Sad to see another store down.
I would KILL for a decent one in southern DE or Salisbury.
[quote=“Cdangel0, post:12, topic:3820”]
The closest fish store to someone in North Wilmington is now Pet Kare in Governors Square in Bear. [/quote]
East Coast Aquatics. Yeah, it’s in PA, but it’s closer than Bear.
[quote=“dustin0479, post:21, topic:3820”]
Sad to see another store down.
I would KILL for a decent one in southern DE or Salisbury.[/quote]
How about Pacific East Aquaculture (aka - Dr. Macs) in Mardela Springs. Seems to be closest to you. I’d go broke if I live near there. I don’t know how John (houndsbayman) not in the poor house by now. LOL
While I am not a paid member or regular poster I am jumping up on my soapbox and siding with Gordonius. Being in the automotive field and doing upgrades to numerous high performance cars we see this type of thing everyday. Client buys something online because it is cheaper. Number one peeve I mark my prices up to cover the overhead,we charge labor to pay our help a decent wage and fair benefits(another peeve for another time),we also charge these amounts to cover warranty issues. Several big box stores carry lifetime warranty parts only if part fails labor is only covered first thirty days. Our warranty is 18months/18000 miles regardless on everything except friction surfaces. No hassle no argument we fix you drive away. The internet and global economy is killing this country one mom and pop grocery store at a time. SO you pay alittle more do they know your kids when you call them up to place an order,do they have girl scouts freezing their butts off to sell you a box of cookies(which the troop when I was involved only kept 40 cents a box). I have a client who has two boys 12 and 13 always amazed at my RC ars. I know these people are struggling so when I saw them just before Christmas I gave them a couple of older RC cars I had with spares and radios. This weekend I cleared my shop out and had them bring the boys down with the cars and showed them how to operate and do minor repairs. Will your mailorder store do this? The look on those two boys faces while they raced around my shop was worth all the money in the world. Support your local economy first.
Since I have only been there maybe once and thats been probably 5 years ago, I'll ask this, how were the tanks maintained, employee knowledge, fish condition that kinda thing?? How many times are you gonna buy fish or live stock get it home and it die. Not accussing just asking and question is hypothetical not based on a personal experience. There is not many stores up that way and unless there prices were WAY over the top can't imagine that everyone up there is buying from the internet.Mburke, I agree 100% the LFS are what keep people happy and in the hobby. I don’t know many people that disagree with that but I do know a whole lot that will take that deal or steal whether it means a LFS staying in business or going under. It is sad, but true so hopefully people will remember that when the problems arise, it is the LFS they look to, not an online dealer…
Hey Ronert: thanks for the plug, anybody who doubts the passion or motivation involved in running a L.F.S. (or anyone interested in behind the scenes) is welcomed to stop by during any business hours. YES the online dropship companys, and the box stores do make it difficult for us to stay afloat. We take pride in the ability to offer insight and possible advise to hobbists, who in turn help support us by shopping in our store, and we don’t turn away customers who come to us for support even when we know they make much of their purchases online, people will always price shop, we are in recession so we all need to save a buck where we can, and I try to save my customers money when I can. It is truly sad though to hear all of this support for fishman, after it is too late. For what it is worth I know many L.F.S. owners, (we do communicate and network) and none of us are getting rich. but knock on wood we are trying to keep afloat, to support our families, and the hobby that we love. If you doubt the sincerity just ask me or any of my employees, we all carry photos of our personal aquariums on our phones, and we love to show them off.
Thanks for reading my rant
matt
I think Matt has some good points, but I think Fishman was an awful store. I went in relatively often when I worked in Wilmington, every time I was disappointed. JustFish was far better, and you’ve probably all heard me talk about JustFish. I am sorry that they lost their business, but it was not all that great a store.
The tanks in the Fishman weren’t too bad IMO. I would stop in there occasionally after work as well. I didn’t generally notice sick fish; but I did see some tanks which weren’t 100% clean. Live stock prices were reasonable with some choice frags. Last time I was in there I saw many rainbow and orange acan lord frags etc…Just Fish on the other hand is a complete disaster with their tank conditions and prices. Not to mention poor staff quality. I always try to support local businesses as much as I can.
My soap box.
When I first was being taught about saltwater before the internet and DRC it was by Lee at Tulls(at the old location). Without this intro I would not have had the hands on info to start my first tank
When I was first shopping for supplies and equipment I always bought local from Lee. After upgrading a lot of equipment I starting buying for price. A funny thing happens as you see local jobs and business fail and they are friends. Even if they are not your friend, do you think we (US) are in the predicament we are currently experiencing because China makes high quality products? Its all price and CEO’s getting paid saving a Dollar in the short term but sacrificing the long term success of the company and the US ecconomy.
I started looking at where things were made and always going to the LFs and show them what I am interested in. When I wanted a particular skimmer DPA ordered it and gave a vary competative price since I did not have to pay shipping it was as good/better then the best price on line. For the great service I would pay more.
I go to Lowes and I look where my paint brushes are made (Purdy - China. Wooster - Ohio USA and yes they are priced lower).
I do however remember who gives me great service whether online or local. I always buy from them even if the price is slightly higher. You can’t always get good service but crappy is rampent.
Heck Mburke is so cool that I had a car that he did not service and he answered questions about my Mitsubishi and how to test for certain things to work out the issues I was having.
I bought from fishman when they were on Kirkwood HGHY and I like the guys.
We have some great local stores and even better people
Dr Mac PEA
Matt ECA
Charlie DPA
They may not be able to stock everythin you see on the internet but let them know what you are interested in and I know they would love the oppertunity to help you.
Added Terry and BJ at the Fish Bowl here in Dover. Great bunch of people and they will do what they can to keep customers happy and knowledgable.
its always sad to see a local store and not a chain store going out of bussiness. in my opinion you have to look at effort. at dpa we try to get you what you need dry goods fish and knowledge wize. we also try to get you the best price. this all goes on while we make the effort to maintain good water quality of our systems and tanks and make them look great too. i understand what it is like to try to save on cash as my family had no income and no insurance among other things for a long while i try my best to save everyones money as much as i can