Finally Open Big Al's in South Florida

SomethingFishy

SomethingFishy

AC Members
May 1, 2002
77
7
8
Austin, TX
Real Name
Virginia
Well you may remember last month I posted that the first Big Als in the US was opening soon near me. I had the day off today, so I took a drive (in the downpour) to check it out. The store is quite large. There isn't any fish only petstore this big anywhere around here. There was an abundance of helpful & friendly employees throughout the store. It will be interesting to see if this keeps up over time. They have a great selection of dry goods & equipment. The prices are not as low as their online prices, but then you don't have to pay shipping. They didn't really seem any lower than other local stores, but I'll have to do some comparisons to be sure. I'm sure I won't be driving way out there just for fish flakes. Their fish room is fantastic. It's in the back of the store, & it's huge. You go through sort of a tunnel & there's a huge display on each side. Fresh on the left & salt on the right. Alas, there's only fake corals in all of the marine display tanks. They have it all dark in the fish area, with only the lights in the tanks for illumination. I love that, it's very soothing. They have an absolutely huge variety of fresh & also some marine fish. There was a separate display with some crayfish & I couldn't tell what was in the rest of those tanks because there was no lighting on them. It looked like that display wasn't quite finished. (they only opened last week) Also a large pretty natural looking waterfal in the back corner with koi in the bottom. Unfortunatly they didn't have the one fish I wanted, cardinal tetras. But I did wind up buying a few fancy guppies with a coloration I've never seen. Their system for getting your fish is a little different. You must pick up a clip board & write down the tank #, name of fish & how many you want & price listed on the tank. Then you take the form to the bagging station in the back where someone takes the form & goes back to get your fish. The guy took me back to the tank to show him which fish I wanted. So I don't really see the purpose of writing it all down in the first place. :huh: Anyway, I like the place & I'm sure I'll go back sometime. It's not exactly convenient, but not out of reach either at about a 45 minute drive. The girl at the register said that this is the first store in the US, but there will be many more opening in the future.
Virginia
 
That is how all the stores are set up. Bright front very dark back.

You will find whether it is next week, next month or next year that the store will be just as clean as you saw it today. The company really preches cleanliness to the employees. Presentation is everything.

As for the form. It's purpose is simple and you will understand why it is necessary in the future when you visit.

The store is going to be busy. VERY busy. The employees will not even give you a second look if you don't have the form filled out. They will automatically assume that you are not buying just looking and go onto the next customer that has thrie form filled out.

There will also probably be a take a number system implimented at some point.
It is to streamline everything in the back. You walk around pick your fish and then give the sheet to the employee then you leave them to do their work or if you want to pick out specific fish you follow. When it's busy the employees will not have time to follow you around the store while you walk and think about what you want. Speeds everything up.

The form is also your bill for the cash so they can charge you. The employee checks it over before giving it back places the appropriate code next to each line checks the prices and signs it for verification so the cashier knows that you got everything that you asked for and that the prices are correct.

As for the pricing. Give it time and they will be the cheapest. What they do is feel out the market and then because of their buy direct apporach and the volume that they buy they then put pressure on the suppliers to lower their prices and then BA's will then sell for less. IE: we (Montreal Store) are now the cheapest Eheim seller in Canada. Not even the BA'a website is cheaper. Our 2213 Eheim classic with media is now only $99.00 Canadian our 2028 Pro 2 series with media is now $389.00. Why because we researched the market and we cut all of our prices to be the cheapest. Thats the way the whole company works.

As for the new stores in the states. The last company memo that was released stated that there is going to be at least six more confirmed stores in the next two years. Possibly more.
 
i was there the other evening and they were packed, i am so excited that they opened one down here in south fl, even though its a 45 min drive i have been there twice and i think i am going back tomorrow so my girlfriend can pick up a little lemonhead oranda
 
Hey camcorder, where do you live? I'm in Boca. I'm about the same distance from the store. It wasn't busy this moring, but it was a week day. Plus the weather was crappy. I bet come saturday it will be very busy.
 
And to think I living in sunny south florida just 3 short years ago...

I miss home :sad:
 
hope it stays as nice. we should get one here in southern california since it takes 2 weeks for my big al orders to get here. we had this one store a few years back that had exotic animals plus all the less common stuff a lot of amazon fish. electric eels, imported koi everything and the fish room looked like it was an underwater theme. the reptile room looked like a jungle with vines,trees and it was dim inside. it started getting worst and finally turned into a petco or something. its still the best looking chain pet store now cause of the layout that was built before.
 
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