do NOT shop at THE FISH TANK, sunnyvale, ca

[Vincerama2]

Eileen, well not sure if the person was part of BARE, but I definitely saw him at a BAR meeting. No names, of course... I blame myself for not doing more research and for trying to be a good patron. I mean, I thought I'd buy the thing at the store to "reward" him for talking to me about reefs, I didn't realize that I was being totally naive and being sold snake oil.

My worst LFS story is when I went to the same store and the employee (different guy) gabbed my ear off for TWENTY MINUTES after I bought what I came in for. He was really creeping me out as he was telling me about his Mom and how he went nuts on her and all sorts of personal stuff that I didn't want to hear and yet I couldn't leave! You know, like when you are cornered at a party by some yapping person and just can't extricate yourself from the conversation... I never went back to that store!

V

 

[GreshamH]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7351095#post7351095 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Unarce
Since carpus is MIA, anyone care to reminisce of the good old days when Mike, than later Bill, used to run the Milpitas and Sunnyvale Fish Tank stores?

:wavehand: I do, although I'm not saying these aren't good old days in themselves

 

[delta410]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7349390#post7349390 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Vincerama2
He told me that he couldn't actually give me prices on anything unless I committed to buy it.....

Are you serious?:lol:
What store was this?
You were buying a exclusive super car right?

 

[Unarce]

by GreshamH
:wavehand: I do, although I'm not saying these aren't good old days in themselves

:lol: You used to shop there, Gresh? It's good old days for me, because I started to dabble into reefs because of that store. In fact, I bought my first maxima from John when he worked there.

 

[PiNaPLeX]

this thread is actually making me want to go check out the store for some reason, haha. Isn't it ironic?

 

[Ti]

That price is what most LFS carges on Seios.

Stores can't compete with online prices when it comes to dry goods.
Marine Depot gets big discounts, because they buy so much. It's really hard to beat marine depot on price.

 

[carpus]

I swung buy aquatic gallery today ( MY FAVORITE STORE in the bay area so far). and there seio was $45.... which makes $65 still seem unreasonable.

And just for clarification. I'm not saying that we should all not shop at LFS and shop at marine depot. I was just pointing out that double the price was way steep. I understand that marine depot and other online vendors would be cheaper, but i didn't expect and LFS to be double, ya know?

$45 at aquatic is reasonable. but $65... thats a little too much to charge

 

[funman1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7349567#post7349567 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Qwiv
Supporting a LFS is like supporting union workers. Your supporting a better life.

If that is true I will never buy from a LSF again!! hahaha

I hate unions, all they do is drive up the cost of everything for everyone else.
As an employer if I want to fire someone because they suck and show up late every day, I should have that right, even if they worked for me for 20 years.

And I will pay workers what I can afford, not what some union boss says I should pay.

If Walmart ever got union-ized it would be the end of cheap prices and the end of the company, and they would go away forever.
Then no one there would have a job anymore because they closed, so what did the union acomplish? besides puting everyone out of a job.


I think of buying at a LFS because I'm paying for the instant gratification, easy returns, ablility to see before I buy, speed of emergency items when it broke last night.

 

[Sparkss]

Actually I thought Walmart was a union shop.. but I could be mistaken.

Also, you would be surprised how much influence the larger union shops have over the unions, if you knew enough about the unions and their history. Not to mention that the 40 hour work week did not exist before the unions fought for it. As with anything else, there is good and bad. And a few, highly visible, "bad apples" spoil the general, uninformed, publics view of the rest (majority) of the unions.

 

[dantodd]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7362909#post7362909 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sparkss
Actually I thought Walmart was a union shop.. but I could be mistaken.

gravely.

 

[Sparkss]

I stand corrected. Thanks Dantodd.

 

[funman1]

No I'm quite informed, I fear it's you that's uninformed.

I worked at a merit shop electrician school for 5 years.
The unions were always trying to pay off the legislators to make laws that favor unions, so we could not operate.
Then they tried to sue us out of business, when that failed.

Roseville, CA is trying to build a power plant and the union said sign this PLA (Project Labor Agrement) or we file bogus environmental crap studies and lawsuites till the cows come home, and you will never get to build your power plant.
It's called Greenmail (like Blackmail, but with the environmental bs)

So the city got scared and signed the PLA, now anyone who's not union can't even BID on the project, and the cost is now quadrupled from the original bids.

Unions had their time when they were good, when employers were mistreating workers back in the early 1900's.
Nowadays, if any employer mistreats you you just sue them, so unions really have no need anymore.

Now unions send out what are called Salt's, where they apply for a job at a non union work place, tell the employer they don't really want to work there they just want to rally the workers together, and then sue if the employer treats them any different, or doesn't hire them, or fires them after they refuse to work (because they show up holding signs everyday).

Google "union salting"

You'll find all you need to know about this vile practice, which they do everyday. And somehow in this twisted system it's actaully legal for them to do this.


And Walmart actually show their employees anti-union literature all the time, and tells employees if they unionize they will all lose their jobs because Walmart will close.

This website is a perfect example of unions paying off legislators to make laws that will only apply to Walmart, so they can make Walmart do what they want them to do.
http://walmartwatch.com/fairshare/states/others

It's like the Mafia, when my Father told the firefighters union he wanted out, they showed up at our house and harassed us for hours, and actaully made threats against all of us.
Unbelievable..

I have stories all day after working at the merit shop for 5 years.


Anyways I don't want to hijack this thread, or get into a fight, or make it all political,
but if people were more informed about unions, you'd be surprised how many don't like what unions stand for, and what they do to our economy, and the employers that give us all jobs.

Did you ever think there's a reason companies are outsourcing work outside the USA? Because there is no unions to bug them there.



I love the LFS, and shop there to keep them in business so they will be there when I need them.

 

[Al G Blenny]

In my opinion unions protect the lazy. They were started by mobsters and they are still run by them. My mom worked for the phone company when I was young and she was forced to join the union. When they went on strike she had to work(she supported two small children on their own). She was a scab. The strikers would break her windows on her car, throw things at her, and just act downright mean to her. Nice people. Plus they totally encourage people to vote a certain way (I wonder which way that is?).

As for the LFS prices this is an old argument that is continued by ignorant people. It's not just rent and other overhead prices that cause the stores to charge more. The pay for rent on a small retail location as opposed to online vendors that have large wharehouse space. Marinedepot can order 1000 rio pumps straight from commodity axis ( the company that makes them). Their prices are much lower than the prices from Central Garden and Pet ( the main wholesaler in Cali). Central is the middle man and the stores can only order a few of each pump at a time. Just because Aquatic Gallery is charging less for a pump than another store, it doesn't mean the other store is ripping people off. They probably charge more for other items anyway. Did you compare prices on everything? You should see how little some of these LFSs make. Its also funny how you complain about the price of a pump and then also complain about the service. If you were willing to pay more for your drygoods the store could afford to pay their employees more. That would get better employees. Have you ever tried to hire someone for under $10/hour in the bay area? Do you know what type of aplicants you would get? The same ones that work in gas stations and liquor stores. Basically high school kids and loosers. If you want better service you should be willing to pay for it.

 

[Al G Blenny]

Oh yeah. IBTL

 

[fat walrus]

why is it that so few people grasp the concept of business, service, and the right to make a decent living the way Al G Blenny has? do you think that any of the online retailers consider anything other than profit margin and turnover? will any of the mass-market and online retailers give a darn other than your account number and what they can sell quickly? why is it that the people who complains the most about prices are the same people who also is whining about the lack of good lfs or the lack of service? too many reefers are taking everthing out of context and only applying the limited tunnel visions of the moment. anthony calvo said in his book of coral propagation that the best source of information and help is still the lfs. i believe that he said that anyone that is really good at what he is doing is too busy to wait by a computer to dispense free advice. i am sure that there are plenty of hobbyist on this forum that would honestly try to help each other, but isn't the time and effort invested by some well meaning lfs worth anything? how many of us at one time or another have called a lfs for emergency advise? of course some advise are better than others, but the good ones never hold back their knowledge. have anyone ever call a doctor, plumber, electrician, or carpenter... and been able to receive free time and help...if they would even take the call? how many of us have called a lfs to inquire about the availability of a certain desperately needed item on a friday night or sunday morning? yet when the one out of twenty five stores withen your reach actually have the product on hand, you are beside yourself with anger at that store because it is more expensive than some e-retailer that you found online? are we at that point where we really believe that we can get a SIX DOLLAR BURGER from a fast food franchise for $2.95?

 

[seamist]

I don't get it.

If you don't like the price then go somewhere else. I used to owned a fish store and due to personal reason i was force to closed it down.

Let me say this. Those stores online are very similar to the wholesaler. The get most of their stuff directly from the manufactor and buying them in bulk. Meaning 50-100 pieces in return for cheaper price. For local pet store, most of them have to go thru another company, distrubitor/ middle man. They only buying 2-10 pieces at a time, therefore the price they pay is higher than the price online store paid.

Just like soda, if you go into vons, you pay like 70-99 cent for 2 litter, but if you go to a small convience store you pay 1.50-2 for the same bottle.

Beside the online order takes 3-10 days to get, plus shipping and the hassle of return it, you pay for return shipping and restock fee. Local store just go in and get it right away no waiting.

I just paid 18 dollar for a kalkwasser bottle when I can get it 4.50 online but I have to pay another 4.00 for shipping and waiting forever for it to arrive.

What I am saying is that if you can wait, online is good. But if you need it right away, you have to pay higher price.

M620 cost me about a year ago, 39-42 dollar wholesale price. Marinedepot selling them for 35.00, there is noway LFS make any money if you want it for the same price.

But I agreed with store credit, it's BS they should buy back at a reasonable price. Before I started my business, I used to sell my live rocks back to LFS for .25 when I paid 5 buck per lbs. However our school system is doing a same thing, I paid 100 buck for a book, and they buy it back at 20-30 bucks, and that if they buy it back. Otherwise they have a box right next to it for donation.

my .02 cent

 

[Thales]

I think both online and LFS have their place and that neither of them are perfect. Other than that, I think the issue of pricing has been well addressed in this thread.

 

[tigerarmy40]

I have a lfs here in fresno that charges 65 for the 620, its pretty rediculous but I would never pay that....

 

[Ti]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7368435#post7368435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Al G Blenny
Oh yeah. IBTL

X2

 

[dantodd]

Never saw that before. I had to look it up.

lol