We have a big als in coquitlam and their tanks remind me of petcetera - all the fish look pretty sad, several dead fish in the system, staff seem fairly unfriendly. Big als was the first fish store I went to when I decided to investigate setting up a marine tank back in December. The good thing I got from that store was the marine aquarist book I picked up for $90 (overpriced, but pointed me in the right direction)
I haven't been to the richmond store, so I cant comment on that, but if you want a general impression of Big al's.... thats my general impression.
Next time I am in the area, I will check out the richmond location simply because of this thread, but previous to reading this, I wouldn't have bothered going in simply because the coquitlam location had such poor quality marine tanks.
PS - the freshwater tanks and livestock in Big al's was great. No dead fish in the tanks, lotsa selection etc. Just their marine tanks were pretty sad....