Kee's Aquarium - Shelby Township

[four_by_ken]

Shelby Township.  23 Mile and Van Dyke, southeast corner.

Family run business.  Just doubled their square footage.  A couple real nice, big display tanks.  Lots of saltwater and fresh water.  Fresh water is a mixture of everything.  Handful of Africans.

Very nice place.  Some of the people working there can be a little "cranky" at times.

[African cichlid Keeper]

Shelby Township.  23 Mile and Van Dyke, southeast corner.

Family run business.  Just doubled their square footage.  A couple real nice, big display tanks.  Lots of saltwater and fresh water.  Fresh water is a mixture of everything.  Handful of Africans.

Very nice place.  Some of the people working there can be a little "cranky" at times.

Very nice people i have know the owner from when i was just a little girl and i think you be a little cranky if you were work with your family.. 

[four_by_ken]

Shelby Township.  23 Mile and Van Dyke, southeast corner.

Family run business.  Just doubled their square footage.  A couple real nice, big display tanks.  Lots of saltwater and fresh water.  Fresh water is a mixture of everything.  Handful of Africans.

Very nice place.  Some of the people working there can be a little "cranky" at times.

Very nice people i have know the owner from when i was just a little girl and i think you be a little cranky if you were work with your family.. 

I could understand.  But, still not an excuse in my opinion.

[danielratti]

Shelby Township.  23 Mile and Van Dyke, southeast corner.

Family run business.  Just doubled their square footage.  A couple real nice, big display tanks.  Lots of saltwater and fresh water.  Fresh water is a mixture of everything.  Handful of Africans.

Very nice place.  Some of the people working there can be a little "cranky" at times.

Very nice people i have know the owner from when i was just a little girl and i think you be a little cranky if you were work with your family.. 

I could understand.  But, still not an excuse in my opinion.

Its understandable in this day and age that any mom and pop Fish store has grumpy employees. By no means is the store I work at a big box store we specialize in Reef setups and African cichlids. The people that you get that come into the store will do things just to get under your skin. To be honest people think that these places are something like a yard sale where they can come in and make offers on what they are going to pay for things and this is not the case. When I have someone trying to beat me up on the price of a 10 dollar cichlid that other places sell for 20+ dollars for a colored male it gets under your skin. when you get it over and over again daily it takes a toll. I also get a bit cranky when Im busy and just because one person has money they feel that I need to drop what I am doing to fulfill there needs when I am busy with the 6 other people before them who are actually spending more than 3 dollars on a molly.

When you go into small mom and pop stores take into fact that these are the places that the box stores send the dumbest people to set them in the right direction because they were originally given the worst advice possible. If it wasn't for small shops that are doing what they can do to compete with the big stores the hobby would of dwindled out long ago.

[African cichlid Keeper]

Shelby Township.  23 Mile and Van Dyke, southeast corner.

Family run business.  Just doubled their square footage.  A couple real nice, big display tanks.  Lots of saltwater and fresh water.  Fresh water is a mixture of everything.  Handful of Africans.

Very nice place.  Some of the people working there can be a little "cranky" at times.

Very nice people i have know the owner from when i was just a little girl and i think you be a little cranky if you were work with your family.. 

I could understand.  But, still not an excuse in my opinion.

Its understandable in this day and age that any mom and pop Fish store has grumpy employees. By no means is the store I work at a big box store we specialize in Reef setups and African cichlids. The people that you get that come into the store will do things just to get under your skin. To be honest people think that these places are something like a yard sale where they can come in and make offers on what they are going to pay for things and this is not the case. When I have someone trying to beat me up on the price of a 10 dollar cichlid that other places sell for 20+ dollars for a colored male it gets under your skin. when you get it over and over again daily it takes a toll. I also get a bit cranky when Im busy and just because one person has money they feel that I need to drop what I am doing to fulfill there needs when I am busy with the 6 other people before them who are actually spending more than 3 dollars on a molly.

When you go into small mom and pop stores take into fact that these are the places that the box stores send the dumbest people to set them in the right direction because they were originally given the worst advice possible. If it wasn't for small shops that are doing what they can do to compete with the big stores the hobby would of dwindled out long ago.

^^ I agree

[saji1986]

Read this thread the other day and have been thinking about it since.

I'm a 4th generation small business owner myself (my great-grandfather started the business in 1956), and I have worked with my grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, sister several uncles and a few cousins over my 30 years in the business. Is it stressful working with family - You betcha. Is it a good excuse to be "cranky" with your customers - Absolutely not.

I've been trained since I was 12, do not let your personal problems or disagreements which is going on in back affect your performance or customer service skills out front. Superior customer service is one of the small advantages that small business's have on the "big boys" these days.

Having said that, I recently have been to Kee's and find it an exceptional store. The owner is extremely knowledgeable, and in my opinion has a very nice setup for the hobbyist. He was patient with each customer, and took his time ensuring each customer's questions were answered correctly. My only nitpick was I wish he had more in the way of African Cichlids, but as I well know you can't do it all!

[GrizzlysDad]

Read this thread the other day and have been thinking about it since.

I'm a 4th generation small business owner myself (my great-grandfather started the business in 1956), and I have worked with my grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, sister several uncles and a few cousins over my 30 years in the business. Is it stressful working with family - You betcha. Is it a good excuse to be "cranky" with your customers - Absolutely not.

I've been trained since I was 12, do not let your personal problems or disagreements which is going on in back affect your performance or customer service skills out front. Superior customer service is one of the small advantages that small business's have on the "big boys" these days.

Having said that, I recently have been to Kee's and find it an exceptional store. The owner is extremely knowledgeable, and in my opinion has a very nice setup for the hobbyist. He was patient with each customer, and took his time ensuring each customer's questions were answered correctly. My only nitpick was I wish he had more in the way of African Cichlids, but as I well know you can't do it all!

Well said, you worded this exactly the way I was thinking.

[African cichlid Keeper]

  four_by_ken-   I know why they could have been cranky with u or anyone else i know some in there family was in the hospital last year.. 

[four_by_ken]

  four_by_ken-   I know why they could have been cranky with u or anyone else i know some in there family was in the hospital last year.. 

I know about that, I talked with them on this. 

But, this cranky attitude goes back years... not days or weeks.

[four_by_ken]

Its understandable in this day and age that any mom and pop Fish store has grumpy employees. By no means is the store I work at a big box store we specialize in Reef setups and African cichlids. The people that you get that come into the store will do things just to get under your skin. To be honest people think that these places are something like a yard sale where they can come in and make offers on what they are going to pay for things and this is not the case. When I have someone trying to beat me up on the price of a 10 dollar cichlid that other places sell for 20+ dollars for a colored male it gets under your skin. when you get it over and over again daily it takes a toll. I also get a bit cranky when Im busy and just because one person has money they feel that I need to drop what I am doing to fulfill there needs when I am busy with the 6 other people before them who are actually spending more than 3 dollars on a molly.

When you go into small mom and pop stores take into fact that these are the places that the box stores send the dumbest people to set them in the right direction because they were originally given the worst advice possible. If it wasn't for small shops that are doing what they can do to compete with the big stores the hobby would of dwindled out long ago.

I understand... really.  But, that is NO EXCUSE (like someone else said) to take this out on customers that are already making a decision to shop at a small shop or a huge store.

There is no excuse to talk with customers with an attitude.  Period.

And then to top it off.... never EVER let the customers see the personal attitude towards each other and person conflicts.  That is just complete unprofessional.

I still come into this store, its what I consider my local fish store.  Probably spend more here than anywhere else.

[four_by_ken]

Having said that, I recently have been to Kee's and find it an exceptional store. The owner is extremely knowledgeable, and in my opinion has a very nice setup for the hobbyist. He was patient with each customer, and took his time ensuring each customer's questions were answered correctly. My only nitpick was I wish he had more in the way of African Cichlids, but as I well know you can't do it all!

I agree... he is excellent with customers.  Spends time with each he can, even when busy.  Knows his stuff too.  The ladies could take a few lessons from him.

[JeffroM]

Kee's is a nice store.  A valuable asset to the aquatic hobby.

[LoveTheFishies]

Nice family business.   Just bought another tank from this weekend.  Needed something to house the auction purchases from saturday.  Alittle pricey, but they know their stuff.  Love their saltwater selection.  Like my cichlids better, they are less high maintence.

[Maize-N-Blue-D]

They helped me cycle my tank,  did at least 15 water tests until it came out good to go...Very friendly and knowledgeable.  If I had one grip, they will not take back a fish if it is not working out in your tank....

[RichE]

Here is my 2 cents, I went in there before the expansion and wasnt impressed at all.

Now I have gone back since the expansion and I will say one thing WOW

There fish selection is so nice, If I could take a High back rolling chair in there,I would do circles in the fresh water room, and i think i could stay there for hours. They have nice selection of dry goods also but as we all know its cheaper to buy on line.

The way there tanks are decorated make the experience that much better.

The owner, I didn't get his name was more then helpful when I asked the questions I always ask, and never once did he seem to be "bothered" with all my "dumb questions" LOL