be made to feel appreciated, not just another customer...


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

For me, hands down, it's Roger's Aquatics in Surrey/Delta for selection, quality, service, knowledge, cleanliness and fair pricing.
I only pick it first before April's because of the larger selection and quantity on hand at Roger's (but alas, no discus), but I keep forgetting that April has a storehouse of many tanks very close by, and can get many unique varieties to be on hand & available when asked.


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## wayofthefish (Jan 30, 2012)

I am glad to see all the replies keep them comming


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## wayofthefish (Jan 30, 2012)

*Today I went out to buy a small Rip-Saw Catfish and I must say I had some great service very friendly people both the owner and the guy running the fish room its now wonder I have been going there for years and will continue to go there....*


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## BringMeThatHorizon (Nov 27, 2011)

I get most of my supplies from Fraser Aquariums, and I will continue to. The service is great and they're constantly stocked up. And for fish I generally just go see Charles.


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## Rastapus (Apr 21, 2010)

If everyone wants to see more stores, spread the word about buffering, honestly that is what is holding this hobby back in BC. I cant stress this enough.


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

Aquariums West is my favourite place to visit in person because Jeannie, Cam, and many of the staff are really friendly and helpful and so going there is a treat, like visiting friends. They almost always have what I'm looking for, plus something new that I haven't seen before. I often buy new nano tank setups from them on impulse, because they keep bringing in new things. They stand behind everything and I love looking at their tanks. I've been going to AW since it opened in its first location. In my next life (when I come back stronger and smarter) I want to work in that store... <grin>

Canadian Aquatics has been the most remarkable discovery for me, because of BC Aquaria. I never knew it existed, and even after I joined BCA it took me ages to figure out that the Charles and Patrick that everyone kept mentioning were sponsors, aka Canadian Aquatics. Charles and Patrick have helped me out on many occasions, even driving things to my house or to my son's school. Charles has very patiently taught me about keeping black worms, about tank lighting, & more. The tank I'm currently enjoying the most, my 22 gallon super long, was one of their custom orders. These are the kinds of people who make the hobby a joy for me.

Most of my fish come from AW or Canadian Aquatics. (For many years, every fish I had was from AW.)

Occasionally, I am able to make it to Noah's Pet Ark on Broadway, another friendly store. Graham took quite a bit of time to teach me about killifish and hatching brine shrimp. He seems infinitely patient. I like the way that everything is stacked up high in that store, it's always a bit of a treasure trove. I think they breed their own endlers and killies there, maybe other things as well. They know their stock well and they often have something that I need in a hurry -- like a replacement tank or an impeller. It's not that easy for me to get to by bus, or I'd go there more often.

IPU in Richmond is a two-zone bus fare and a bit of a hike, so I don't get there as often as I'd like to (especially in the winter) but whenever I do get there, I love wandering the fish room. This store often has supplies that I need that I can't find elsewhere (for example, a year ago it was the only place I could find Eheim Liberty filter sponges and affordable nano heaters). I like the way that Rastapus actively participates on the forum and that's what draws me to Richmond when I go. I don't even know what Rastapus looks like in person, but when I browse IPU I remember his posts about this and that (especially buffers).

I like April's Pet Boutique because I like April. You walk into her store and you're in her world, definitely -- it's all fish hobby (eg discus) and dog grooming, more of a neighbourhood drop-in feel to it than a commercial store. You can ask questions there without feeling that you're imposing or interrupting. I don't make it there very often, certainly not as often as I like, but April is outstanding at keeping things for you when you need them (fish or equipment) or problem-solving. I like that she participates in the forum here and helps people.


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Great post Maureen. These folks should hire you for PR


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## Morainy (Apr 21, 2010)

What I really want is for the pet stores to set up webcams so that I can watch the fish swim around in the middle of the night when withdrawal sets in...



Arcteryx said:


> Great post Maureen. These folks should hire you for PR


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## Arcteryx (Nov 23, 2011)

Isn't that what our own tanks are for?  No, seriously, your post was awesome. I could almost hear it as a voiceover as our imaginary documentary video played - great stuff. I think in another post elsewhere they were thinking about doing video or a who's who for fishstores in the lower mainland, that's what I was totally thinking about as I read your post.


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