Scaly Dave’s Herp Shack
Manhattan, Kan.
Dave Karnowski, co-owner

How’s business?

It’s picked up a little bit. For about six months, we were down about 35 percent in sales, but it’s starting to picking up a little bit, so that’s nice. We’re probably down only about 10 percent from previous years.

What’s new?

[There’s] nothing really new. We’re just kind of hanging in there. New stuff usually takes money. We’ve been a little reluctant to pull in new items because it’s hard to invest lately. It will probably be another 6 months before we fully recover from what happened, and if things stay up like this, we can start to [invest].

What is your best-selling livestock?

Reptile-wise? Probably [the] ball python, bearded dragons, veiled chameleons, and we have different ball python morphs that have been selling well lately. Those have been starting to reach a point—they’re in the 300 to 400 dollar range—where people are starting to buy them in a store. They were a little bit too expensive before. --KI

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Wild Bird Seeds and Such
Brielle, N.J.
Deborah Walther, Owner

How’s business going?

I’m not complaining.

Has business been effected by the holidays?

No, actually, business hasn’t been bad since the holidays.

Any trends in your business?

I’m finding that people – I do U.S.-made products – people are giving up what they were satisfied with in the big box stores, and their gravitating to the sturdier, bigger, well-made bird feeders. People are cautious about what they’re investing in. They’re looking for quality.

Droll Yankee, Brown [bird feeders] are selling well.

I can’t emphasize enough that people are looking for quality. They’re turning away from disposable “we can go to the box store” mentality, and they’re realizing they can go to independents and often it’s less money.

It’s a mindset with people that they will always get the best price in the big box stores, and that’s starting to change.

Anything new?

No, what I’ve done over the last nine years is keep prices fair and reasonable, and people have come to expect that. If it means cutting down on my markup, that’s what I do. My vendors have been very good about it.

I’m not out to undercut dog and cat specialty stores in my vicinity, and they’re not out to undercut me. --EM