Petsmart or Petco?

[Aquamandan]

I am not fortunate enough to have a LFS in my town, only the 2 giants Petsmart and Petco.

In my experience, I strongly prefer going to Petsmart over Petco. Their staff is much more knowledgable and overall a lot friendlier than Petco, plus they have a better selection of fish. However, I do go to Petco if I am buying plants, they are less expensive and have a better selection of plants.

The two ladies I've dealth with at my Petco are completely clueless when it comes to fish. I think my 9 year old knows more than they do combined.

Just wondered which one you prefer and why?

 

[tomasm87]

I do ny own research on plants and fish and go to all to See who has what.

 

[tomasm87]

I don't have a petco but i do have a petsmart. I have no personal preferences.

 

[bshenanagins]

Petsmart is cleaner and more upscale by me, but both are no better than the other. They tend to carry more supplies that LFS's so that's their only benefit, in addition to sales.

 

[Tetra1990]

Depends on what your looking for. LFS may have better/wider fish stock but normally are pricier. Big boxes,IMO, are better for certain supplies. Either way, do your homework beforehand and no matter where you go, have a general idea of what your looking for. Lastly, the employees will try and sell you ANYTHING. Don't be afraid to say 'no'.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I don't have a Petco nearby where I live, just a Petsmart and a small chain fish store. I prefer the other fish store because the staff there is very friendly and knowledgeable. They may be a bit pricy but their fish are healthy. My Petsmart doesn't do well at keeping their fish healthy and I have not been too impressed with the way the staff treats the fish.

 

[allysonwonderland]

As I work at Petsmart...I choose that

Seriously though, I lucked out with this location. I've heard horror stories about other branches! I in no way believe that big chains are the best thing since sliced bread, but not every employee will try to just drain you of money. I'd rather people have good service and understand what they're doing wrong then just mindlessly dumping liquid chemicals into their aquarium.

This doesn't mean I wouldn't shop elsewhere though. I have loyalty to a point, but if I can find something cheaper, rarer, or better quality elsewhere, I have no problem shopping at our competitors.

 

[Goldfish loach boy]

Petsmart!!!!

They know more and it's just better!!

 

[Scottyhorse]

I honestly, totally depends on the store. The petco about 45 mins away from me has a small selection, but the tanks are clean, they have ONE guy working there who is pretty smart about fish. The petsmart about 1.25 hours away has a fairly large selection, but the staff isn't as knowledgeable.

 

[Jev12]

I like petco better...but the petsmart over by me isn't too bad it's got a nice selection of fish and supplies....it's we're I got my betta from the other day lol

 

[Andy Sager]

I am not fortunate enough to have a LFS in my town, only the 2 giants Petsmart and Petco.

In my experience, I strongly prefer going to Petsmart over Petco. Their staff is much more knowledgable and overall a lot friendlier than Petco, plus they have a better selection of fish. However, I do go to Petco if I am buying plants, they are less expensive and have a better selection of plants.

The two ladies I've dealth with at my Petco are completely clueless when it comes to fish. I think my 9 year old knows more than they do combined.

Just wondered which one you prefer and why?

Like you , I am not fortunate enough to have had any Mom & Pop pet shops that lasted in my home town ( and the ones that were here weren't worth going to. No surprise they closed.) The closest Mom & Pop shop now is about 45 minutes from me with the second closest one being about 50 miles away. Recently, we had a Petsmart open up in town. I also go to the Petco in another town when I am there for other reasons. Truthfully, neither is the right choice for me. I am a former employee of Mom & Pop shops and had been in the Tropical Fish industry for over 40 years. None of the big box stores have the experience of a mom & pop shop. I go in and listen to the sales people and cringe. So much misinformation coming from their mouths. I know when I'm being given a sales job.
If you have the ability, I would recommend making a trip to a Mom & Pop shop even if it means taking a drive. The reason is that a Mom & Pop shop has to know what to do with the fish and the mechandise in order to stay in business. (The big box stores don't make their money by keeping fish alive and their hiring and sales practices show this.) Yes their prices may be a little higher than a chain store. That's because they can't always compete with purchasing so their costs are a bit higher. But you pay for their experience. Think of it this way, if you paid $1.00 for a fish from a box store and you had to rebuy the fish 3 times to get one to live or you paid $2.00 for the same fish at a M & P and the first one you bought lived a good while, was it worth paying the $2.00? In my eyes it is.
In today's techno world, it's easy to see reviews of Pet Shops. Look up stores in your neighboring towns and look for ones that have been in business for a long time. Those are the ones I would visit. Don't be judgemental as to the size of the store. LOOK at the livestock. Look at all the livestock. See how they are kept. I recently was on a trip and saw an old time M & P shop and the tanks were not the cleanest. They had algae on the walls. ( Like your tank doesn't? lol ) I looked past that and looked at the fish. Out of about 100 tanks, I saw 1 or 2 tanks with a couple of sick fish in them. ( Not a bad average) The rest of the fish were GORGEOUS!!! I even brought fish back to FL with me from that store and the store is in NJ. I recently went into a new M & P shop and just about every system in their store had sick fish in them. That's not a good sign to buy there. If the help or the owner knew what they were doing, these sick fish would not be on display or for sale. ( That's a sign )

You might want to read the following thread to see what others here had to say about Mom & Pop shops. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f114/support-mom-and-pops-262747.html

Hope this helps

 

[JustinCase]

I hate peck so much... It's like they just hire anyone... Petsmart has better prices and staff that actually knows their stuff...

 

[JustinCase]

*petco...

 

[Andy Sager]

I hate peck so much... It's like they just hire anyone... Petsmart has better prices and staff that actually knows their stuff...

Not to be a stickler but what you exerienced at Petsmart might be an isolated case. This is just one example of what I've heard at various petsmarts I've visited in my travels. I listened to an employee of a Petsmart in FL suggest to a customer, for a new 10 gal. tank, as first fish, a combination of 1 Oscar, 3 neons, 1 pair of Guppys and a pleco. Thankfully the people were either smart enough or lucky cause they didn't like any of her suggestions and went with a tank of just livebearers. She was the only salesperson on the floor so I had to ask her for what I needed: Methelyne Blue. She looked at me like I was asking for uranium. When I told her what it was for, she suggested every medication they had on their shelves ( which I already knew didn't have it as an ingredient) as a way to get the blue color.
Still think all Petsmart employees know their stuff?

 

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Petco by me has very nice tanks and livestock and the petsmart has more knowledge but every fish is always sick but I like there plants
My mom and pop shops are def better for quality and sometimes price ,they also know their stuff

 

[dragonfisher33]

i go to Petsmart for constant sales on the dither fish while Petco for ordering specialty fish that you can't normally get in Petsmart. how knowledge a staff is is YMMV. My local Petco has a person who used to OWN a fish store. I have seem incompetencies across the board. Petsmart has lower prices in their merchandise IME. no preference really on my side, just what i want to get and the selection of the fish.

 

[hecurcia]

My petco store has only goldfish and koi fish tanks. Everything else is for cats and dogs. Petsmart has more variety but not so as much as you can find at petco website. I buy online at petco whenever there is free shipping. And that is usually things that you cannot find at petsmart or Amazon.

 

[FishBoy185]

Honestly Petsmart is way better than petco. They have more variety of fish and actually take care of their fish. Plus petsmarts staff is friendly and very smart when it comes to all of their animals. I have about 25 fish from petsmart and are all healthy and happy. This is kind of off topic of fish but Petco was caught throwing out a Live Iguana in a Dumpster outside. The iguana didnt make it unfortunately.

 

[katiekelsey]

I like Petsmart better than Petco. But I think either store is okay if you know what you're looking for and you don't need too much assistance. I have a great LFS that I also go to. Sure they charge a little more but I've learned so much from them. The people working at this store have more knowledge about fish than I'll ever have. And if you don't shop at the mom and pop stores then won't be able to stay in business.