dont know what they are thinking , they should just knock of the bull and get Denny back in there .

+1^^^^ This is gonna cast a big shadow on concept I think. There has already been a couple bad reviews of concept in just this thread

Different people will prefer different stores, that's the part of the whole competitive market. For example, I don't like (well hate would be a strong word so I am not using it) going to Wai's while there are lots of people who just love that store. Alongside, I like going to Concept and Dave has always accommodate extreme requests (livestock and equipment) that I have asked. For me, it is more important that a store accommodate my request than how clean the store is. I just walk in, grab my stuff and walk out with probably wet shoe sole but that doesn't bother me. But it bothers me when the owner eyes me from the desk as if I am there to pick a coral and run away without paying. Different people, different demand and hence different stores. If everyone wanted the same thing, the whole hobby would have been like De Beers.

I am not sure about Riverfront and Concept's relationship and the business model and I will not speculate anything over here. To me, Dave is a smart man and if he thinks this decision will have any negative impact on his business, he will look into it.

Hope I didn't stir up too much sand over here :redface:

I agree. The reality is everyone puts a lot of stock in what we see in the news, very important for people to get further in depth than just one source of information. I have met Wayne in the past and always found him to be a really nice guy that seems to truly care about the animals. I don't know enough about what happened at riverfront to judge. It might be wise to let the dust settle a bit to see exactly what has happened. I hope there weren't any real major issues there, it would be bad for the entire industry here in Calgary. Considering how much we all really care about what we do in this hobby I am hoping for the best outcome for all.

There's been a couple articles! I have to believe the humane society has a pretty thorough check list for what's exceptable, and it wasnt once it was multiple times.
I think this has to be talked about, if their treating $400 dollar snakes like that,how healthy do you think your clownfish is you just bought?. Being friendly is all fine and good, but im not buying friendship I'm buying animals.

Fair enough. Wasn't saying because he is nice he must be taking care of the animals properly. Just saying that he seemed genuinely concerned for the fish back in the day when I knew him. I know nothing about the care of lizards. What I do find to be consistent in the industry is you need to have a deticated person that deals specifically with the care, cleanliness, of the salt water tanks. Not running the store or dealing with customers. If I can walk around a store and see problems I find its my job also to bring it to the stores attention. We can all help in that manner. Things change quickly with saltwater fish sometimes.

Another thing I find odd is why don't any of these guys talk on the forum, I know they can't plug their store unless they pay their advertising fee's but I guarantee they look on here, and you can still talk in the forums even if your a store owner. Colby from Bayside talks on here from time to time and I respect that.

I think I can speak on this point --- Generally, it's rarely in the best interest of the vendor to engage in a direct conflicting without some heavy moderation, handling or PR as it generally opens their flanks to "gotcha" moments from people who have an axe to grind. That and the time investment is better allocate elsewhere.

clear the air on concepts
 

Ok I think i need to clear the air here on what is been said about concepts

first point

riverfront aquariums has not partnered up with concepts! we are our own identity
-Wayne is just an employee and is helping me setup our fresh water area
-no we are not getting in to reptiles, maybe just a few dart frogs but thats about it lol
-i wouldn't comment on what is happening at riverfront as i don't know the full details and I didn't think people shouldn't jump to conclusions as there is not much information out there
-wayne has 22 years in this business(i have 2.5:sad:) so he is helping me learn the ropes from bring concepts from a hobby to a real business for me.

second point
as far as the place being dirty,smelly and empty tanks, that has to do with the changes that we are under going so please be patient with us as we try to finish up. Just keep in mind, in the last month with only three employees we added 180 tanks for the fresh water area so that has taken a lot of our time and money! so yes the marine side has been lacking of shorts. Now as far as the place being smelly, that's got me as i have asked a few people about this and the only responds is that it smells like any other fish store

Wayne/jason/matt lol has also convince me that our marine fish tank display area needs to be redone and have come up with a great design that should be very interesting to bring to live. To add wayne has also bought in new suppliers that i have not even heard off before, so going forward we will have a lot more marine shipments coming in.

one exciting thing that is starting very soon is we will be flying down to LA every two weeks and we will be able to cherry pick from the new suppliers some of the corals we will be able to import.

so yes things are changing and hopefully it will be for the better:wink:

and like some have said we are not everyones cup of tea! we have our goods and bads but i think so does every other store out there

Thanks Dave
Concept Aquariums

That's awesome! I'm excited now. Dave just answered any questions I had. That's what I'm saying, in stead of letting people's imaginations run wild (im guilty) or the negative feelings grow, just come on and say what's what.