Pet shop talk

[Jessi B]

Hello all, I am new to this forum (but not new to cavies), and I have been in many a pet shop that has had to many employees to understand jack crap about anything, much less the animals that have been thrown into their hands. It just makes me sick. The cages are dirty, animals are in aquariums, and they are with all their siblings, male and female. Ugh! See, and all my life my parents have taught me that their is no such thing as a "disposable pet" and I cant really understand how ignorant some people can be. But what I plan to do for my career is to own a pet shop. But what I am going to do is take the knowledge that I have and spread it. Such as, sort of give an application for animal adoption, talk to them about them, give them a hand out and the supplies that are necessity for the happiness and healthy life for the animals. I am mostly going to be working with small mammals, mainly cavies, and I will have a rescue as well. I have seen too many cavies live in tiny houses, their child owners bored with their old "toy". So this will be my way of doing my part to save pets. I would really like your comments or suggestions to make this dream of mine more fool proof and able to save more than do harm like these other pet shops have done.
Jessi

[Ly&Pigs]

Don't sell any pets would be a good way to go and working with local rescues/shelters is another to get animals adopted out. Only sell good quality feeds and supplies. Don't sell balls/wheels for animals like cavies that can get hurt in them.

[Jessi B]

so what you are saying is that don't actually buy and sell the animals just sort of be like a chain with the shelters?

[guineapiglvr14]

She is saying don't breed any animals to make more, just take in sheltered pigs.

[CavySpirit]

See the site for this great pet store: http://www.forotherlivingthings.com/

[Ly&Pigs]

She is saying don't breed any animals to make more, just take in sheltered pigs

No, I am saying work with local shelters/rescues and send people wanting to adopt animals to the shelters/rescues and not to keep any animals in the store.

[Maggie]

I wanted to do that sort of thing, or run a pet supply store - not selling animals besides fish and crickets - and hand out as much information i could about rescuing and that sort of thing...

[homeschoolmama]

I think it's a wonderful idea! I have a pet supply store like this near me, but there aren't nearly as many of this kind of shop around.

All I can think offhand, is to definitely work with the local shelters & rescues, like Ly said. Maybe you could host one pet at a time in a special corner of your store? And a huge bulletin board that only rescues & shelters can use would be awesome, maybe on the wall nearby.

Other than that, screen what you will & won't sell carefully. Use your knowledge and only sell those items that you yourself would use for a pet. Others have done this & their stores are growing, so it's got to be a good business idea. But like I said, there aren't nearly enough of these shops around either. So a new one would be a great idea!!!

[Chloë-Jasmine]

I like homeschoolmama's point of making a bulleten board that the rescues could use. You could also have one for people looking to give away their pets, but instead of just posting their number you could arrange a meeting to see if the owner and likes the potential owner. And you would meet the people intrested and have an opinion on whether it would be a good home or not. This would also bring you buisness because new pet owners need supplies. Oh, you could also sell coroplast and cubes, or cages you built your self. Oooh, I really like this idea. Maybe when my boyfriend gets his money (and it's enough) we'll do that too!

[Johanna]

There is a pet supply store here called the Natural Pet Center. They sell different brands of natural dog and cat foods. They also sell other supplies. I dont really like their small animal selection, but they are a very small buisiness and work mainly with cats and dogs. They also have homeless dogs and cats in the store. They are a rescue group as well as a supply store. I also occasionally see a rabbit or a guinea pig. I adopted my cat there.
My favorite pet store I have ever been to is called Mad Cat. It is in Madison, Wi. They sell a good selection of supplies for all types of animals including fish and reptiles. They had stuff there that you cant get anywhere else. That is the key! Their selection of good quality dog and cat supplies was amazing. They work with local rescue groups by using a bulletin board, but they also always have one cat up for adoption at the store.

[Percy's Mom]

Having a rescue with a supply store attached would be great! You could screen and teach adoptive parents, and then tell them, "Oh, by the way, everything you need to give your animal a wonderful life can be bought right in the next room!" Help the homeless animals, educate the community, and earn some money selling high quality safe products for animals at the same time. Perhaps you could even stock boxes of cubes and coroplast sheets and other cage construction supplies like packing tape, cable ties, etc.

Good luck with your venture!

[Jessi B]

Yeah, that was another thing that I was thinking about, having the supplies in the store for the c and c cages. Especially in my area where it is slightly difficult to find all the supplies. I was also hoping to have the family vet as a resource if any problems arise. (Just to be on the safe side).

[SkinnyPiggys]

I think that you have a great career ahead of you! I will only shop at pet stores that do not sell live animals. My favorite pet store sells only higher end pet products and has animals up for adoption from the local SPCA. The SPCA has "Off Site" locations where they place different animals up for adoption, mostly cats and guinea pigs. The pets are also listed on their web site and www.petfinder.com. It's a wonderful program!

Good luck!

[billypig05]

This coming from a pet store owner, you can TRY to have the open cages, and no pets, but you wont survive, especially if you have a mega store by you. the open cages will be too much of a hassle to clean and maintain, and no pets=no kids= no telling parents they want a pig=no business. The wire cages are also just too expensive to use. But as long as you love what you do, and take care of the animals, they will be fine.

[C&K]

This coming from a pet store owner, you can TRY to have the open cages, and no pets, but you wont survive, especially if you have a mega store by you. the open cages will be too much of a hassle to clean and maintain, and no pets=no kids= no telling parents they want a pig=no business

That is BS.
I have seen Pet Valu's with a resident goldfish thrive less then 2 minutes away from a PetSmart. In this particular case, the store did very well even through the PetSmarts grand opening. It was honestly not even the most knowledgable and friendly Pet Valu in town. It has been over 5 years since PetSmart arrived, and the Pet Valu is still open.

I am disgusted with Pet Valu for selling out and buying Paulmacs, and keeping the animals at Paulmacs. I am very upset that I have heard of many Pet Valu's that do indeed sell pets. However, that being said, there are still tons that don't, and all do a thriving business. Some work with rescues and donate some space to take care of a few pets looking for homes.

Global and Ryans are another couple petsupply chains that do well. In Hamilton we have a few other independants too survive right near a Pet Smart.

The key to good business is to have excellent customer service, great advice, wonderful products, good prices, and like all businesses, a key location and advertising campaign.

[Susan9608]

no pets=no kids= no telling parents they want a pig=no business.

That sounds like a fabulous idea to me. Imagine, no little kids pressuring their parents into making an impulsive purchase of a living, sentient being. The the sentient being wouldn't be forced into a shelter or dumped back at the pet stores or left out on its own after the child becomes bored with it and the parents don't want to deal with it anymore.

What a wonderful world that would be.