Petco is shuttering Dr.'s Fosters Smith

[painesgrey]

My closest Petco is 1.5 hours away. So they basically just ensured I have no choice but to give me money to their competition

I'm insanely lucky that there's one in the next town over. I'm closer to a Petco than I am to a Walmart and Target. Boggles the mind.

 

[Mizzely]

I'm insanely lucky that there's one in the next town over. I'm closer to a Petco than I am to a Walmart and Target. Boggles the mind.

I have a Walmart but PetSmart and Target are 45 minutes away. I really depend on online shopping for my pets!

 

[Mizzely]

Hold up.

Is there anywhere that says the actual website will be closing down?

 

[MommyBird]

The website is hard to use this morning, sometimes got messages it was not available but I seemed to be able to go back to my cart and browse and order.
They do not have any more oral syringes available except for 35 ml. I use the 1 ml and 6 ml oral but they have none. bummer.

 

[CeciliaZ]

Hold up.

Is there anywhere that says the actual website will be closing down?

I hope in some way they continue. Thinking back at @iamwhoiam post about her conversation with the customer service rep - positive changes. Hope it is true. Good prices on their millet and food and free shipping offers.

 

[ncGreyBirdLady]

 

[Mizzely]

It is certainly not unheard of for companies to clearance off items at a closing location but still be in business.

 

[CeciliaZ]

It is certainly not unheard of for companies to clearance off items at a closing location but still be in business.

what about all the clearance sales online? Just looked at their site and it seems as auto delivery for food is still available - although I don't use it. I would think if they were closing the auto delivery would not be an option anymore.

 

[Mizzely]

what about all the clearance sales online? Just looked at their site and it seems as auto delivery for food is still available - although I don't use it. I would think if they were closing the auto delivery would not be an option anymore.

If they are closing the warehouse in Wisconsin, it makes sense for them to clear it out. It's cheaper for them to sell it out than it is to pay to move it

 

[iamwhoiam]

Petsmart and Petco are both very close to where I live. In fact I could walk to Petsmart. Neither Petco nor Petsmart sell any of the dog food or bird food I use although they do sell Solid Gold dog food but not the type I usually purchase. The also sell some Lafeber products but more $$$ than Drs. F & S and other places. Also I've noticed many times that the Lafeber products on the shelf aren't the freshest. Sometimes they even have expiration dates that have already expired.
These large corporations buy out their smaller competition and sooner or later close them down. It's very very sad. Petsolutions.com sold out and now they are no more. That was another place with wonderful customer service and good prices. If you go to the website this is the notice:
PETSOLUTIONS.COM IS NO LONGER TAKING ORDERS AT THIS TIME.

WE'RE WORKING TO BRING YOU A
NEW EXPERIENCE
LATER THIS YEAR!
Since beginning in the pet industry back in 1950,
we have loved helping you and your pets
find exactly what you needed, with a personal touch.

Thank you for your business over the years
- and please stay tuned for more to come...

In the meantime, while we are
no longer accepting orders
over the phone, email, or our existing website,
existing orders will be fulfilled as promised
with our full guarantee.

Posted last year and there was no new experience that ever happened. petretailbrands.com is listed on the bottom of that page but if you go to that website it doesn't even exist.

I wish that Drs. F & S had never sold their business. Bad for employees and bad for consumers. I also wish that Chewy hadn't sold to Petsmart although, from what I've been told by one of the reps, they only sold 30% of their business.
I am having no issues with Drs. F & S website but I decided to call and the rep I spoke with today told me that the website will probably be gone by Feb. 12th. There is no definitive decision which products Petco will carry over from Drs. F & S. The only part of Drs. F & S that will still exist is the Live Aquaria. I would think that something should be listed on their website and that they would turn off autoship but then who knows.

 

[CeciliaZ]

I will miss Drs. F & S. Bought all my basic food supplies from them, seed, pellets, nutriberries, millet as well as toys, cage accessories. Now to find a place where to get all of that with the shipping discounts. @iamwhoiam , thank you for calling them and giving us this update. So sad for their employees. I also found petsolutions and placed an order shortly before they closed. Wanted to place another order and they were no longer accepting orders.

 

[Mizzely]

Petsmart and Petco are both very close to where I live. In fact I could walk to Petsmart. Neither Petco nor Petsmart sell any of the dog food or bird food I use although they do sell Solid Gold dog food but not the type I usually purchase. The also sell some Lafeber products but more $$$ than Drs. F & S and other places. Also I've noticed many times that the Lafeber products on the shelf aren't the freshest. Sometimes they even have expiration dates that have already expired.
These large corporations buy out their smaller competition and sooner or later close them down. It's very very sad. Petsolutions.com sold out and now they are no more. That was another place with wonderful customer service and good prices. If you go to the website this is the notice:
PETSOLUTIONS.COM IS NO LONGER TAKING ORDERS AT THIS TIME.

WE'RE WORKING TO BRING YOU A
NEW EXPERIENCE
LATER THIS YEAR!
Since beginning in the pet industry back in 1950,
we have loved helping you and your pets
find exactly what you needed, with a personal touch.

Thank you for your business over the years
- and please stay tuned for more to come...

In the meantime, while we are
no longer accepting orders
over the phone, email, or our existing website,
existing orders will be fulfilled as promised
with our full guarantee.

Posted last year and there was no new experience that ever happened. petretailbrands.com is listed on the bottom of that page but if you go to that website it doesn't even exist.

I wish that Drs. F & S had never sold their business. Bad for employees and bad for consumers. I also wish that Chewy hadn't sold to Petsmart although, from what I've been told by one of the reps, they only sold 30% of their business.
I am having no issues with Drs. F & S website but I decided to call and the rep I spoke with today told me that the website will probably be gone by Feb. 12th. There is no definitive decision which products Petco will carry over from Drs. F & S. The only part of Drs. F & S that will still exist is the Live Aquaria. I would think that something should be listed on their website and that they would turn off autoship but then who knows.

Thanks for calling and finding out. I agree that the website should say something. That's only a month away. I wonder if Petco will take over theil repeat delivery though since they do that too now.

 

[Mizzely]

Saw this on Facebook:


As a resident of Rhinelander, Wisconsin and a former employee of Drs. Foster and Smith, I would like to congratulate Petco on being able to destroy a 34-year-old company in under 5 years. It was an accomplishment unlike any I have seen in business.

Second shift at our distribution center was recently laid off, so another 250 people joined our small town of under 9,000's jobless. Just a year before you took over, they were growing so fast, the owners sought loans to expand but were denied as they were the sole owners both late in life and one quite ill and no one in their families desired to take over.

I will never forget the story your executives told us when you bought us in order to teach us about warehouse cleanliness. You mismanaged a Midwest distribution center so poorly, it was infested with birds and rats and the employees were issued raincoats to get through. The FDA fined you the maximum they could for such egregious violations; $10 million, but no one was fired in senior management.

The only lesson you chose to impart to us from that story is that the employees of that distribution center were punished by having 3 weeks of unpaid leave so you could clean up your self-created mess, not the gross negligence of their superiors going all the way to the CEO. I use this in examples to others about how incompetent and corrupt your senior management truly is.

Your clever PR stunt of donating $100,000 to our local animal shelter was seen by many employees and citizens of the community for what it was, a gimmick for taking over one of the largest and oldest employers of our once strong city.

In their farewell address to us, Race Foster and Marty Smith, lifelong residents of the area, said they had reached an agreement to keep the business open and here in Rhinelander for at least 5 years. That 5 years is met in February of 2020. In the end, February of 2019 is all you could muster. So again, congratulations on being exceptionally bad at your job.

God help whomever you acquire next.
#Petco

 

[CeciliaZ]

While I now search for another place to buy my bird food - Petco will NOT be an option for me after reading @Mizzely post. I looked over their site and their selections were very limited. Did not see some basic items that I purchased from Drs. F/S.

 

[Mizzely]

Obviously that's just one person's account but sad if all true

 

[Nikomania]

Makes me sick to my stomach.

 

[Hankmacaw]

While I now search for another place to buy my bird food - Petco will NOT be an option for me after reading @Mizzely post. I looked over their site and their selections were very limited. Did not see some basic items that I purchased from Drs. F/S.

There are many places that you can buy bird supplies other than Drs or Petco.
Great Companions
The Safe Bird Store (my favorite)
Windy City Parrots
My Safe Bird Store

on and on and on...….

 

[painesgrey]

Well, at least their bird kabobs are on sale.. I just bought 10, and they will likely be the last thing I ever order from Drs F&S. How sad.

I did some price comparison shopping on food last night. Even though chewy doesn't really have the selection, their flat-rate shipping makes it worthwhile. Most other sites were charging upwards of $20 shipping for 5-6 lbs of food. Yowza.

 

[iamwhoiam]

There are many places that you can buy bird supplies other than Drs or Petco.
Great Companions
The Safe Bird Store (my favorite)
Windy City Parrots
My Safe Bird Store

on and on and on...….

Some of those don't have the excellent shipping offer that F & S has and some don't sell some of the products. For example 6 bags of Caitec Oven Fresh Bites will cost $24 to ship at The Bird Safe Store. Pricier at My Safe Bird Store. @$103 although shipping is free but at Drs. F & S ....78 with free shipping or even less when they have sales. I just purchased 8 bags for $53 with free shipping. Great Companions offers free shipping but have to purchase over $89 although I can easily do that if I purchase a 15 lb. box of OFBs. Their 15 lb. box is about $96 whereas MSBS is selling that for $140. Windy City doesn't sell OFBs. Sometimes the stores you listed do have coupon codes and that can be helpful.

It's going to be a matter of doing a lot of comparison shopping.

I have Amazon Prime so I can use Amazon has a resource for some items.

Still it's a sad thing and Mizzely's post makes things even sadder if that information is true.

Maybe Chewy will start adding more products for birds. I can easily do $49 for free shipping from them since I order dog food from them. Interesting that when I do a search for OFBs I saw some listings from Chewy but when I click on the link it states that the product is currently unavailable. I spoke with a rep from Chewy and she did a search and found the links and said that it's strange but maybe they discontinued the items. I told her they never stocked them so maybe they are planning on adding them. Never saw any links for OFBs at Chewy before.
https://www.chewy.com/caitec-oven-fresh-bites-small-parrot/dp/122460

 

[Peachfaced]

This whole situation sucks.