As a newcomer to the hobby (well, not actually in the hobby just yet) I thought I'd share my impressions of my Saturday visiting fish stores. I've noticed a few new people signing up to the forums around the time I have and since, and thought this might be helpful to them, or maybe they'd like to share their thoughts as well. This is probably going to be a bit long and rambling, so feel free it skip or else, settle in a comfy chair.
Since I'm still in research mode and deciding exactly what I'm going to buy, I thought it'd be a good idea to go have a look at the things in person that I've been viewing online for a few weeks now. On Saturday past I visited Big Al's in Scarborough, Petsmart at Laird & Eglinton E, and Downtown Pets & Aquarium and Menagerie, both downtown. Needless to say I spent the bulk of my day either on the TTC or in the stores. ...and what a cold day I picked to do this!
I'd heard a lot of crazy things about Downtown Pets. Stories of the staff there kicking people out of the store, or yelling at them etc. I didn't experience any of that, but there was certainly a very weird vibe in the store. First, when you walk in there are all these hand-written signs of what you're not allowed to do. No photos, no video, no phones.... Just past that, I saw the fish tanks to the right and as I was about to go over, there was, literally, a yellow "Caution" tape barring it off with another hand-written sign saying the area was off-limits to customers and if you were there to pick up a fish, see an employee. Before I had a chance to look at much else, a lady, presumably one of the owners, came over to ask if I was looking for something. I said I was just having a look around at aquariums and supplies. From there she went into full-on used car salesman mode. I really felt pressured to buy something, anything. She didn't ask what I wanted or any other questions that might get an idea of what I should be looking at. She just kept pointing out various kits and their price saying what a good deal it was. When I said I was just looking and wasn't ready to buy, she said "if you buy now, I'll give you discount; $10 of free fish, but only if you buy today." I thanked her and reiterated I wasn't ready to buy today, and left. The whole experience just felt very strange and uncomfortable. I don't think it's somewhere I'd visit again.
I'm not sure what was going on at Petsmart. There was not a single fish in any of their tanks but for three or four tanks near the floor with only goldfish. It was very weird. I found the staff here to be, perhaps surprisingly, the friendliest of all the places I visited. I didn't really ask any questions, and there were no fish there to talk about anyway, so I've no idea how knowledgable they were, but the young lady who came over to ask if I needed any help definitely was friendly and seemed competent enough. I later heard her questioning a dad with his daughter wanting to buy several goldfish. It seemed like they were buying them on an impulse, and I got the feeling the employee was politely trying to tell them how big a tank, and how much care goldfish need. Of course it was falling on deaf ears as the daughter kept telling the dad "Dad, they're only 41 cents each!!". All but a few very large aquariums were in retail boxes on shelves, so it wasn't any help in eyeballing the size or what they looked like. There really wasn't a huge selection of tanks there anyway, but it didn't help much to only be able to see boxes. Perhaps they're renovating, hence why no fish, because the fish section at least, seemed to almost be neglected and a bit disorganized.
Menagerie was much smaller than I'd imagined. There were almost no tanks for sale to look at save for a few very high up on top of the rows of aquariums. Again, all in boxes and most very small. Due to how small their space is, they may have had more in a store room, but again, I was hoping to see what some tanks actually looked like so that would be no help anyway. A nice assortment of fish for the size of the space, though nothing out of the ordinary that I could tell. The employee there was friendly but again in fairness, I didn't have any questions for him, so no judgement on his knowledge or abilities. I've no reason to doubt the many glowing reviews others have given Menagerie.
Finally there was Big Al's. Honestly, being a big chain, I was expecting BA's to be only slightly better than Petsmart given their greater emphasis on aquatics, but not really by much. But I have to say, I was very wrong, and despite being the farthest for me to travel, it was by far my favourite store of the day. One of the things I loved as a fish neophyte, was they had pretty much all their tanks for sale out and set up so you could easily see and touch them, open the lids and just get a really good idea of what you were getting; the only store of the bunch to do that. In addition to stock kits, it looked like they had several kits there that they pieced together themselves as well. They had loads of tanks and decor and it was pretty awesome for someone not used to it all. Staff there were friendly and made sure to make themselves available for questions, but were definitely not pushy or in your face by any means. Then I went downstairs into the fish room and despite the heat and humidity that made me think I'd portaled to Florida, it was pretty exciting to see the almost endless array of fish they had there. I must have spent over an hour there gawking at all the different species. It was a real eye opener for me. I also have connected with BA's via social media to ask a couple of questions on tanks and things, and they are being pretty awesome in how helpful they are and have given me some very honest feedback that went well beyond just trying to make a sale. I have to say, I'm kind of impressed by so many aspects of Big Al's.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on, just thought one or two of you might be interested in my experience as a newcomer. If you've made it this far, bless your patience and thanks!
Since I'm still in research mode and deciding exactly what I'm going to buy, I thought it'd be a good idea to go have a look at the things in person that I've been viewing online for a few weeks now. On Saturday past I visited Big Al's in Scarborough, Petsmart at Laird & Eglinton E, and Downtown Pets & Aquarium and Menagerie, both downtown. Needless to say I spent the bulk of my day either on the TTC or in the stores. ...and what a cold day I picked to do this!
I'd heard a lot of crazy things about Downtown Pets. Stories of the staff there kicking people out of the store, or yelling at them etc. I didn't experience any of that, but there was certainly a very weird vibe in the store. First, when you walk in there are all these hand-written signs of what you're not allowed to do. No photos, no video, no phones.... Just past that, I saw the fish tanks to the right and as I was about to go over, there was, literally, a yellow "Caution" tape barring it off with another hand-written sign saying the area was off-limits to customers and if you were there to pick up a fish, see an employee. Before I had a chance to look at much else, a lady, presumably one of the owners, came over to ask if I was looking for something. I said I was just having a look around at aquariums and supplies. From there she went into full-on used car salesman mode. I really felt pressured to buy something, anything. She didn't ask what I wanted or any other questions that might get an idea of what I should be looking at. She just kept pointing out various kits and their price saying what a good deal it was. When I said I was just looking and wasn't ready to buy, she said "if you buy now, I'll give you discount; $10 of free fish, but only if you buy today." I thanked her and reiterated I wasn't ready to buy today, and left. The whole experience just felt very strange and uncomfortable. I don't think it's somewhere I'd visit again.
I'm not sure what was going on at Petsmart. There was not a single fish in any of their tanks but for three or four tanks near the floor with only goldfish. It was very weird. I found the staff here to be, perhaps surprisingly, the friendliest of all the places I visited. I didn't really ask any questions, and there were no fish there to talk about anyway, so I've no idea how knowledgable they were, but the young lady who came over to ask if I needed any help definitely was friendly and seemed competent enough. I later heard her questioning a dad with his daughter wanting to buy several goldfish. It seemed like they were buying them on an impulse, and I got the feeling the employee was politely trying to tell them how big a tank, and how much care goldfish need. Of course it was falling on deaf ears as the daughter kept telling the dad "Dad, they're only 41 cents each!!". All but a few very large aquariums were in retail boxes on shelves, so it wasn't any help in eyeballing the size or what they looked like. There really wasn't a huge selection of tanks there anyway, but it didn't help much to only be able to see boxes. Perhaps they're renovating, hence why no fish, because the fish section at least, seemed to almost be neglected and a bit disorganized.
Menagerie was much smaller than I'd imagined. There were almost no tanks for sale to look at save for a few very high up on top of the rows of aquariums. Again, all in boxes and most very small. Due to how small their space is, they may have had more in a store room, but again, I was hoping to see what some tanks actually looked like so that would be no help anyway. A nice assortment of fish for the size of the space, though nothing out of the ordinary that I could tell. The employee there was friendly but again in fairness, I didn't have any questions for him, so no judgement on his knowledge or abilities. I've no reason to doubt the many glowing reviews others have given Menagerie.
Finally there was Big Al's. Honestly, being a big chain, I was expecting BA's to be only slightly better than Petsmart given their greater emphasis on aquatics, but not really by much. But I have to say, I was very wrong, and despite being the farthest for me to travel, it was by far my favourite store of the day. One of the things I loved as a fish neophyte, was they had pretty much all their tanks for sale out and set up so you could easily see and touch them, open the lids and just get a really good idea of what you were getting; the only store of the bunch to do that. In addition to stock kits, it looked like they had several kits there that they pieced together themselves as well. They had loads of tanks and decor and it was pretty awesome for someone not used to it all. Staff there were friendly and made sure to make themselves available for questions, but were definitely not pushy or in your face by any means. Then I went downstairs into the fish room and despite the heat and humidity that made me think I'd portaled to Florida, it was pretty exciting to see the almost endless array of fish they had there. I must have spent over an hour there gawking at all the different species. It was a real eye opener for me. I also have connected with BA's via social media to ask a couple of questions on tanks and things, and they are being pretty awesome in how helpful they are and have given me some very honest feedback that went well beyond just trying to make a sale. I have to say, I'm kind of impressed by so many aspects of Big Al's.
Anyway, sorry for rambling on, just thought one or two of you might be interested in my experience as a newcomer. If you've made it this far, bless your patience and thanks!