Petco buying Dr. Foster and Smith.

[cubsare1]

Petco, a nationwide pet supply store, will acquire Rhinelander based Drs. Fosters and Smith, according to a press release.

A company spokesperson told NewsChannel 7 it would be "business as usual" in Rhinelander with plans to grow.

The acquisition is expected to be completed by early 2015.

Drs. Foster and Smith was founded in 1983. Dr. Race Foster, Dr. Rory Foster and Dr. Marty Smith’s Animal hospitals in Northern Wisconsin were the first in the nation to offer free rabies vaccinations and free spay/neutering services.

According to the release, Drs. Foster and Smith is the nation's largest catalog and online seller of pet supplies.

Petco to Acquire Rhinelander Based Drs. Foster and Smith

 

[Shep]

I really hope that this does not change anything about Live Aquaria.

 

[adam87]

No, this is not good.

 

[7hogwarts]

I don't see anything good coming of this.

 

[CausticGuy]

Agreed. One of the best in the industry being bought by the Walmart of the pet world...

 

[adam87]

customer service will not be good anymore when petco takes over.
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[akma]

Does this mean no more liveaquaria??

 

[Shep]

Does this mean no more liveaquaria??

Unless LA does not make a profit then I can't think of a reason PetCo would close it down.

 

[akma]

Unless LA does not make a profit then I can't think of a reason PetCo would close it down.

I meant liveaquaria as I know it. I've ordered most of my fish from them because they are always healthy and i've never had a problem, except once when I bought a tanaka wrasse and it came in dead. Which of course was credited right away.

 

[Shep]

I meant liveaquaria as I know it. I've ordered most of my fish from them because they are always healthy and i've never had a problem, except once when I bought a tanaka wrasse and it came in dead. Which of course was credited right away.

Ahh sorry, misunderstood what you meant. I hope the same, I have never had a problem dealing with their customer service. If they change anything it could cost them a lot of business.

 

[adam87]

I order from Petco online to try it out, the fish I got where sick and died in a week.

 

[Marquiseo]

I think it will be a good thing. Here is what I believe will happen:


-Most of the products offered by Drs Foster and Smith may be offered in stores now.
-Revamping of saltwater department. Stricter requirements because of knowledge from Drs foster and smith
-Cheaper in-store prices for petco products.
-increased varieties of corals and fish offered at petco stores

My thinking behind this is that Drs foster and smith is well respected and will not let a pet store giant just ruin its business relationships and good name. The article stated that it was an agreement so terms have to have been met to finalized the acquirement.

 

[Oscaror]

******!

 

[hybridazn]

I think it will be a good thing. Here is what I believe will happen:


-Most of the products offered by Drs Foster and Smith may be offered in stores now.
-Revamping of saltwater department. Stricter requirements because of knowledge from Drs foster and smith
-Cheaper in-store prices for petco products.
-increased varieties of corals and fish offered at petco stores

My thinking behind this is that Drs foster and smith is well respected and will not let a pet store giant just ruin its business relationships and good name. The article stated that it was an agreement so terms have to have been met to finalized the acquirement.

I think your giving too much credit here without knowing all the details of the deal. If anything it will probably be hands off for foster and Smith and petco won't really care about their business models and will start to implement their own rules to such things.

 

[Marquiseo]

I think your giving too much credit here without knowing all the details of the deal. If anything it will probably be hands off for foster and Smith and petco won't really care about their business models and will start to implement their own rules to such things.

Most people are only seeing this as one-sided based on experience at certain petco stores. I, honestly, do not believe that Drs Foster and Smith would be in an agreement under Petco without changes. I, also, believe that Petco pursued Drs Foster and Smith to improve its organization. Companies merge only when one is failing(going bankrupt for example) or if a merger benefits both companies endgame. Money does play a role but Drs Foster and Smith wasn't losing sales like Petco. The article would have stated Drs Foster and Smith to acquire Petco if money was the motive.

 

[adam87]

I think your giving too much credit here without knowing all the details of the deal. If anything it will probably be hands off for foster and Smith and petco won't really care about their business models and will start to implement their own rules to such things.

I agree. I live in IL and use to go to Dominick's for food but when Safeway bought it years ago, it went down hill. Dominick's is now out of business.

 

[hybridazn]

Most people are only seeing this as one-sided based on experience at certain petco stores. I, honestly, do not believe that Drs Foster and Smith would be in an agreement under Petco without changes. I, also, believe that Petco pursued Drs Foster and Smith to improve its organization. Companies merge only when one is failing(going bankrupt for example) or if a merger benefits both companies endgame. Money does play a role but Drs Foster and Smith wasn't losing sales like Petco. The article would have stated Drs Foster and Smith to acquire Petco if money was the motive.

There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that we the public don't know about in dealings with corporate America. A company can be up for grabs not just because it's struggling to make a profit, it could be as simple as they just don't want to be in it anymore. While I doubt petco called them up and said, "hey, you guys want to sell us your company?" but I do believe that f&s made it known in the ears of certain individuals that they would be willing to sell at the right price. This reminds me a little bit of the ecotech marine/AI "merger"

 

[reefkeeper2]

Will Petco rise to the quality of Drs Foster and Smith, or will Drs Foster and Smith degrade to the quality of Petco. We would all be celebrating if Drs Foster and Smith were buying Petco. This is not good news.

 

[Makena95GT]

I assume nobody here has ever worked in a chain pet store. Its not the company as a whole that sucks.. its each individual store. Just like PetSmart, PetCo has strict policies and procedures regarding the care and maintenance of any of the animals in the store.

Now that is not to say that every manager will enforce these p&p's.

Search up PetSmart: Behind The Fish Wall on le Google and have a read before going off on an entire company :3

In every city youll have really cruddy stores and good stores. Itll all depend on the staff and if people are just there to make money or there to make a difference.

 

[MrDJeep123]

I actually think this could be a good thing. Capital goes into Dr. Fosters and Smith and PetCo can get their standards straightened and *hopefully* become a reputable source.