ZooMed's reptile business slithers along

I don't know if this is actually newsworthy or not, but I'll post it anyway.
We can all breathe easier knowing that Zoo Med is doing well. I don't know how we could possibly take care of our reptiles if it weren't for their overpriced commercialized garbage, I mean products.
Imagine life without iguana hammocks, sandblasted grapewood with a plastic plant stuck in it, those wonderful analog humidity guages, and now a $30 fake turtle log. If they'll just bring back the turtle bowl with the plastic palm tree they'll have everything.
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A weekly update on the plans and promises made by local businesses
The Tribune

Name: Ken Fontes

Age: 49

Job: Chief financial officer

Business:

Zoo Med Laboratories,

3650 Sacramento Drive,

San Luis Obispo

Web site: www.zoomed.com

What he said then: When The Tribune interviewed Ken Fontes, Zoo Med Laboratories chief financial officer in April 2005, the reptile pet products company was shifting its operations to a new 113,000-square-foot facility on Sacramento Drive.

The company, founded by Gary Bagnall in 1986, develops and sells its products —from bug heaters to turtle docks — to national retail chains, such as PETCO and PetSmart, and pet store distributors across the country.

The purchase came as a surprise because Zoo Med had previously announced plans to build a 100,000-square-foot headquarters and warehouse on a 10-acre property it owned on Vachell Lane, near the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. Fontes said the company may still move to Vachell Lane, but the Sacramento property proved too good an opportunity to pass up.

What he says now: ZooMed’s move meant combining 13 buildings and all services under one roof, a complicated process that took more than eight months to complete. The company had completely moved into its new facility in January 2006.

"This brought all of our production facilities together and allowed us to pick up efficiencies in management, communication, raw good storage, production storage and shipping," Fontes said. "It’s been awesome."

ZooMed business has also been good, said Fontes.

PETCO gave the company a "Product of the Year" award two years in a row. This year, a new floating turtle log ($29.95 and 6 to 16 inches long), got the honor.

"For us, getting this twice in two years is huge because the majority of what these large chains sell are dog and cat products," Fontes said.

Although Fontes declined to discuss annual revenues, he said company growth is about 5 percent a year.

Because of the increased efficiencies created by their new location, they cut a few employees. The average employee stays with the company about five to seven years, said Fontes. The company has 57 employees.

--- Melanie Cleveland

Link

I agree with their stuff being garbage.I purchased a bunch of those fake half logs(turtle huts) awhile back and they suck.Overpriced.They have weak spots all over over and can shatter anytime.I shattered a few just by picking them up while cage cleaning and they shattered from the pressure of my hand grip.Not very much pressure.I have broke 5 already.
They also say they are dishwasher safe.The paint fades and comes off in their.
All in all it would be a good idea but they are poorly made.Over priced garbage.
Todd Peddle

I actually saw those turtle bowls with palm trees at the last show I went too. Oh look, I found the death bowl here, looks like Lees makes them now:

Death Bowl

I know I may be hung for this but I must admit there is one product they make that my turtles like. It is the box turtle food in a can. Other than that, I do not even give their products a second glance. Please forgive me.

Well, I use their Repti-Temp 500R thermostats. I probably have 6 or 8 in use. That's their only redeeming product for me, they work very well and are reasonably priced.
It's just all the stupid decorations and junk I can't stand. $15 or whatever for a little water bowl that looks like a rock. Or $20 for a $7 clamp lamp painted black and given the official name of Reptile Basking Lamp.
I guess I just remember fondly the days when there was no commercial junk cluttering everything up, if you needed something to work with the herps you either made it or fashioned something else to do the job. I still use that approach.

In truth 98% of their entire product line is aimed toward the neophyte keepers who go into the pet store and leave with a "complete kit". The pet stores just love those people. They sell them a $20 snake for $100 then add on another $200 worth of unnecessary extras.

Oh, and the death bowl. I thought those had finally been eradicated.
I remember about 25 years ago my cousin brought home a turtle from the pet shop complete with one of those bowls.
I keep remembering it as a box turtle, but it was most likely a red ear. I do remember his instructions were to "feed it raw hamburger". That was the extent of the care info.
Needless to say it had a short lifespan.

Poor turtle! My friend just bought a red ear from the swap meet, the seller told her to keep it in the critter keeper and it will never grow larger than it's cage, thus the turtle will stay small. This is the annoying part, she well knows I am far more informed on turtles than this lady she bought from. Yet she does not believe me when I tell her the lady was purposly lying to get her to buy it.

Lets give credit where credit is due

divide some of that credit of Zoo-Med, Pet stores to the consumer for not being more informative on their own. AND lets look at the retail store that doesn't have much more option/s of reptile products than what their wholesalers ( the ones they buy from ) has to offer.

Clay Davenport said:

Well, I use their Repti-Temp 500R thermostats. I probably have 6 or 8 in use. That's their only redeeming product for me, they work very well and are reasonably priced.
It's just all the stupid decorations and junk I can't stand. $15 or whatever for a little water bowl that looks like a rock. Or $20 for a $7 clamp lamp painted black and given the official name of Reptile Basking Lamp.
I guess I just remember fondly the days when there was no commercial junk cluttering everything up, if you needed something to work with the herps you either made it or fashioned something else to do the job. I still use that approach.

In truth 98% of their entire product line is aimed toward the neophyte keepers who go into the pet store and leave with a "complete kit". The pet stores just love those people. They sell them a $20 snake for $100 then add on another $200 worth of unnecessary extras.

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I kind of like Zoo Med. Yeah, some of their products are useless, but people will buy them.

I like all the decorations. I do keep some of my animals stricly as Pets, and I like to keep their cage looking natural. I use the Zoo Med Habba Huts and Rock Bowls, and some of their plants.

I also think the ReptiSun bulbs are the best ones out there. They are the only bulbs I use (on the animals that require high UV anyway).

Some of their stuff is quite innovative too. Like the new filter they just made for turtle tanks and Vivariums, the 501. The thing is a mini canister filter, and it costs under 30 bucks. It's pretty cool.

Thier Can o' Snails and Can o' Grasshoppers are good too. My Skink and Tegu love those things. Although, exoterra does provide the same things as well now.

Their dry alfalfa based foods I never really liked, and the canned foods seem to come back out of the animal looking the same as they went in, and yes they have some stupid stuiff like the "Bug Napper" and the "Arboreal Lagoon" but all in all they arent too bad of a company IMO.

I like the lizard hammocks. They have made wonderful bathroom spots for a majority of my leos, which equals easy cleaning for me. There are quite a few products by Zoomed that I do like, but there are also a bunch of their products that are questionable and just plain junk. Some of their ideas seem like they were developed by an imaginative 8 yr old.

old guy said:

divide some of that credit of Zoo-Med, Pet stores to the consumer for not being more informative on their own. AND lets look at the retail store that doesn't have much more option/s of reptile products than what their wholesalers ( the ones they buy from ) has to offer.

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Well you can't lay much blame on the neophyte keeper. Being fresh into the hobby they really don't know any better, or realize there are other sources easily accessible.
With people's natural tendency apply their knowledge of the needs of more traditional pets to reptiles, it's easy for them to believe they actually need a lot of that stuff.
People who have fed dogs from a bag their whole lives will automatically believe the can of pellets is best for their lizard. They can relate to that.

I don't exactly hold any contempt against pet stores for the practice either. It's just capitalism. They make their money primarily as a result of the general lack of knowledge and/or experience of the bulk of their customers. How many reptile breeders or seasoned herpers make it a habit to buy their animals at the local Petco?
The same is true in other pet areas. A prime example is aquarium strip lights. I was setting up a 75 gallon aquarium. I went to buy a light to fit the aquarium and found that they wanted $80 for one. A 4 foot two bulb flourescent fixture in a plastic case. I bought a $9 model at Lowe's instead. Aquarium gravel sells for around $2 a pound prepackaged. It would have cost around $200 for the gravel for that aquarium. I bought pea gravel from Lowe's instead, 50lbs for $5, just had to rinse it well.
The retail pet industry is designed to take advantage of the people who will fork out the $200 for gravel. I don't blame anyone for it, but that's just the way it works.

Some of their ideas seem like they were developed by an imaginative 8 yr old.

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This was an excellent way to put it, and for that I do point the blame at them for making it.

I can see that some

of you folks have never owned a retail store and it's not " bilking " the public ! It's called the wheel of profit margin and retail ( in this case the Pet Store ) does not make that 400 %, 300 % or even sometimes that 200% profit that sooo many un-informed people thinks. I,ve defended retail stores in the past as to owning several on what goes into or not into profit. Anybody that has been in business KNOWS what i'm talking about.

I see nothing wrong with owning a store and selling such products and animals for a profit. This is a great country to do just that.

Some people cannot always pay for the products/animals at such a high price. Those that have a lot of animals do not see the need to spend that kind of price on so many animals. I can just as easily get a dog at a shelter as I can from a pet store. The difference is hundreds of dollars. Why buy a hundred coconut hides when I have 4 inch cardboard tubing I can get for free? Why buy rodent feed at $2 a pound when I can buy it at a feed store for $1 at 2.5 pounds? Those who only have one or two snakes can buy frozen rodents and the cost is not such a big deal, yet when they need 100 frozen rodents at once, it is cheaper to breed them. A lot of products can be easily compensated with something around the house.

There is nothing wrong with ZooMed making money off of consumers, even if it by selling a lot of little fake plants, pine wood hides, sand, bark, and lighting. I do not condemn their efforts. If someone likes the look of a coconut hide over a toilet paper roll, so be it, it is their own preference.

I'm not accusing them of "bilking the public". There's nothing at all ethically or morally wrong with what they are doing. They are not taking advantage of their customers per se, although I think I inadvertantly implied that, they are taking advantage of the situation of the customers inexperience.
I know one pet shop here that does have an extreme markup, 3-400% average on animals (reptiles at least, I know their wholesaler) and according to the manager at least 100% markup on most goods. For instance I sold them some normal banded cal kings years ago for $20 each and they put them out for sale at $129. Markup does not directly translate into profit though, they also have to pay around 3 grand a month just in rent on the retail location aside from the other overhead (small shop but it's in a big mall), so I'm glad they can make enough money to remain open.
However my point is if it weren't for the general lack of experience and knowledge of their primary customer base, they would close in no time. I don't hold any contempt for a pet store making the most profit they can, heck I'd sell normal cal king hatchlings for $129 all day if I could only find people to buy them.
Its the nature of business period. I have the time and ability to do a full service on my Harley so I don't pay the dealership $200 to put $50 worth of fluids and filters in. At the same time many people do not service their bikes. The service department at the dealership depends on the lack of time and/or ability of their customers to do things for themselves.

With our " wholesale and never pay retail again "

mentality, it's hard for some retail businesses to make it these days. Understand I do not condemn the Wal-Marts, the Big Lots, the Wholesale outlet stores, the on-line sales. All of this is the norm now. There is a place for them as well as retail. Now if one wants to really look at the wheel of profit as far as retail, look no farther than your ringed finger or your wist of that watch. Maybe even in that pretty necklace. Maybe that precious metal you are stocking up on ! Talking about a profit of margin ! ? How about anywheres of 600 % to 800%. LOL !

No metal on me. There may be in my head, but that has yet to be confirmed.