Seattle and the Eastside LFS...

[myriam]

Noticed a few of you also from the Seattle area

Anybody have any recommendations/disrecommendations for LFS? I am in the Eastside, and all I have been to is PetSmart. I'd love to know other LFS in Seattle or the burbs that are the real deal, with helpful and knowledgable staff and a better, more interesting inventory of fish and aquarist stuff.

Thanks.

P.S. It's supposed to be partly sunny this weekend...

 

[madasafish]

*Chuckling mightily*

Having spent a good portion of my life (over 6 years) in England, I know what it means to see a tenuously-upbeat forecast like "It's supposed to be partly sunny this weekend..." Terry, LondonGMan, you can contest this if you feel this is an unfair characterization! England and Seattle seem to have fairly similar climates! So much rain! And NYC is getting plenty this year, too!! Over 3 times the normal rainfall in the last few months.

Sorry I have no LFS recs. Just went off on a tangent.

 

[myriam]

Heya madasa...

I'm chuckling, too I lived in NYC for 6 yrs and believe it or not, I miss the weather! I miss having actual four seasons of very different weather, instead of 3 months of summer and 9 months of partly cloudy/sometimes sunny/sometimes rainy weather between 45-65 degrees. Oy!

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

well...i actually usually end up at PetCo, because its just been easiest to get there (up until this week, i was car-less), and their prices are generally the most competitive. "The Fish Store" in Seattle (Roosevelt & 60th or so) is probably my preferred "lfs". I don't know of any places on the eastside, unfortunately.

as for weather...my parents moved to england in april or so after several years in singapore...they said they feel right at home (except for the driving part lol)!

 

[myriam]

sweetsuvvyb, is The Fish Store in the Wallingford neighborhood? When I was in college at the UW there was a great fish store on NE 45th, right off I-5, across the Blue Moon tavern. I dunno if it's still there.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

I know of that place...not sure if its still there or not (I know the indoor sun shoppe which was next door moved). That place actually always kinda creeped me out! Something about all the snakes and feeder mice...

This place basically like 2 miles away, right up roosevelt (well, except roosevelt is one way the other way...but yea).

 

[Sati]

Hi Seattle people! :]


The Fish Store is still around. I would not recommend it though. The guys who work there are very rude and arrogant jerks. I haven't been there since I "banned" the store 3-4 years ago, but from what I've heard from others it's just as bad.

I recommend Blue Sierra. I am in Issaqauh and the one here on Front Street is great. They're mainly SW but have plenty of FW too. Check it out! :]

 

[Sati]

I know of that place...not sure if its still there or not (I know the indoor sun shoppe which was next door moved). That place actually always kinda creeped me out! Something about all the snakes and feeder mice...

If you're speaking of the place that sells tons of plants, lots of air plants especially, that place IS freaky. I've heard some freaky stuff about that place, heh.

I lived in Sand Point, then Freemont and now Issaquah (my first time on the east side).[/b]

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Are we talking about the same fish store?? They've been really helpful with me, answering Q's over the phone, being completely honest when they didn't have what i need (or when someone else's price was better!).

 

[myriam]

Well the Fish Store sounds intruiging...guess I'll check it out when I get a chance and see what happens.

Heya Sati I'm in Sammamish! I will definitely check out Blue Sierra on Front Street.

Thank you both for your input

 

[Sati]

Sweet, yes I think so. I was a loyal customer to The Fish Store. I bought my first setup there and went back often for fish and other products. I spent a lot of money there. I had an incident with some ghost shrimp and neons and went to return the shrimp. They absolutely did not believe my story. They thought I was lying, told me I was wrong, showed me books with photos to try to prove their point. They were horribly rude, very arrogant and had the worst customer service ever. I had my mother with me at the time and she's not the type of person to speak up and cause a huff with a store clerk, but even she was so mad. We told them their customer service was terrible, that we do not deserve to be insulted like this for a simple return, and told them we would never again go back to the store. I never have gone back and never will. I've never had such a bad experience in retail.

I found this on the internet it I relate pretty well to those reviews:
http://www.aquatics-review.com/rrce/results/indexes/us/results-us-washington-mainframe.php

Maybe they have new staff, or maybe it just hasn't happened to you yet. I don't know...

 

[Sati]

Oops, double posted.

 

[sweetsuvvyb]

Hey no worries, I believe ya! That store has been around for over 30 years I believe, so I'm sure there's been some hits and misses along the way (not to mention a ton of staff turnover, i'd imagine!). As with you, I can only speak from my own personal experience, and as I said, I've had excellent service there.