I go to All Pets Club every week for dog food and have been a club member for two years now. It's great to have a big shop in the area. It's about 20 minutes drive but easy to get there so I don't mind and would much rather go there than some of the other large chains. They carry an excellent selection of dog food and toys and my dogs love BG so they love the shop too.
My problem with the shop is the salt water side. In the last couple of months it seems that the selection has looked worse and worse while prices have gone higher. Prices are almost to the point of the high end shops down in Greenwhich, while quality and selection has gone down. I am a reef keeper and spend a lot of money on both livestock and things to keep the reef going. APC also has a good selection of salt and supplements now. I really like the Red Sea stuff and have been using it for a while. But there are other shops in the area that charge almost half of APC price. Even with the discount card. So it doesn't pay to buy salt or supplements there unless there is an emergency. a $25 difference on a bucket of salt and close to $10 difference on the chemicals adds up fast. I know most pet shops use things like salt and chems to get a person there and then make money on livestock. It just seems like APC has gotten greedy. More money for less quality and less selection. In the last two months I haven't been able to find one thing I wanted for my tank! While I go to another shop to buy salt and walk out with close to $200 in corals and fish. Also some of the other shops match online prices for things like snails and chemicals.
I can see new people buying stuff here, but an experienced reef keeper who wants new and challenging higher end fish and corals will have a tough time finding anything mixed in with the damsels and over priced beginer level browned out corals. Sad too, because experienced reefers are the ones who are willing to spend the big bucks. I wish they would take their salt water and reef departments seriously and get somebody in there to order up some decent fish and corals so I can go back to spending some money there other than on dog food! Also get your prices in line on the chems and salt and stop trying to kill the people on it. Who needs 500 ceramic nemo statues? Get some real reefing equipment to put on that shelf, price it competitively then watch the dollars come rolling in. No reason you can't be the next Foster and Smith if you don't get your act together! You have the shop and the staff to do it with.
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