Did you ever work at a LFS or PEt Store?

[fsu1dolfan]

So i have realized that a decent amount of us reefers here have either worked at a LFS or pet store some point in our life. Personally i did when i was in high school for a few years.

I had plenty of good times - Like there was a Black Ribbon eel that was in our store for years. He loved to be touched or petted like a dog...it was the craziest thing. Also feeding time was always fun too.

Of course not so good times - scrubbing tanks for hours or accidental overflows during water changes...still have nightmares about forgetting the water was on filling up a sump :tongue:


So have you?? What was your best or worse memory!!

 

[benny z]

yes.

best is responding to the question of "where do you get your fish?" as "the ocean!"...

worst... pulling dead fish... or dealing with customers who have no clue what they're doing and have no desire to research/learn for themselves.

 

[akabryanhall]

I used to want to work at one, however I'm not sure I could deal with some of the less insightful comments and questions.

 

[SaraB]

I did freshwater tanks for about 20 years and in college I worked at a True Value Hardware and Variety Store for about 2 years and always volunteered my time in the freshwater fish area. The owners obviously liked fish to have a large section of their store dedicated to freshwater!

Best memory was loving their huge display tank that must have been 300 gallons with discus and the largest clown loaches and bala sharks I've ever seen. I also loved cherry picking the angelfish that came in.

Worst memory ... I had long fingernails that were always painted beautifully and working in the water so much I developed an infection under 3 nails and to this day almost 20 years later I still can't wear nailpolish as it makes my nails throb! Too much information ... but that's my worst memory that still lives with me!

 

[fsu1dolfan]

yes.

best is responding to the question of "where do you get your fish?" as "the ocean!"...

worst... pulling dead fish... or dealing with customers who have no clue what they're doing and have no desire to research/learn for themselves.

Man dead fish was the worst for sure....but in front of customers was even worse...i hated always getting those questions "Is that a dead fish" "Why"

 

[foxhuntr]

the only thing i did for a local pet store was i set-up all their saltwater tanks and reefs.......they were only into the freshwater and he called me one day and said he wanted to start getting into saltwater and asked me if i would set up all his tanks and teach him so i said sure......it was a blast setting up tanks and reefs and get to use someone elses money to do it.....

 

[swannyson7]

I used to want to work at one, however I'm not sure I could deal with some of the less insightful comments and questions.

+1. When I was at the LFS the other day, there was a girl asking one of the owners whether a volitan lion or a harlequin tusk wrasse would be a better addition to her 20 long. It took everything I had not to lecture her...

 

[ReefDreams]

I enjoyed working at a local store. It was probably the most I enjoyed working lol. Dead fish were no fun at all. I didn't mind the clueless customers because they kept me on my toes and actually made me learn what I didn't know.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

Just remembered another favorite moment - After working there a while, i got to go on the trip to hand pick fish and corals for the store at some warehouse downtown....First off i learned then about the word "markup" very quickly...I totally wanted to go back there for personal reasons...regardless the place was amazing with more tanks than i could imagine. Still the biggest place i have ever been too...The wholesalers warehouse was amazing...that trip learned and saw alot!!

 

[returnofsid]

While I wouldn't qualify it as an LFS, I used to manage the Pet Dept in a local Walmart. At the time I took over the dept, the former dept manager was clueless. No surprise there. I ended up not even abiding by the "policy" of how the department was supposed to be ran...lol. I did things my own way, with the fish tanks, ordering, inventory and such. During the time that I worked that department, that particular store had record sales, in that department, over every other store in the nation. We also had the lowest mortality rate. Heck, I even ended up with several varieties of fish spawning in the store tanks, including a pair of Green Severums...lol. Funny thing was, our store manager wouldn't allow us to add the fry into inventory and sell them. Something about taxes. We weren't allowed to profit from the fry, because we hadn't purchased them, or paid taxes on them. So, we ended up giving them away, most of the time...lol.

I also help out one of our LFS, who has FW and SW, on occasion. She has no employees and at times, gets a little overwhelmed. I try to give her a hand once in awhile. She also is a "sucky fish" specialist, breeding many types of plecos that are rarely bred in captivity. She ends up traveling some, doing "sucky fish" seminars. When she has to be out of town, and her husband isn't available to work her store, my girlfriend and I will step in and help.

 

[Tabasco1]

I worked in 2 different pet stores in college, on in CA that only had freshwater, but I managed the whole dept. and the best was getting to order the fish. I would actually not sell stuff to people who were not aware of what they were purchasing or didn't have a correct set up. NO SOUP FOR YOU! haha. One time we had an arrawona and someone wanted to put it in a 10G. uh, no.

Worst-the other store I worked at in VA was more of a general pet store and had a pretty big selection of rabbits, guinea pigs, rats and reptiles. By far the worst was cleaning their cages.

 

[Heffe01]

I think the worst was working in the reef store. Customers would come in and magically decide they wanted a reef tank without finding out the facts or asking anyone. Couple weeks later would come in and want to buy corals. Ask them what kind of lighting they had and a few questions about there set up. They would reply the strip light that came with the tank, and have other mediocure equipment. When you tell them that isnt good enough for a reef tank, they would ***** about the price of everything else. Sorry you decided to make an uninformed purchase. I did sell alot of the Eclipse systems though with upgraded lights. Think in one week we sold 25 of them. It was amazing. I got a bonus check from the owner...cause he didnt think they would sell. $150 bucks for an all in one system was a huge bargain back then and still is.

 

[butts182]

I voted "No. leave it to the pros" but I am a regular at my LFS because i live so close that I can walk there (less than 200 yds). when i am there, sometimes i help out getting fish and corals for people and filling up water jugs. It's fun, but I would not want to do it for a career because my own tank would suffer...meaning that i would not want to mess with my tank after messing with work tanks all day.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

I voted "No. leave it to the pros" but I am a regular at my LFS because i live so close that I can walk there (less than 200 yds). when i am there, sometimes i help out getting fish and corals for people and filling up water jugs. It's fun, but I would not want to do it for a career because my own tank would suffer...meaning that i would not want to mess with my tank after messing with work tanks all day.

LOL - but imagine the stuff you would have access to. Kind wish i still had it as a side job just for those perks. As for a full on career, i have a friend whos father designs high end custom tanks...talking about for aquariums, hotels, and other massive tanks....if i made the $$$ it would totally be a killer job. But as a kid i always wanted to be a marine biologist. :smile:

 

[spscrazy]

I used to own a fish/pet store about 10 years ago heavy on freshwater fish then pets then saltwater fish no corals etc. the best was getting in fish every week it felt like Christmas opening all those boxes!
the worst part was the guys who stopped after they got off of work to just "chat" never bought a darn thing but get in the way they loved to follow me around the store while I was waiting on customers and trying to get last minute stuff done before closing. second worst was trying to get the male customers from the barber shop next door to stop using me for a babysitter

 

[FishLipz]

I couldn't do it. Even at my LFS some of the "experts" don't know a thing or don't care about what they are doing. I watched a lady ask to buy an eel (snowflake if I remember correctly) from their predator display. The tank was CLEARLY labeled "ick outbreak XX/XX/20XX". They were going to sell her the thing anyway. When the worker walked away to get a container, I quickly walked over and told her don't do it and why. She thanked me and quickly left. The sales guy came back and asked where she went and I just played it off like I didn't know.

 

[BroncosZOA]

I think it takes a special type of person (Car dealer) to be a LFS owner. kidding aside



Its a business and selling is what they do. I love how so many people said i couldnt stand the questions or stupid customers. LOL LOL

Thats why your not working at or own a lfs anymore. Those people are the ones that need to be helped and educated. Not sold stuff they dont need. Far too often the LFS is the LFYS.

I know of two stores in NJ that doesnt sell you stuff you cant keep and doesnt sell youe equipment you dont need.

 

[fsu1dolfan]

I couldn't do it. Even at my LFS some of the "experts" don't know a thing or don't care about what they are doing. I watched a lady ask to buy an eel (snowflake if I remember correctly) from their predator display. The tank was CLEARLY labeled "ick outbreak XX/XX/20XX". They were going to sell her the thing anyway. When the worker walked away to get a container, I quickly walked over and told her don't do it and why. She thanked me and quickly left. The sales guy came back and asked where she went and I just played it off like I didn't know.

Yeah its sad that these things happen...It gives LFSs a bad name. Some are good and have great advice but there will always be some bad apples in the bunch. Where i worked most were pretty knowledgeable and tried to educate...plus no commission so it wasn't like you needed to make the sale!

Crazy to see we are still over 50 percent that work(ed) for a LFS...cant wait to see 100 sample size!

 

[EliteReefs]

i did. About 20 years ago i worked at a LFS for a few days. they put me in charge of the anemone tank in the saltwater section. i thought those big piles of slime were so gross that i went to lunch and never went back lol.

 

[drainbamage]

worked at a couple, managed at one.

Funniest memory (that's polite enough to share) was the VERY common question when informing a customer why a fish wouldn't work in their system, the follow up more often than not was "well do they make one that..." On occasion if the customer was the joking sort, I'd tell them that they needed to take it up with their priest.

Favorite memory- Not sure, there was pleanty of fun stuff but at the end of the day it was a low paying job that generally involved a lot of algae scrubbing and walking around with water-soaked t-shirts, especially in the armpits :sad:

Most frustrating- after telling a person what had happened, typically why a fish/coral had died, or what was going wrong in their tank and how they should fix it, the person would tell me I was wrong (no big deal, I'm human and wrong pleanty) but then ask me the same question.

Most ****** off- People coming in or calling (calling much worse, at least if you come in you can see our selection and maybe something grabs your attention) for advice, taking up 5-30 minutes or more, asking what products they need, then hanging up or leaving because they're going to go buy it online for cheaper. Guess what-the LFS prices is what just PAID for you taking up my time to ask those questions, I swear so many Americans have forgotten the addage of paying for what you get.