Meeting at Caesar's Tropical Fish in SR??!!

[coralfarmer]

You guys miss the point. OT in the city is barely making it. it is only open a few days a week and northbay just had to move to a smaller location and they are holding on by a thread.. None of those stores pay their employees a living wage with benefits and payed vacations. Oh and overtime when it is accrued I know this because I worked at both places. Caesars DOES. We can all have this race to the bottom but without the local fish store there is no hobby. If I was giving a talk about dentition patterns in Neo-tropical Meso-American Cichlids there wouldn't even be this discussion. Fragarack this is not about Caesars wanting to get involed with the reef club but Caesars promoting the hobby. See, believe it or not reef keeping is only one small part of the aquarium hobby so lets not lose site of that. In the last year has anyone from the club approached Caesars to host a meeting? How about ever? lets see Jake, Tom, Mike, Nate, Dale, Ken, Julie, Randy, Paula, Mary. and many other members who have come and gone all heard about the club from Caesars so the way i look at it there would be no club without Caesars.Oh by the way Lynn has also helped our fellow members with special payment plans so that they could stay in the hobby and have a beautiful reef tank.

 

[justin_freebord]

Im all for both places to be open, but until northbay cleans up their tanks i refuse to shop there for anything other than RO/DI water and even that id rather pay 1$ a gallon for at safeway (i only have a 5 gallon tank). As for Ceasers its more worth my gas money to drive to San Jose or Milpitas than the 15 minutes to Ceasers down 101. Ive been to Ceasers several times and the only things i want from them are in their display tanks out front and they wont sell them. I would love to support local businesses but neither of them have anything i want and everytime i go there there is nothing new. I mean if i want nothing but gonipora and over priced duncans ill go to ceasers but otherwise id much more enjoy driving 2 hours to san jose even if i dont bring anything home


Broke college students point of view

 

[MRDHJ1]

Hey I think having a meeting at a lfs store is a cool idea. And I will say they have had some cool stuff the last few times I have been there. I will admit I have been there and they have not had anything but hey you cant get a new order in every day. So If I need or want something ALL I have to do is ask and when it comes in I get a call. But I will say I have supported them by buying things I could have saved a lot online. Like my sump and skimmer. That was before I was getting discount, even after my discount I problity would have saved money online but at least we have a lfs that I would not worry about buying a fish and putting right in my display tank. That can not be said for Northbay. I don't know that Jake should not still get a discount. He is a local business himself and I truly belive on keeping local people going.

 

[treesmoker]

First of all JAMES- This is the PERFECT place to discuss it....this IS a "discussion forum".I just wanted people to know that this was NOT a NCR meeting. I dont want any of the new members to get confused. I havent seen the sign and I dont know what it says....but i dont want any members to show up thinking it's a NCR meeting when it's just a way to drum up buissness. Especially when the word "CLUB" is used. Ceaser's is NOT going to use the reputation of the club to attract people to the store.

Second of all, no it's not "jake's reef club"; however I am the current president and I do decide what "club" money gets spent where! I wasn't speaking for the members, I obviously have no say in that. But you "snotty" tone is totally uncalled for!

I have never asked for "help" with my buissness, nor have I burned any bridges.....Lynn is the one burning bridges by no longer giving me a "club" discount. I was in the club (and spendingLOT'S o money) LONG before i started doing maintenence. It's a "club" discount....am i not in the club? so why should i not get the same discount when i go in to buy something? Even if I'm buying something for a customer, I'm still spending money in Lynn's store. Her taking away my discount just shows how "hard up" for buisness they really are.

why do you even care so much, it's not like it's your store...you just work there. In fact, you defending the store in an RC forum is a pretty big "conflict if interest" since you work there!
And finally.....letting you borrow some materials for a demonstration dose not qualify as a "donation"! maybe if some of those items were raffled, yes. But they weren't.

 

[thysrof]

Wow There's odviously some hurt feeling! Whay can't we all just get along.

There will never be anything accomplished in a ****ing contest.
Things have gotten really petty.

So conflict resolution time.

For the Love of Pete give Jake his discount. The last thing a business wants is a customer bad mouthing. A happy customer tell 2 people a mad customer tells everyone. Look at this thread.

Start reaching out to people like Jake,Jason,and Steve Ruddy. I mean these guys don't sell 10% of what caesar's does and never will,but if you Caesar's starts buying corals from these guys I'm surev they would buy their salt,fish,and other suppies from Caesar's. I worked very closely with a lot of my fellow restauranteurs. Heck if one of us ran out of product we could make a phone call and borrow the product.

Wow Win Win!

I gotta tell yah James if it wasn't these guys it would be someone else,so embrace and enjoy. It will pay off in the long run.

How about putting up something promoting the club in Caesar's and sending out an invitation to your first open house night. More people show up and eveyone wins.

James it seems like Caesar's business plan has been one of protectionism. maybe I'm wrong,but if I'm right and business is really as bad as I believe it is for all businesses now.Try something new. Reach out out see how you can work more with everyone involved. It will pay off in the long run. Heck you might even think about asking around and see if any other LFS's have tried what I'm suggesting and see if it works. It really appears to me you nothing to loose and lots to gain. I was often told by a lot of business owners listen to your clientel and yes we are all your clientele.they will tell you what they want and I believe that's what's going on right now.

Things will never get better with people pointing fingers,so why don't we stop this now and do some reaching out to each other.

I'm more than willing to do whatever it takes for the greater good!

Thanks for listening everyone! and yes I'm finally done

Bob

 

[MRDHJ1]

Bob I agree with you this would be a great time for everyone to come together. I do think it would be smart to give Jake his discount back. SO what he deals with fish tank service. Theres should be enough tanks to keep all services guys working. Guys times are hard right now lets try to all succeed. And one last thing the is no reason there cant be two clubs. Different stroke for different folks. I just know I will be a member to both!

 

[treesmoker]

i just want to be clear....my first reply was only to inform everyone who might have been confused with this so called "meeting" at ceaser's. I also politely stated that I no longer recieve a " club" discount. I never provoked any animosity...however, I don not take kindly to some peolpes "Hollier than thou" snotty attitudes and or comments.

 

[whitetigerfish]

I started one of the most popular threads on here! Too bad it became a grudge match. I understand both sides, since I am a computer technician and I am a Best Buy Technician supervisor. If I told best buy that I wanted to keep my discount and do my side tech consulting, not only would I lose that discount I would lose my job. Kind of the same realm. No deals for competition, but also Lynn is going to **** off a lot of reefers, and in my opinion, the true reefer's are the ones who spend the most for their hobby. I mean come on most novice aquarium owner's will give up after there oscar dies in a 5 gallon fish bowl, or there corals die after they add a cup of salt to the main tank... Either way this thread has went off course and I don't know if there is a point to the simple topic anymore... lol :rollface:

 

[fragarack]

In this economy people are going to spend where the best deal is at. Thats the bottom line. Individuals who have the funds are going to take advantage of the deals when people part out, or the stores with the best prices. Like what Justin wrote he was willing to spend his money in San Jose why is that? Was it due to better prices, he meet the owner and got a great sense of his passion, better selection etc... The guy lives in SR and is willing to travel to SJ, kind of makes you wonder.

Will Lynn allow a frag swap and Caesar's? Or a meeting held there? I think this is the first steps to making things better.

 

[coralfarmer]

Well I hope to see everyone on the 3rd at 7:30 pm.
Thanks,
James

 

[justin_freebord]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14686686#post14686686 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by fragarack
In this economy people are going to spend where the best deal is at. Thats the bottom line. Individuals who have the funds are going to take advantage of the deals when people part out, or the stores with the best prices. Like what Justin wrote he was willing to spend his money in San Jose why is that? Was it due to better prices, he meet the owner and got a great sense of his passion, better selection etc... The guy lives in SR and is willing to travel to SJ, kind of makes you wonder.

Will Lynn allow a frag swap and Caesar's? Or a meeting held there? I think this is the first steps to making things better.

well technically i live in pleasanton but i go to school in rohnert park. But i make special plans to go to SJ when i go home. The reason i go there? Selection and the workers. I went to neptune and was there for 2 hours. I wasnt even able to buy anything because i wasnt going back to school that day but i still managed to be in the store for 2 hours and buy 15$ worth of dry goods. I go to these places because they have frags of stuff i want. The prices are still pretty steep at some places but then theres neptune which has an AMAZING 10$ coral bin. All the places in milpitas and SJ have a huge selection, even in individual tanks that are small they have a ton of stuff that i drool over. Ceasers has mushrooms, gonipora, and maybe some brown zoas and they are all huge rocks for pretty steep prices. I might as well drive to Aquarium concepts at least i could pick from a huge selection of slightly overpriced things i dont want.

I dont mean to be harsh but its the truth and sometimes it hurts, but this is why to me its worth going home to visit the family and see a fish store. Even if my family lived in Santa rosa, i would still make that drive and pay my 4$ bridge toll because they have coral worth buying that is always pretty unique. I mean come on, the day northbay has a better coral selection than ceasers is sad. The only thing they have is their sps tank, and i dont know prices on sps or how quality they are but the 200$ like 6 head duncan next to them all kinda says something.

If anything im going to go to jason before i got to any of those places because he is the only one near by who comes close to what sj can offer and he has a damn display tank and frag tank that he runs out of his house.


Ceasers is great for beginners but soft corals arnt really my thing and i can probably find a lot of it for free from people who dont want it anymore because they saw lps and sps and were like woah helllllllllo beautiful.


thats my opinion, take it or leave it











ps: this is only about their coral selection, i dont know much about fish prices or dry goods or anything. I go online for most of that stuff because its way cheaper and i can find exactly what i need

 

[Steve Ruddy]

Well said I'm with you Bob.

 

[cocoloco]

I'm with Bob as well...interesting post though....by the way Steve...I need 2 T-5 bulbs, one daylight and one blue, 10,000 VHO, 58 inches....do you have any in stock?

 

[Steve Ruddy]

PM'd you

 

[northbay-reefer]

I think the consensus is very clear, Lynn's approach is behind the time and she needs to change otherwise we will just take our bussiness elsewhere.

Shutting down the small bussinesses like Jake, Jason and Steve's doesn't make her bussiness better. I can get supplies and corals for a much better price at Steve, and now with Jason doing frag tank, I can get corals from him too. Unless Ceasar step up, they will loose out.

 

[thysrof]

Dave,

Good to see you posting on the board! You just got your first taste of Reefers "Differences of Opinion"

There's not a lot more I can say other than. When are we all going to get together for a beer or whatever you like to drink.

Well ok there's one more thing to say. " If there wasn't Caesar's and there wasn't hobbyist where would the hobby be in Sonoma County?"

Hobbilis! Is that a word?

 

[MRDHJ1]

Hey Bob I thought this hobby was suppose to be fun? I think everyone should shop where they want. Go to meetings where they want. And most important lets bring the fun back and get rid of the complaining. I know I would not be the Reefer I am with out both Northcoast and Ceasers.

 

[treesmoker]

Justin- you certainly did light a fire, so to speak:lol:

Tom- Thank you for the support! Not only is her approach way behind the times, but her buissness ethics are crap! I heard what she did to Guy and to Steve....which was absolutely unbelievable! She will never get another dime from my pocket! Forcing out the little guy....isn't that something they do in "big buissness"?

Bob- Uknow i'm down for drinks anytime buddy:smokin:

 

[northbay-reefer]

Dale, This hobby is fun and yes people are free to shop anywhere they want to. We as comsumers want better service and better prices for our goods right? So we shop around. This area doesn't have a lot comparing to the bay area so we shop at the limmited locations, some are good, some are bad. what you are seeing is bottled up resentment from Ceasar's customers and small start up bussinesses. I've made many trips to Ceasar and have walked away shaking my head at the outrageous prices and once in a while I get call from James telling me about a nice piece of corals that came in, I thank him for letting me know about it but after finding out what the price was I almost fall out of my chair. I mean, they give us 20% discount and then jack the price up by 20% to compensate for the discount.

Bob, I think you have a drinking problem ..... and I want to contribute to it lol ... am thinking maybe a club meeting at my house once am done remodeling it and we can share some good wine . My tank has recoved from my life changing event too so it all good now.

Jake, do you have anything exciting in your tank that can look good in my tank ?? I do have some tradable pieces

 

[treesmoker]

tom-indeed i do. i'll pm u with some pics.