MFK and lfs

[komodo182]

LOL
Believe it or not, cichlids are not a big thing where I live. There are a few people that keep them, but they are a smaller number of the population.
But we do sell some malawis, rams, and discus and of course angels
just started to get into tangs.

 

[jclyde13]

I work at a pet store
we do that
Its a small mom and pop shop, not a chain.
Its very easy
educate the people and they will get the proper equipment and come back.

Pacus, oscars, and anything that reaches larger than around 14 inches does not come into this pet store without a special request.
Want to know why? I am the person that orders the fish. So if someone wants something special, it only gets to them if they have the proper equipment.
I am not saying that things like oscars and id sharks should not be sold. I am saying there should be a control. Its simple, we the pet store does not bring them in or does not sell them to people without the knowledge, the fish will not suffer.

That works for some stores, but most of the time it doesn't. 8 years ago, there were quite a few lfs in my area that were run the same way, and by 2008 all of them had gone out of business. There are still a couple places that do not sell pacu, but the same stores still sell cichla, oscars, ID sharks, RTC's, etc. to anyone who wants them reguardless of whether they can actually care for them properly.

 

[komodo182]

depends on shoppers I guess. Most people here respect us enough to listen to us and check online about the fish first.
But there are still stores in the city like PetSmart that will sell an oscar to a 5 gallon tank.
Then when that fish gets too big, they call around different pet stores and ask for someone to take it. They hit us and we try to educate them. Normally that goes smoothly and you have a customer for life. Also, normally, most fish keepers have dogs or cats and then the pet store becomes the source for all the pets needs and information. They bring their animals in and you know them by name or at least their dogs name,lol.
It works out well and sales have massively increased over the past year or so since I have taken over the fish department for maintenance and suggested my idea.
It is running very well now. Except for one employee that feeds the fish too much and I have to clean the tanks more often haha.

 

[livebearerfreak]

nice!