Fair enough. That's why I had mentioned that I would go back to check it out again, plus give the impression that I had back then with the hopes that things have changed. I may have only been on here for the past while but have be chatting with a lot of people in the last few months to a year before getting back into the hobby. Some people have mentioned to me that things are the same and have still heard similar views of the service experience there. I have nothing against the store it self only my experience there in the past. I had hoped to spark some different opinions on this and thanks for your input. If everything has improved thats great, we can use as many good quality stores as possible. I always give people second and third chances but the reality was these were my experiences back then and I hope you are right that things have changed. I will definitely go check it out again as he did have amazing stock. Thanks! Love to here more.

I've been a customer of Wai's for more than 15 years and have never seen him smoking.
Nice try though.

I always have a nice visit with him while I'm there.

.

Wais
 

I have not been in Wai's for over a year but the last time I was there I witnessed him smoking inside sitting in front of his computer, he might have quit now but I can confirmed that he did smoke at one point in time. As to the service, Wai's has the best corals/fish hands down, his tanks are always full and his corals are beautiful but his demeanor does not make you feel welcome he is more into his computer then his customers.

I completely Agree the livestock he has is great. Just be aware of how long it has been then. Yeah seems odd that every time I have gone there he was smoking also usually while your paying at the till. Either way this is supposed to just give people a heads up about places. That's all. I am not making things up. Just reality and facts about what I have seen and how I feel when there. Cheers folks.

Eh? Danny used to smoke at his desk... I always thought it was part of the charm of the store. He was like the reefing version of Uncle Benny, lol...

If he did smoke, I don't remember it.
I was there for the corals.
His store, he can smoke if he wants.
If I worked in retail, I'd have a big bottle of booze in the back.
- for the whole 5 minutes I would last working in retail....

0___0 whoa, whoa, whoa, no need to get defensive. Geez, didn't mean to ruin your week....

:wink:

Hasn't it been illegal to smoke in any business for 8 years? There's good and bad in all the fish stores here. He has the best SPS selection and chemicals, but he is known to give the cold shoulder now and again. And I guess it's a full on hookah bar when I'm not there

I have noticed when I got there as well that he does give the cold shoulder when I'm there but I do kinda like how you don't have someone breathing down your neck when your roaming around , but then again I'm one of those people going in not knowing what I want ever lol . And it's a little hard not to be thrown away when you see his tanks


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I have wandered into a bunch of the stores in the past couple weeks.
Golds, smelt like smoke & whoever was working made it seem like I was imposing browsing the store. I did buy a couple coral frags the prices were right at $15-$19 & a jar of food I needed.
big Als tanks were almost empty both on Fw & SW. I found a pretty Feather duster worthy of parting with $19.99.
Pisces was full & so were their prices. If it hadn't been for a beautiful purple Veiltail Betta in a pathetic cup at the front My wallet would have stayed shut. But I parted with $5.99+GST
Concepts I am wavering on. I had been in a few times b4 the join up with Wayne, and once since. That said I went into Riverfront once 6years ago looking at bettas & swore I would never go back. Not my place to judge but I can choose what businesses I want to personally support & what doesn't jive with me. That said their prices for frozen fish food can't be beat.
Tried to find Ocean Creations again & even my newly updated GPS couldn't guide me there. Finally got P.O. After 1/2 hr of going in circles and crossed it off my list of places I might shop at.
So I back tracked a bit & went back into Wai's for the 2nd time in a week. There were other people in the store but I got a smile. I wandered around drooling at the tanks brimming with beautiful corals. When he was done with the other customers we chatted. I can honestly say I can see both "sides" other posters are saying. I would have to say IMHO, this man is the most open & honest to goodness real human being I have met in a long time. We all have our good days & our bad, we all have different personalities that cause us to react to people differently. I appreciate this realness in my whole life not just in my fish keeping hobby.

Damn, they're literally two minutes from each other - on the same street!

Ocean creations is only 3 1/2 blocks west of Wai's on the opposite side of the street. If you are coming from the east on 16th Ave, go two blocks west of Center street and hang a left on 2nd Street. He is in the little strip mall. Can't miss it!

Ocean Creations

My GPS had me on the same side of 16th but in residential and by a school.

weird I have been going to golds for 14 years and have never smelled smoking in there . On the other hand Wai and the oceans guy both smoke in store as it reeks in both stores . Does not really bother me that much its not like Im in the store for more than 20mins at a time .
To bad reef wonderland closed if only he wasn't charging such high prices he would still be here as he had really nice coral. But once again greed kills a store .
As for writing a store off because your gps is ass seems pretty silly oceans is a great shop for fish corals are more common stuff and easy to find :biggrin: .

yeah its in the strip mall across from the big sandstone school

I don't know but it seemed like straight forward logic to me, if I can't find ashore how am I supposed to shop there? :wink:
But I will take the above posted directions & make a visit. Will post my findings aka opinions :lol:

Its in the strip mall between the state farm building and the tnt market (1st and 2nd sr NW). The building has state farm written on the top so should be easy to spot.

http://calgaryherald.com/news/local-...ront-aquariums

Is this jail time charges?

What does this mean for Concepts? Didn't they just partner with the owner of Riverfront & make Wayne their new store manager?

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.

The only "Smell" I could think of, and I frequent Concepts a lot, and will continue to do so, is the smell of cigarettes. Concepts is not the only place in town that seems to have smokers smoking within the store.

Hi Dave,
In your post you say Concepts has not partnered with Riverfront, yet on Riverfront website I read they are moving & merging with Concept Aquariums. You may be a separate identity but you are working with/have working for you (another thing quoted direct from your own words) A man charged with MULTIPLE HUNDREDS of animal cruelty charges!!! He may have 22years experience to your 2.5, but if that's the kind if experience you wish to draw from, that is your choice. Congrats on bringing in new suppliers of amazing species, but as an animal lover I could care less what you are getting if it's b/c of someone charged with animal cruelty again & who has been convicted of many other cruelty & animal abuse charges in the past. Other people will make their own decisions but I for one will not set foot in your store again you do not deserve my hobby money. But I wish you all you deserve going forward with your business.

Agreed
 

Couldn't agree more. 22 years experience = hundreds of animal abuses? Odd

I'll be spending my money elsewhere

Good luck Dave

Hi Fin

Thank for your input and i will agree that it does not look good on the surface but I must disagree with some off what you have posted

first fact
-riverfornt has not been charge with MULTIPLE HUNDREDS of animal cruelty charges! the news reports is there was 333 animals seized and multiple charges laid not hundreds off charges. What that means is any ones guess

second fact
-riverfront nor wayne has ever been convicted of these charges and this started in 2014 from the news reports that i have seem, again i leave that up too people to decide what that means.

third fact
-these charges were all related to reptiles and amphibians which i have no interest in carrying
-of these charge between 2014 to 2015 i know of 13 charges from news reports that i have read(this i may be wrong on but it is what i reminder reading) none have they ever been convicted of.


so i don't think it is cut and dry as some have made this out to be but again i will leave it up to you on what you will make of it

I will just say this, just like i told wayne when we first talked
we will try it out for 6 months and see where it takes us and when/if he gets convicted we will sit down again and talk about what the future holds

I know by posting this I open up myself to a lot of questions just like what Albert was talking about, but i hope if I am ever down and out in the future, someone can give me a second chance to prove myself and make a living too provide food on the table for my family also! I don't think is right to condone the man until the courts play this out, as I/we don't know all the facts that goes with this story yet.

From what i have seem in the month that wayne has been here is that man works hard and cares for the animals he cares for. I just hope people give him a chance and see for themselves before making a judgment because of the media reports out there, I am not saying they are wrong but it is only one side of the story and wayne will have his say in may when they go to court.

The last comment I will make on these is wayne is only one part of the team here at concepts and there is two other members of this team that bring other aspects to this family. Does hiring wayne look bad for conepts, I am sure some will think it does but i really hope some will look pass this and wait until it plays out in the court system before passing judgment.


Thanks Dave

Interesting read. For me the timing seems off. Why not wait the 2 months until his court date? If he is innocent, hire him. If not, well that's your choice.

It is a matter of public record not just in the media. The # of charges against, spanning multiple years does infact add up to the hundreds. Yes I agree in 2nd chances but to continue to make the same mistakes over & over again it just to me shows blatant disregard & lack of what I believe would be common sense of learning a lesson... But that's just my opinion.

I thought this was discussed here before. Naturally, I can't find the post now but the upshot was that an animal rights group has targeted Riverfront multiple times and (if I remember correctly) the conviction rate was zero or at least WAY lower than fine-per-animal initially reported. Additionally, the media outlet that reported about it was widely seen as sensationalizing an ongoing issue. Old news, slow news day, whatever.

This is in no way an excuse nor a promotion of that store. Perhaps there are some serious issues there. Frankly, I wouldn't know. What I do know is that if an organisation has got a bone to pick and targets your establishment (justified or not)...you might be found innocent but your reputation takes a huge hit.


Where the heck is that thread...

Well my personal choice not to support riverfront years ago had nothing to do with what I had ever seen or heard in the news (which was actually nothing!) but what I saw with my own eyes in the shop which was dead fish all over the floor & tanks full of other dead & injured fish. Sorry not the kind of visual impression I appreciate.
I chose not to give Reef Wonderland my business when they were open either, b/c when I was there you couldn't see into the tanks for the algae growing on the glass so thick it was discusting.
I am choosing to no longer give Concept Aquariums my business b/c they have chosen to make business decisions I personally don't find acceptable. That's the great thing about this forum & thread, it was started as a way for a bunch of us to discuss our personal experiences at the shops in Calgary!

Went to riverfront 1 time after the move from downtown and knew I would never return the place was the definition of a dump . All the animals looked in very poor health and the conditions were disgusting . So even if he avoids charges does not matter for me , you could tell me he cares about animals and I just wont believe you sorry .

I however will still shop at concepts for certain things just preferred the store when Denny was around he was much friendlier than the current staff .

Also never understood the "this store smells" dont all fish stores smell ?

Wow, you sound very defensive. I was not making any judgement as to your personal choice where you shop. Indeed, the place sounds sketchy at best. Obviously we should all spend our hard-earned dollars where we feel best. Believe it or not I'm in Calgary every 2 weeks and I've spent way more there than Edmonton. I must have missed where it was stated that anyone outside of Calgary couldn't comment or have an opinion. My apologies.