Walmart Venturing Into Vet Services, Grooming, & Dog Washes

[Alpha8472]

Walmart is adding vet services, grooming, and dog washes. I wonder if PetSmart is worried.

https://chainstoreage.com/first-look-wa ... ces-center

[wnetmacman]

In the article, it very clearly says that they have only one, and it is a test vehicle. Unless it's highly successful, I do not expect it to go beyond a few of these before Walmart pulls the plug.

[rwsandiego]

In the article, it very clearly says that they have only one, and it is a test vehicle. Unless it's highly successful, I do not expect it to go beyond a few of these before Walmart pulls the plug.

Not to be doom and gloom, but I do not see these as being successful except in areas where veterinary services are difficult to come by. Unlike going to a Walmart/CVS/Walgreens/Target/Kroger clinic for oneself, when you take your dog or cat to the vet you are not going to shop at the store. You will race home because your freaked out/pissed off pet wants to be home and wants to be there NOW. Were I to be stupid enough to bring my cats to a store someone would call the police because the sounds they make sound like someone being brutally assaulted. (I'm NOT exaggerating).

At least at a pet store, the store sells items for pets, so it makes sense. Kind of. Grooming services would probably be successful because while the dog or cat is being groomed the owner can shop.

[ClownLoach]

In the article, it very clearly says that they have only one, and it is a test vehicle. Unless it's highly successful, I do not expect it to go beyond a few of these before Walmart pulls the plug.

Not to be doom and gloom, but I do not see these as being successful except in areas where veterinary services are difficult to come by. Unlike going to a Walmart/CVS/Walgreens/Target/Kroger clinic for oneself, when you take your dog or cat to the vet you are not going to shop at the store. You will race home because your freaked out/pissed off pet wants to be home and wants to be there NOW. Were I to be stupid enough to bring my cats to a store someone would call the police because the sounds they make sound like someone being brutally assaulted. (I'm NOT exaggerating).

At least at a pet store, the store sells items for pets, so it makes sense. Kind of. Grooming services would probably be successful because while the dog or cat is being groomed the owner can shop.

It also requires a lot of training, which Walmart will not want to pay for. High liability work, and I'm not going to even get into some of the "work" required to properly groom and clean a dog but it is not pleasant. If anything happens it's immediately on all the local news stations. There was a startup pet store chain in Orange County in the 90s that had a concept similar to the best parts of the old Petco and PetSmart chains, but they had two dogs that somehow perished in the grooming process. It made the local paper and news and that was the end of the whole chain not just the grooming business. They wound up selling in bankruptcy to Petco and I think only one of their original locations remains open. Walmart will realize the risk to the store and brand; they cannot afford a viral social media story of "Neglectful, poorly trained groomer accidentally kills beloved pet."

[storewanderer]

I find it ironic they discontinued pet fish sales in their stores yet think they can do this...

Meijer still sells pet fish.
Very clean looking departments too. I wonder if they even hit $100 a day in sales.

[Alpha8472]

Walmart sold small amounts of pet fish. The problem was that cleaning the tanks and caring for the fish took a lot of labor and time.

Most people would never buy any fish if it were not for Walmart. Walmart was a place for impulse buying fish. I would pass by the returns counter at Walmart all the time and people would return fish dead. Yes, Walmart did refunds on fish. It was disturbing. People would say the glow fish did not glow, or the fish all died.

Glowfish don't glow unless you buy a special light and tap water with chlorine will kill fish. Most people don't know how to care for fish.

Also Walmart sold plecos. These were probably less than 2 inches long as babies. They looked like little algae eaters. My father bought one to clean the algae from his 2 gallon tank. A short time later it grew to over 15 inches long. Seven years later it is about 19 inches long. I might have to get a 100 gallon tank soon. With a life span of about 20 years I think I spent way too much money on this fish alone.

What are all the thousands of people across the country doing now with a foot and a half long fish?

[ClownLoach]

Walmart sold small amounts of pet fish. The problem was that cleaning the tanks and caring for the fish took a lot of labor and time.

Most people would never buy any fish if it were not for Walmart. Walmart was a place for impulse buying fish. I would pass by the returns counter at Walmart all the time and people would return fish dead. Yes, Walmart did refunds on fish. It was disturbing. People would say the glow fish did not glow, or the fish all died.

Glowfish don't glow unless you buy a special light and tap water with chlorine will kill fish. Most people don't know how to care for fish.

Also Walmart sold plecos. These were probably less than 2 inches long as babies. They looked like little algae eaters. My father bought one to clean the algae from his 2 gallon tank. A short time later it grew to over 15 inches long. Seven years later it is about 19 inches long. I might have to get a 100 gallon tank soon. With a life span of about 20 years I think I spent way too much money on this fish alone.

What are all the thousands of people across the country doing now with a foot and a half long fish?

This is a problem with all fish stores that don't care about anything but sales.
There are many fishes that will quickly outgrow a small home aquarium. Plecos are one, Chinese algae eaters as well. Worse, both aren't as temperature sensitive so if people abandon them in a pond, lake or stream they quickly adapt and become predators to other essential fish and organisms. Plus they will dig holes underwater to look for food and foul the water with dirt and debris.

My namesake, the Clown Loach, is a wildly entertaining and highly intelligent fish that usually is only available as a one inch little guy but still requires a 100 gallon tank minimum or their growth will be permanently stunted and they will soon perish. They are prone to parasitic infection and should never be placed in a tank with new fishes that have not been quarantined for a month and treated for Ich (parasitic protozoans). If they do have the proper tank size of a hundred gallons plus extra filtration they will live at least 20 years and grow to a foot long. They're a real commitment but completely worth it; as crazy as it sounds each Clown Loach will have it's own "personality" and unique behaviors along with unique stripes and markings. They are frequently sold as a "easy" fish for beginners when in fact they should only be sold to advanced, expert fishkeepers. Walmart sold them and their own tanks were not adequate for filtration or space.