69 replies to this topic

[Vebas]

It does ship me when some LFS don't put enough staff on for me to be served within 30mins though. I think you all know the one or two I'm talking about.

As a LFS owner, this is a tough one - the number of customers can vary massively through the day. If you have enough staff on to keep customers turning over as fast as they arrive at your busiest time then you will have idle staff when it's average or quiet. Staffing costs are by far the major running cost of any aquarium business, and a relatively small percentage change in staffing costs can cause massive differences in pricing and profitability. If time is a real factor, it's always best to shop in traditionally more quiet times, such as early on weekend mornings and Thursday nights.

Cheers
Pacco

[mattt]

get some online shopping going and i wont even have to come in! you can reduce your staffing costs ;D

[tranced]

i actually dont mind waiting to be served in a lfs, its not a place i go to if im in any sort of hurry...

[Kieran]

How are the LFSs going with the new electricity costs? If they're hurting the hobbiest, they're probably having a serious effect on the LFS.

[Fox]

Totally with you Nico, I don't mind waiting in a LFS as it gives me a chance to have a good look through the shop. I may not see that special something hiding in one of the tanks the first time around..

[Kieran]

If time is a real factor, it's always best to shop in traditionally more quiet times, such as early on weekend mornings and Thursday nights.

Totally with you Nico, I don't mind waiting in a LFS as it gives me a chance to have a good look through the shop. I may not see that special something hiding in one of the tanks the first time around..

Okay, consider this, there are two basic situations when you enter a shop:
1. You want a specific item. Heaven forbid a person actually knowing what they want before entering the shop?
2. You do not want a specific item. If you are looking through the tanks and you don't need assistance at that very second, you suddenly turn invisible and nobody wants to bag up that special something in 10 minutes time.

I have on two separate tank setups taken my money elsewhere, and it's very frustrating to do so. I've learned over the years in the tackle retail area the dodgiest looking bloke can drive up in a bomb of a car, wearing only boots and shorts in shreds and buy a thousand dollar Penn Internationalist reel, because all he cares about is fishing. Ignoring the customer and / or making assumptions on any basis is a big no-no. I would be an ******** of a secret shopper wouldn't I?

The true advantage that the LFS has over a supermarket store is service. If I can't get service why bother traveling the distance and paying the higher prices?

Of all the established shops within 50km of me, I now only mainly shop at 2: Aquotix and Vebas. Got the LFSs all pegged now, some for lights, some for chemicals, some for foods, some for tanks, some for fish and some never to be touched again with a 10ft barge pole.

You may now flame away

[Fox]

No flaming necessary, I understand where your coming from, I don't jump on my customers as soon as they walk in the door, Something I hate being done to me, I let the browse for say around 2-3mins, then ask if they would like any help or are they happy looking, if they are happy looking I tell them to yell out when they are ready, I have never had a angry customer in all my years of retail by saying that, And if I see a customer waiting for me, I let them know I wont be long.
I try to be as quick as I can with customers, but at times I have regulars that come in and want to have a chat, they all understand when I say, excuse me for a minute while I serve some customers, they are all happy to wait for me, I have a red headed customer that has been known to wait for about 30mins for me..

[dazzabozza]

Ignoring the customer and / or making assumptions on any basis is a big no-no.

Hey Kieran!

I think this statement can go both ways in that the customer shouldn't assume that the shop staff know that you need assistance at that point in time (if you're roaming the isles VS standing at the counter). Sometimes you've gotta go out of your way to make yourself known.

Also if a shop is busy it's typically due to them being competitively priced and/or they specialise in different areas (products/service/advice) in which there's a demand. There's not so much of a need to do the hard sell compared to the quieter shops that may have inflated prices.

When it comes to price wars it fluctuates across the different stores whether it be a LFS or warehouse chain. You can add online stores into the argument too. At one end of the scale you're gonna have heaps of pluses when dealing with the LFS's... at the other end of the scale is cheaper prices without all those pluses. If you're chasing a particular product, know what you want and haven't picked the brains of your LFS then it probably doesn't matter too much at the end of the day where you get it from as an apple is an apple (product is the same regardless where you get it from). Not the same story with livestock though...


Dazza

[Kieran]

I would like to add that when you can get a hold of a staff member in most LFS they are usually very helpful Not something one normally finds at Petstock, BP&G, etc.

[Warby]

Have to agree with Kieran on the issue of feeling ignored by staff at times.. Vebas is probably my favourite LFS and easily where I spend the most money, but there have been a couple of occasions that I have walked out after not being served for 15-20 minutes when I clearly wanted assistance (standing at the same tank making eye contact with several staff walking past and being acknowledged but not served --- seems pretty obvious to me...) and I know my wife has left on a couple of occasions also when she's stopped in to pick things up when I've been away.. On each of these occasions the majority of staff seemed to be occupied with tasks which easily could have been put aside for 10 minutes to serve someone (I wont leave when I can see they're busy with other customers, busy is busy can't do anything bout that.. but I see no reason for a customer to wait for water changes, shelf stocking, etc).. That being said, I've been in LOTS of times so I suppose there had to be the odd occasion and it hasn't overly impacted upon my opinion of the store - everyone has their bad days..

Other stores, one little LFS down in rocko in particular (not kev's.. he's always been very good as far as service is concerned) I refuse to shop at -- EVERY time I've been in there the owner (or whoever was working) has sat at the counter reading a newspaper or doing menial tasks and not so much as acknowledged me..

Annnnnnyway.. this is going off-track a bit ... so, pulling it back:

The VAST majority of people that shop at pet stores (ie those chain stores you all hate so much) are not hobbyists. They are people with a dog or cat or horse or bird or fish tank that just want to go and get the food/leash/collar/bowl/whatever of choice at the best price available. I personally hate city farmers but think Better Pets & Gardens is a great store for all things dog related. The LFS won't lose the hobbyist $ to the chain stores, they will lose the $ of the average joe though and in order to survive they need to be realistic about this and ensure that they dont become too caught up in supplying to hobbyist demand at the expense of the bread and butter stuff (and hobbyists need to be realistic about this too ... you are not the most important customer .. get used to it and get over it ...)

/end rant

[Cawdor]

I have walked out after not being served for 15-20 minutes when I clearly wanted assistance (standing at the same tank making eye contact with several staff walking past and being acknowledged but not served --- seems pretty obvious to me...)

I do agree that staff usually should get the hint when you make eye contact after standing at the same spot for a while - but it's also not hard to say "excuse me, could you help me please"

[Den]

I do agree that staff usually should get the hint when you make eye contact after standing at the same spot for a while - but it's also not hard to say "excuse me, could you help me please"

My Uncle did that in a bunnings store on the east coast, the bunnings worker yelled at him and said "can't you see Im busy!".

[tranced]

at vebas you just go and stand near the live food counter? then the next available person will come up and ask if you need a hand. sometimes you gotta wait a while but as i said before, i usually set aside some time when visiting lfs so i dont mind.

[ado]

My Uncle did that in a bunnings store on the east cost, the bunnings worker yelled at him and said "can't you see Im busy!".

that's the east coast for ya....cranky bunch those folks

[ZOLTAN]

I just get up early and visit the stores during the quiet stages, gives you more time getting the service and information you need from them.

[fishgalsoup]

Oh having a whinge...

As per title of this topic LFS Vs Chain Pets Shop; you keep fish don’t you? Big fish eat small fish and that the reality my friend! Have a drive to any of suburban S/C and you will see they all look the same? Why, because there are more chain stores than specialties shops. Chain stores works because they provide competitive price to end users and that what we’re all want. Aren’t we?

You don’t have to look far, just take a look at this forum classified. Recently there is a post by a member organising a group buy to get it cheaper from some sponsor a few thousand miles away...What a laugh! Why not ask someone closer to do a deal? Surely there ought to have some sponsor locally who could match the price to make a buck or two; or is it not worth it?

We’ll have a serious problem if none of our LFS here in Perth could match the price with some store a few thousand miles away. That’s why there is a need to group up, combine force and move forward!

Seriously, I can understand why a local Perth fish club take up sponsorship from an ESF (Eastern State Fish Shop) in the first place?

Is this how we support our Local Fish Shop?

Chain Store WIN if LFS need don't re-think their strategies.

[tranced]

its not having a whinge. the sponsors basically pay the perth cichlid society to take business away from them. they do it because they love and support this hobby. when big chain stores that couldnt care less about the hobby start advertising for free on this forum, dont you think that would cause some friction?

[Fox]

Oh having a whinge...

As per title of this topic LFS Vs Chain Pets Shop; you keep fish don’t you? Big fish eat small fish and that the reality my friend! Have a drive to any of suburban S/C and you will see they all look the same? Why, because there are more chain stores than specialties shops. Chain stores works because they provide competitive price to end users and that what we’re all want. Aren’t we?

You don’t have to look far, just take a look at this forum classified. Recently there is a post by a member organising a group buy to get it cheaper from some sponsor a few thousand miles away...What a laugh! Why not ask someone closer to do a deal? Surely there ought to have some sponsor locally who could match the price to make a buck or two; or is it not worth it?

We’ll have a serious problem if none of our LFS here in Perth could match the price with some store a few thousand miles away. That’s why there is a need to group up, combine force and move forward!

Seriously, I can understand why a local Perth fish club take up sponsorship from an ESF (Eastern State Fish Shop) in the first place?

Is this how we support our Local Fish Shop?

Chain Store WIN if LFS need don't re-think their strategies.

[werdna]

I have never had an issue getting served at Veba's.
There are many times that I have gone there just to look around and I have been offered assistance while looking at fish. However I have always just gone to the counter if I need assistance and been helped quite quickly.
Maybe the person doing water changes you are staring at is there solely for water changes, and if they stopped to serve everyone staring at them the job wouldn't get done.

And Warby... I would prefer poor service from a shop over walking into one that stinks of mouldy carpet. Do you know how bad that can be for your health? What was he thinking leaving carpet on the floor!

[Kieran]

Whoa lets try and keep this non-specific guys, I'm sure people have had similar experiences in other LFS.

My Uncle did that in a bunnings store on the east coast, the bunnings worker yelled at him and said "can't you see Im busy!".

Mood lightener:


By the way, my youngest brother has autism and has been hooked on bunnings ads for a few years just never let your child misspell it as 'whorehouse', as bunnings-style parody ads exist for that too...