Petco or Petsmart?

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Answers to this can and should be taken as differences in local management.

I shop at both chains, myself, depending on what part of town I'm in and what direction I'm going. And they're both nice stores. But there's an awful Petsmart a little west of here. There aren't as many Petcos but I'm sure some of them are bad too.

It depends on who is running them at any given time what kind of service you'll get and how well the animals are being taken care of.

I do like mom n pop stores and shop there as often as I can. I will NOT however, ever patronize a store where they sell live kittens and puppies, or dyed fish....Show more

I think it just depends. I personally hate both of them now, but those 2 by me really suck. When I lived in Florida, the PetSmart I went to was great! The employees were all friendly, and in the fish section the employees kept their own fish tanks-so they actually had a clue what they were doing. Then I moved here to Tennessee, and the store is absolutely dreadful and the employees are completely clueless. Petco here is even worse. At Petsmart, I've actually talked and helped customers about certain fish because the employee had no clue what the fish was even called, much less any info about it. I think a lot may have to do with the manager of the stores/departments as well.

But, I do shop at Petsmart for supplies as much as I hate it, they're the cheapest, and I've found that Petco and other small mom and pop stores don't carry the stuff I use. But I will never buy a fish or other live animal from either of those stores. I would ideally love to shop online, like at drs. foster and smith, but their shipping charges make it almost not worth it unless you're buying a bunch of stuff at one time.

You're best bet is to shop around and compare price and more importantly quality. Some mom and pop stores are awful too, so you should always do your research on what you're buying before hand so you know what to expect....Show more

depends on the indiviual store, some locations are better than others.

Example, there is a petco in Ny that is in the richest area(oyster bay area) where the owner spent more than 5-10 petcos combined.

Some petcos who dont realy care, have poor fish and animal .....items, and stock.

Example about petsmart: the petsmarts around me are fairly good.

I went to one in florida, and it was poor.


POINT is that it varys on location, so you cant really class one worest and one better.

On my prefrence? you will see me go to my local petsmart more often then my petco. It isnt base on location as my nearest petco is about 5 minutes away, and my nearest petsmart is 15 minutes away.

Personaly i like petsmart better, but that is just from my location....Show more

Neither.

I'll play along though. If those were the only two places to get my pet supplies, I'd go with petco.

In real life, I would look around for smaller, independent stores that only sell supplies, not animals. They usually have better products, better service, and better advice....Show more

True fully I don't shop at either, I have found Pet Supplies Plus the best locally but in your area Petco may be the best, it really differs place by place!! But locally private owned pet store are Best they are the most knowledgeable!!!!...Show more