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Wildwoods Is In Trouble

What motoros are £245? I was there two weeks ago and was told £160 each for the 3 they had in :dunno:

With fish house staff you are nearly always going to find that most of the staff are clueless (no offence to fish shop workers intended), especially when most of the stock is unusual/exotic fish that are rarely seen in the hobby, lets face it the wages in fish shops are pretty poor so you dont find many super experienced hobbiests doing the job, because they have to go out and earn proper money to be able to afford to keep their tanks running and buy the expensive fish in the first place. Personally i'm gratefull that there is two people that know what they are talking about there, around here i'm yet to find a shop where any of the staff know anthing beyond keeping bog standard community fish, malawis or marines.

As for the other staff around the shop i've only had good service from them as well, maybe it helps that Kieth lets them know i'm a big spending customer :lol: but i bought my little marine cube tank and the pump for my 900g from there and got excellent service and help both times.

For another price example a fish i have always wanted is Trachycorystes trachycorystes, Wildwoods get them in from time to time and usually sell them for the £70 to £100 mark, unfortunately i've always been either too late or skint when theyve been in stock so i've never actually managed to buy one. A while back i had just missed one at Wildwoods for £70 but Wharf had them on the list so i gave them a ring, £200 was the price i was quoted! Likewise i recently phoned MA at Oxford about one after being given a tip off that they had one there that had been in the shop for years, again £200! With any shop you are going to find that some fish are expensive and others are cheap, but its always been my experience that out of the "top" shops Wildwoods is deffinately one of the fairer priced ones.
 
I should have grabbed one at £160 when i was there then :lol: though i have a sneaky suspision that the online prices are more than the instore prices ;)
 
I am far from London, but I think it is always a pity when an LFS closes down. It happens here regularly too; one day they are still there and the other day no longer. It only leaves us with less options, and yes, we get more dependent upon certain stores that can do whatever they want in terms of pricing and availability of products, causing a downward spiral for our hobby.
 
Perhaps it should be noted that Administrative Receivership does not automatically mean the business is instantly shut down.

An Administrative Receiver ("AR") is appointed by a floating chargeholder who has security over some or all of the company's assets, but without the control over them from a fixed charge (though it is most commonly a fixed and floating charge to cover everything from the building to the book debts).

An AR has a duty only to the chargeholder to sell assets and pay off the charge. It all depends on the amount still owed under the charge and the type of AR as to how much of a fire sale of the company occurs and whether the company can continue. This charge must be fairly old as I am quite sure that when the Enterprise Act 2002 came into force (on 15 September 2003) any charges created only allowed the appointment of Administrators and not ARs (Administrators are bound by law to attempt to have the business continue in some form wherever possible). In this day and age Administrative Receiverships are somewhat rare.

It may be that a number of assets are sold off (perhaps the premises or some such) but the business continues. It is also possible that the company will enter Liquidation or Administration at which point the directors can purchase the goodwill, name and stock of the company and the business will essentially continue, but with a new company operating it.
 
i never had any problems at wildwoods, i think it was an amazing shop with some amazing staff. i was always served by i think his name was simmo in the fish house or one of the stuarts on the top counter who were always more than helpful. :good:
it will be a real shame if the shop is closed down
 
This is bad news. Great shop, awesome stock. There are quite a few fish shops around the Enfield area but none of them come close to Wildwoods really. Wholesale Tropicals is a great shop - more personal and better advice than Wildwoods perhaps. But, as CFC said, doesn't have that many larger fish, especially oddballs. Even for smaller stock, Wildwoods is as good, if not better, in terms of variety.
 
why is everyone thinking its going to shut down its not as andy said they may have a bit of money probs and if they do go into liquiddiation some one will buy the shop and continue trading as norm




cheers dane
 
I wish I had a store like this where I live. I have 4 pet places where I live, 2 walmarts (I Know) and 2 other stores. The staff at those two places seem knowledgeable but all they get in are tetras and guppies. In of them every once in awhile gets an oddball (mayce an elephant nose or a lung fish every so often) but really they get what'll sell, you really can't blame them for this. But man I hate guppies.
 
this surprised me :( i really like wildwoods for its more unusual stock. i've never made it over to wholesale tropicals because enfield is easier for me to get to by car, i've been to wildwoods before and not been able to park. i guess it was all the mums and dads using the fish store as a free zoo if they weren't getting any money.
 
doesnt really concern me all the way up north as i am, but i'm on first name terms with my lfs and i have copies of there wholesalers lists so i can ask them for whatever i want. not a great shop but hell if they get me what i want im not really bothered!

try it get talking to the little shops you will be amazed how helpful they will be if they think your going to empty your bank account :good:
 
MojoDex said:
doesnt really concern me all the way up north as i am, but i'm on first name terms with my lfs and i have copies of there wholesalers lists so i can ask them for whatever i want. not a great shop but hell if they get me what i want im not really bothered!

try it get talking to the little shops you will be amazed how helpful they will be if they think your going to empty your bank account :good:
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However Wildwoods did not use wholesalers, but imported its own stock, thus enabling it to have a number of fish that are not available elsewhere.

Obviously the above only counts for FW, for SW it was pretty dire.

I will agree with talking to the smaller shops though. Our lfs heads to TMC and when is looking for fish we have asked for he makes sure it is a good example rather than just buying any old one. Always nice that is.
 
I heard about another chain having difficulties today - World of Water
 
my nearest LFS shut down about 4 months ago. Wildwoods is my most local, that or the one near oxford street but i don't like bundling fish on the tube, especially at oxford circus. and bethnal green is even more of a butt to get to. or i have maidenhead aquatics in mill hill or enfield. can someone open an LFS in camden please? would make my life much easier!
 
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