Petco bought Dr. Foster and Smith...

[MikeTR]

RUUD and RHEEM, same A/C units, different stickers.

[brad908]

Courts agreed with Adrian Petersonhe didn't beat his child.

 

Agreements and statements are made all the time. Doesn't mean both sides agree. They do what they need to do

[MikeTR]

Hell the company I work for has different divisions and we all profit off each other, different transfer prices.. even the Operations part of the company made a profit this month. WTF? They aren't selling stuff.. just gouging each other on labor.

[basser1]

O.K. gang no doom and gloom for DFS and LiveAquaria!

 

Here's a comment posted by Kevin Kohen himself, I copied and pasted this from Reef-Central:

 

"Greetings,
I would like to take a moment to respond and address some concerns posted in this thread.

Dr. Race Foster and Dr. Marty Smith have worked incredibly hard over the last 31 years, to build an incredibly successful business, which revolves around education, pet heath, and responsible pet ownership. The Petco mission is elevating the lives of animals and enhancing the connection people have with their pets, with a commitment to the highest standards of social responsibility, while continually striving to make things better for pets, people and the planet. Understanding each company’s mission and goals are very similar, we feel this partnership and synergy is going to be beneficial to animals, pet owners, and aquarium hobbyists and enthusiasts alike.

I can assure everyone, my personal mission as the LiveAquaria Director is to take LiveAquaria.com to an even higher level than ever before. The continued expansion of our Aquaculture Coral and Marine Life facility in Rhinelander Wisconsin, home of the LiveAquaria.com Divers Den®, allows us to offer an even greater assortment of quality aquatic life shipped direct to your door.

Rest assured, Dr. Race Foster and I are not going anywhere, and will continue to operate Drs. Foster and Smith pet supplies and LiveAquaria.com as it's business as usual. Both Race and I are incredibly excited for the future and what lies ahead."

Kindest Regards,
Kevin Kohen

Linky:

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2458917

[Chris!]

No. Illegal coral money

 

LMAO!!!!!

 

Agreements and statements are made all the time. Doesn't mean both sides agree. They do what they need to do

 

That fat stack of paper the Drs are about to get says they agree to the terms.

[brad908]

Not possible. Total takeover and quality cuts have to happen

[GHill762]

That fat stack of paper the Drs are about to get says they agree to the terms.

 

Not possible. Total takeover and quality cuts have to happen

why do you say that?

[brad908]

 

Just repeating everyone else despite the article above

[GHill762]

 

Just repeating everyone else despite the article above

gotcha.. that's what I thought..

 

and for the record, I never agreed with that idea, I can't imagine petco buying dfs only to run it into the ground or change everything that has made it a successful business.. they're buying it, imo, becuase dfs is doing something right and want in on that action..

[brad908]

Only Microsoft acquires to ruin good companies

[Chris!]

 

Just repeating everyone else despite the article above

 

Actually go back and see my comment about if they keep Kohen around You just wanted to focus on the aspect of if they molded DFS to Petcos current standards. I still wouldn't be surprised if at some point they come in and say hey this can be done better and cheaper by doing this....

[GHill762]

also, I don't really get all the hate for petco.. but then again, I've only been in the one local to me and it's a top-notch store with great staff and the livestock is always healthy and they're the cleanest/most up-kept retail tanks I've ever seen.. unfortunately they don't have sw, they have been trying to get it but corporate says we aren't a large enough market for sw

[brad908]

 

Actually go back and see my comment about if they keep Kohen around You just wanted to focus on the aspect of if they molded DFS to Petcos current standards. I still wouldn't be surprised if at some point they come in and say hey this can be done better and cheaper by doing this....

Not every post is about you

[Chris!]

Not every post is about you

 

You said everyone, pretty sure I fall in there somewhere... its all good I don't mind being a no body lol

[brad908]

At least we can all agree that I was right and a total takeover isn't necessary.

[jestep]

also, I don't really get all the hate for petco.. but then again, I've only been in the one local to me and it's a top-notch store with great staff and the livestock is always healthy and they're the cleanest/most up-kept retail tanks I've ever seen.. unfortunately they don't have sw, they have been trying to get it but corporate says we aren't a large enough market for sw

 

Some of them are run well if the manager has any interest in fish keeping. We have a few here that are have good stock and knowledgeable employees, some who are local members of our aquarium club. We have a few others that I wouldn't put their stock in my tank if it had been quarantined for a year. Definitely good ones and bad ones. I think the main fear is the much more corporate attitude of box box stores compared to something like DFS, even though it could pretty much be considered a online big box retailer.

[seabass]

Here's a comment posted by Kevin Kohen himself, I copied and pasted this from Reef-Central...

That's nice to hear, but would you really expect him to post a negative public statement in this situation? It might even be what has been promised to him; but that doesn't mean that things will go down exactly this way.

 

It's really too early to know what will happen. There have been a number of predictions from people without inside knowledge of the deal or of either company. Heck I bet that most of the employees, from both companies, don't have a real good feel for what is about to happen.

 

I'd like to think that changes will be positive. But as a loyal customer, I just fear losing what I like about them. We'll have to wait and see. Whatever the outcome, this isn't the end of our hobby. Unless you are on the board of directors, there's no point in arguing about the direction they are going to take.

[Chris!]

At least we can all agree that I was right and a total takeover isn't necessary.

 

Check with your PR team, that is a pretty standard PR statement... definitely not an article either

 

 

We won't really know for atleast a year what will happen and what changes Petco will make if any after taking over DFS..... and they are taking it over completely I highly doubt Dr. Foster is staying on as a partner, more likely shes an employee for the transition (also pretty common when a large corporation buys out a smaller but well known private company) They will make it appear as business as usual on the surface for quite some time. I hope they do keep it together and don't make alot of changes or cut corners but I wouldn't be shocked if they do either....But for example, if they weren't going to cut corners their brick n mortar stores that carry coral would all have sufficient lighting to do so (or just not carry coral), not just the higher markets.

 

Besides, takeover doesn't mean visible changes, it is a transition of ownership..... power

[Spencer7]

I love having a obnoxious signature almost as much as people reposting reef builder articles lol

[Paandemonium]

I heard from a credible source that Petco was looking to make this deal with a couple other companies as well but F&S ended up being "winner". What does this mean? It means what they want is the fish/ coral which is extremely surprising imo

[Chris!]

It means what they want is the fish/ coral which is extremely surprising imo

 

They already have access to the same fish/corals as they use the same primary wholesaler as LA and have for years.... if they wanted fish/corals it would have been cheaper and less paperwork to buy them from the wholesalers then consume all of DFS.

[seabass]

It means what they want is the fish/ coral which is extremely surprising imo

I suspect it was primarily the prescription services, the rest being gravy.

 

The two companies line up reasonably well as they both use the same primary livestock vendor, have an online presence for both livestock and dry goods, and have an extensive distribution system. It's actually how similar their infrastructures are that concerns me the most. It will be hard not to make changes that bring the two brands even closer in sync.

 

I would agree with the suggestion that they discontinue the Petco livestock website in favor of the LiveAquaria brand. That would make sense to me. They might just dual brand the Drs.Foster website for dry goods. Eventually they will be able to remove the DFS brand as people get used to the change. Again, just speculation... 'cause it's kind of interesting to think about.

[MikeTR]

oooh ooh.. petco called me for a survey and I ripped em a new one on the saltwater section.. i can expect to get a call back from the manager.

[Paandemonium]

Well, now they have a means to sell the expensive coral that lets be honest would have died at a crappy petco some where in Podunk Iowa

[MikeTR]

Well, now they have a means to sell the expensive coral that lets be honest would have died at a crappy petco some where in Podunk Iowa

or swfl