And it makes no sense for me to give support to retailers who don't purchase from me.
And no one said it did. You support those who support you. What does it matter what those who don't support you do, or if they don't like you, etc? You can't please em all, so you spend your efforts on those who will give you the largest return.
The fact that some storeftonts don't like the fact that you sell etail also (regardless of your concessions, or policies) shouldn't change anything, unless you feel asthough you need their business. Then it becomes a matter of giving customers what they want. If they aren't customers they don't matter. We have people asking us all the time if we have any snakes. We never sold the snakes when we did have them so we stopped. Now I don't care when people ask because I know they aren't a customer, they just want a free zoo. So we stopped trying to make people that aren't customers happy.
It's a shame to hear that, as it was my understanding that some of the AMDA BOD was interested in having Morgan Lidster on the BOD next year. You will not find a more educated, dedicated, hard working, caring individual than he. But I guess he doesn't fit in.
I know lots of educated, dedicated, hardworking people, but not all of them own pet stores. There has to be a concrete definition for who can be a member. This may result in excluding people who are educated hardworking and caring. But our feeling tells us that we will also attract even more people who are hardworking, intelligent and caring and who also own storefronts, so it's a sacrifice we are willing to make. It's nothing personal.
Good grief. Please take an example for what it is- an example. Let me now change my wording to say "If a retail operation owns its own business space in a retail area and decides to open for 6 hours a week..."
It was an imprtant distinction. The vast majority of retail stores have leases and landlords with requirements placed on them. Exposure (and thus hobby growth) comes at a high price. If the hobby existed in people's back yards, garages, or in the low rent section of town, it wouldn't be where it is. Let's face it, this is a hobby that is geared towards people with lots of expendable, and their are lots of things people with expendable cash can spend their money on. Whoever is the best at getting the exposure wins. (location, location, location). Storefronts make an investment in that and are thus required to pay for it There are requirements on how many hours they must be open, common area maintenance charges for the parking lots and landscaping, streetlights and street sweepers, in GA it's common for the tenant to be responsible for all HVAC repairs. Any idea what 3000 gallons of salt water does to an AC unit over a few years use? Any idea what the inside of a pet store is like when the AC stops working in 90 degree heat? All of these issues are the price that a B&M store pays for exposure within the community. The same exposure that causes the hobby to grow, and increases the amount of product being offered at the wholesale level.
It's just not fine if they purchase from a wholesaler, bring it into their retail store, and resell it via the shipping process instead of face to face? I'm just interested in discussing the details. I know AMDA hasn't made a decision and I'm not "bullying" them into one as has been suggested. Just laying the complexities out on the table. It's fun to discuss something other than cyanide and MAC every once in a while!
I agree.
But the issue is only as complex as we choose it to be. The simplest solution is to say no etail at all, as policing what is sold through the net will be impossible. If someone is set up to sell CB stuff, then they are set up to sell anything and we will be trusting in their integrity to abide by the rules. And as we both know, integrity isn't always at it's strongest when their is a buck to be made. It is all a matter of making the compromises that will result in the stongest group. And even there must be compromises over the compromises within in th group. None of us see the web as evil (we are on it now after all) and it can still be used an a valuable marketing tool. We use it to send out lists of new arrivals or announcements about sales and such. That way people who may be too far away to just drop in can determine when it's worth the trip and when it is not. But in the face of limited supply, I do not believe that the net should be used to further increase demand.
And we currently (or plan to) buy from two or three sources tops. None of them big LA wholesalers, (although we did get very good service from SDC). You, Steve, and Fish Heads. We are currently out of the loop as the construction of our quarantine system set us back a few weeks, and being a college town, we are extremly affected by school schedules and such. I have also heard good things about Pro Aquatix, although I'm not sure what there stance on etail is.
