how far would you drive for a quality pet shop?
- Thread starter theemon
- Start date
You have much more to worry about than the distance people will drive. Petsmart, Petco, ect have "Walmartized" the pet buying industry and open their locations to drive out mom and pop shops on purpose. The city I live in is mid to large sized. 10 years ago we had 6-7 mom and pop shops which the majority of them were great. 2 petsmart, 2 incredipet and 1 pet supermarket later and all but 2 of the mom and pop shops are gone. Where do you think all of these places opened up? All of them opened within 2 miles of an existing privately owned pet shop and all of them had better store fronts, marketing, ect.
I routinely drive 70+ miles to buy fish and supplies from someplace other than a Petwalmart. However I would drive 100+ miles to see one burn down.
Petsmart is de debil.
Petsmart proponents speak up but I have never been in one where the employees knew a apple snail from a guppy without the picture to help and if you have a question about your tank? Forgetaboutit.
I routinely drive 70+ miles to buy fish and supplies from someplace other than a Petwalmart. However I would drive 100+ miles to see one burn down.
Petsmart is de debil.
Petsmart proponents speak up but I have never been in one where the employees knew a apple snail from a guppy without the picture to help and if you have a question about your tank? Forgetaboutit.
the petco we go to is fantastic, as well as the petsmart. I can't speak for any of the other ones in the Raleigh area besides the two we frequent, but Bill the fish guy at Petco on Capitol Blvd is amazing.
It all depends on what kind of driving it is. I've been in 3 accidents, as a result I no longer have collision coverage on my vehicle...and being an import, the slightest fender bender will set me back hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Call me an old granny, but I stick to back roads and don't go on the interstate. So it all depends, I would go 60 miles if it were open highway (going south for me) or 30 miles to a college town with hair raising traffic (going north).
Check out the excellent business section on Wet Web Media, it will help you understand what starting an LFS entails. Riskier than a restaurant, in many ways.
Check out the excellent business section on Wet Web Media, it will help you understand what starting an LFS entails. Riskier than a restaurant, in many ways.
SafaditM3
Encouragement..Yes!
I have a great petsmart and petland in my neighborhood but if I need to I'd head over to Clifton, Nj they have a great spot out there called Absolutely Fish about 16 miles from me.
actually i ment for pet products in general.... i doubt "fish" will be a big market around here
i used to drive about a 150 miles to get to a good pet store. and that there were two in between. the one in the town i lived in wasnt clean the fish always had ick. the other on the way the guy was rude and the type the would sell you dog food to mix with you gravel.
I used to drive 15 miles for my usual spot. Since I moved, it's a little closer and now there are even more choices. Some places that used to be 30+ miles are now closer. I still go to places like Ocean Blue and Tom's Tropical that are probably 30+ miles from where I live now.
