Pet supermarket a LFS?

Does anyone have a Pet Supermarket
store near them?
They just built one a few months ago in my town, and I haven’t been there yet. They’re a chain store. Wondering how they compare to petsmart and the like in how they care for their animals. Better? Same?
I know this can vary by location, just wondered if there’s anything that applies across the board.

 

Yes, I have a location close to home.

They get their fish from SunPet. They get decent variety, but a lot of the fish are sent sick, weak, or very small. Their gourami and tetras look much, much better than those at Petsmart. At my location fish care has gone down due to change in manager.

Overall a lot better than PetSmart, but I’ve seen many petco locations better then them. Still, they’ve got better variety than both. I’ve seen chocolate gourami, sparkling gourami, CPD, longfin rainbows, and gudgeons to name a few. My location overcrowds though, which is why I prefer petco.

Edit: regarding small animals, MUCH better than petsmart and petco both. Cages are much larger and they don’t overcrowd small animals. Their hamster cages resemble bin cages: glass, very large. Their bird cages are small though. However, SunPet is a mass breeder, so do try to find a local source or adopt, especially for birds as their are a lot of unwanted birds. As for products, not much variety, but they pricematch with chewy and they do have some unique items. Their plant quality is good and cheap, but at my location they don’t take care of them, so get your plants on the same day they get them or you will have a plant with rotted roots.

 

So I went this afternoon; buying dewormer for my cats was my excuse.
I was impressed that the tanks all had gravel in them, and all seemed to have adequate plants/ hiding places. Petsmart just has an empty water box. The Goldfish especially were a bit crowded, but they’re tiny babies, not supposed to be In temporary housing like that for long.
They still had bettas in little, bare bowls, but I guess it’s better to have 3 cups of water instead of 3/4. Still not great, but... they tried to make it better.
I’m obviously still a novice, but I feel like with the exception of the bettas, the fish are in good hands. They were all swimming around actively, none seemed sick. the few I saw hiding were shy bottom dwellers, like loaches, so it makes sense for them. There was just one, maybe two? dead fish in two different tanks. They just got their fish in though, I know you’re gonna lose some after shipping...It’s all about whether they leave them there to rot or take them out. One guy in particular really seemed passionate about them and was happy to answer my questions.

What had me excited was the shear variety of fish they had available, and the fact that I recognized so many of them without having to look at their tags. I’ve been looking at adult sizes to decide if it’s a fish I can keep in my tank, I forgot they all start out small as babies. They’re all so cute and tiny when they’re little!

Anyway, we’ll see if this location continues to live up to my expectations.
Since the other LFS options I have are petsmart (dirty tanks and worse conditions) or over an hour away, This just might be where I get my fish.

 

Yes, I have a location close to home.

They get their fish from SunPet. They get decent variety, but a lot of the fish are sent sick, weak, or very small. Their gourami and tetras look much, much better than those at Petsmart. At my location fish care has gone down due to change in manager.

Overall a lot better than PetSmart, but I’ve seen many petco locations better then them. Still, they’ve got better variety than both. I’ve seen chocolate gourami, sparkling gourami, CPD, longfin rainbows, and gudgeons to name a few. My location overcrowds though, which is why I prefer petco.

Edit: regarding small animals, MUCH better than petsmart and petco both. Cages are much larger and they don’t overcrowd small animals. Their hamster cages resemble bin cages: glass, very large. Their bird cages are small though. However, SunPet is a mass breeder, so do try to find a local source or adopt, especially for birds as their are a lot of unwanted birds. As for products, not much variety, but they pricematch with chewy and they do have some unique items. Their plant quality is good and cheap, but at my location they don’t take care of them, so get your plants on the same day they get them or you will have a plant with rotted roots.

I feel like the quality of Petco/Petsmart stores depends on the owner. I've been to one Petco and it was dreadful; dead fish in the tanks, barely any customer service, the whole place smelled, etc. On the other hand, I've been to Petcos where the employees were very helpful and actually knew what they were talking about (crazy right?). I got in and out, but I noticed all of the tanks were well stocked, and not a dead fish was to be seen. My best petstore chain experience so far.

 

I feel like the quality of Petco/Petsmart stores depends on the owner. I've been to one Petco and it was dreadful; dead fish in the tanks, barely any customer service, the whole place smelled, etc. On the other hand, I've been to Petcos where the employees were very helpful and actually knew what they were talking about (crazy right?). I got in and out, but I noticed all of the tanks were well stocked, and not a dead fish was to be seen. My best petstore chain experience so far.

Agree with you fully there, however I have yet to find a petco (at least in my area) where fish care was terrible. I prefer to go to the LFS tho.

So I went this afternoon; buying dewormer for my cats was my excuse.
I was impressed that the tanks all had gravel in them, and all seemed to have adequate plants/ hiding places. Petsmart just has an empty water box. The Goldfish especially were a bit crowded, but they’re tiny babies, not supposed to be In temporary housing like that for long.
They still had bettas in little, bare bowls, but I guess it’s better to have 3 cups of water instead of 3/4. Still not great, but... they tried to make it better.
I’m obviously still a novice, but I feel like with the exception of the bettas, the fish are in good hands. They were all swimming around actively, none seemed sick. the few I saw hiding were shy bottom dwellers, like loaches, so it makes sense for them. There was just one, maybe two? dead fish in two different tanks. They just got their fish in though, I know you’re gonna lose some after shipping...It’s all about whether they leave them there to rot or take them out. One guy in particular really seemed passionate about them and was happy to answer my questions.

What had me excited was the shear variety of fish they had available, and the fact that I recognized so many of them without having to look at their tags. I’ve been looking at adult sizes to decide if it’s a fish I can keep in my tank, I forgot they all start out small as babies. They’re all so cute and tiny when they’re little!

Anyway, we’ll see if this location continues to live up to my expectations.
Since the other LFS options I have are petsmart (dirty tanks and worse conditions) or over an hour away, This just might be where I get my fish.

I’ve gotten quite a lot of fish from there, some have been healthy, some not (I got a female betta with camalanus worms, I got a sick batch of cardinal tetra, I had a female betta with dropsy, I had a neo shrimp with a fungal infection and for some reason I thought it was eggs, I had 3/6 rasbora with some type of internal infection) As for the bettas I like that they keep the females as a sorority, I just wish they did it right. They get so many at once, and majority of the females get dropsy from stress. The males are kept in bowls with air pumps, but sometimes the air pump doesn’t work. Again, not sure if this is a supplier thing or just my location. All caradina shrimp are DOA (old manager tried to order them multiple times and never got any alive) but their neos and Amanos did fine, until the new manager stopped ordering them due to DOA and same day (I think he doesn’t drip acclimate them). There neos are very overpriced tho ($8 per at my location, used to be $3, which was locally the best price, then $5, and now $8). My biggest gripe with my location is they overcrowd. They’ve got gourami (I still prefer their gourami over petsmart and petco as the ones at pet supermarket always appear robust and vibrant, while the ones at Petsmart, and usually petco, seem sickly and deformed, like their head is too defined or their back is oddly shaped) sparring non-stop and unnecessary numbers of glofish or danios at a time. Overall, they’re not bad. If you don’t have an LFS in your area they’re a great option, but I still prefer the LFS. It took my awhile to finally start going to it (further drive) but it’s like a breath of fresh air after relying on the chain store for fish for so long. Pet supermarket is still my go-to for plants and driftwood though. Best prices I’ve ever seen and they sell their driftwood with large, healthy anubias of different kinds (barteri, afzelli, and nana). $15 for a large anubias and a 12-15inch driftwood is perfect. They don’t have variety in driftwood though, just one type (idk what type it is, but it’s not mopani, cholla, or spider)

 

I prefer to go to the LFS tho.

Yeah same.

 

sorry mis-post