Pat Kelly
CCA Member
The following is the opinion of the writer and not that of the club. 
If you are going up there to find something different, you will be disappointed......
Any local fish store is there to make money. If it does not make money then it will go out of business. You go to work to make money, not as a hobby. Not to have fun. Also a store is not going to keep odd-ball stuff if no one is going to buy it. 90% of a stores business is from small hobbiest. Not club members. They dont buy the odd-ball stuff. They buy the common items that everyone loves. Most of your online sellers are here today gone tomorrow. Hell, I can name 5 in this club alone.
A good retailer is a great thing to find. You need them. Thats where our club membership comes from. Yes we have gotten a few from this forum but most find us through talking to people at stores. A retailer has to be able to make a reasonable profit. You have to sell a hell of a lot of guppies to pay the rent, water, electric and heat. Then we wonder why they dont hire people that know fish. How can they afford them? Think about hiring 10 people to cover a store 7 days a week. How much would payroll be alone. Then where do the profits come from.
I just get upset when things go up 200% in a year or when I see things like a little store in Ohio last year. I walked in, looked around. Checked the prices on the dry goods. This was in November. The Aquaclear 110 at that shop was $135.99. That was outragous. I laughed out loud and left. Seeing that, and knowing what they are elsewhere, I would never have even bought food or an air stone at a place like that. Looking for a profit is the American way. Ripping people like that store is just not right.
I deal mainly with LFS because I support the little guy. The stores that I deal with support me. I breed fish, take them to the stores to trade in. Some pay cash, some pay credit. Thats where I get my supplies usually. I used to buy a lot in Lancaster. I only pick up a few things there now. They used to buy local fish. Don't anymore.
I sell my fish to 3 stores. Those 3 stores is where I buy 75% of my stuff. Just have not had to buy much stuff for the last year or so. I will not buy at a petsmart or a petco. They don't support us.
I can only remember buying from an online retailer 3 times. The first time was for a case of bags. LFS don't carry that. The other two times, the online retailers were our members and sponsors.
Everyone has an opinion. This was mine when I typed this. May not be in a minute though. :smashfreakB:
If you are going up there to find something different, you will be disappointed......
Any local fish store is there to make money. If it does not make money then it will go out of business. You go to work to make money, not as a hobby. Not to have fun. Also a store is not going to keep odd-ball stuff if no one is going to buy it. 90% of a stores business is from small hobbiest. Not club members. They dont buy the odd-ball stuff. They buy the common items that everyone loves. Most of your online sellers are here today gone tomorrow. Hell, I can name 5 in this club alone.
A good retailer is a great thing to find. You need them. Thats where our club membership comes from. Yes we have gotten a few from this forum but most find us through talking to people at stores. A retailer has to be able to make a reasonable profit. You have to sell a hell of a lot of guppies to pay the rent, water, electric and heat. Then we wonder why they dont hire people that know fish. How can they afford them? Think about hiring 10 people to cover a store 7 days a week. How much would payroll be alone. Then where do the profits come from.
I just get upset when things go up 200% in a year or when I see things like a little store in Ohio last year. I walked in, looked around. Checked the prices on the dry goods. This was in November. The Aquaclear 110 at that shop was $135.99. That was outragous. I laughed out loud and left. Seeing that, and knowing what they are elsewhere, I would never have even bought food or an air stone at a place like that. Looking for a profit is the American way. Ripping people like that store is just not right.
I deal mainly with LFS because I support the little guy. The stores that I deal with support me. I breed fish, take them to the stores to trade in. Some pay cash, some pay credit. Thats where I get my supplies usually. I used to buy a lot in Lancaster. I only pick up a few things there now. They used to buy local fish. Don't anymore.
I sell my fish to 3 stores. Those 3 stores is where I buy 75% of my stuff. Just have not had to buy much stuff for the last year or so. I will not buy at a petsmart or a petco. They don't support us.
I can only remember buying from an online retailer 3 times. The first time was for a case of bags. LFS don't carry that. The other two times, the online retailers were our members and sponsors.
Everyone has an opinion. This was mine when I typed this. May not be in a minute though. :smashfreakB:
