Martin Henry's in Lakewood, Closed

[DMD123]

New Mom & Pop type pet store in Lakewood

8013 Steilacoom Blvd SW suite B, Lakewood, WA 98498
https://martinhenryspets.com/


Not a lot of tanks but fish looked healthy. Some cichlids and community fishes, nothing fancy.

Not doing a full review at this point but just sharing.

 

[DMD123]

A new store so no review per say but some thoughts.

When deciding to keep store pets like a dog, you should make sure the dog is friendly.
My wife and I were greeted by a medium size dog that was not happy with us and barked and growled. NOT A GOOT START! My wife really doesnt like dogs to begin with and then to have this as a first impression with the worker then having to explain... Some dog people can be dense, not everyone appreciates a dog charging at them barking.

If you are opening a new store and you see unfamiliar faces, be quick to greet and friendly.
I felt as if our greeting was to explain about the dog and it took a bit for the people to warm up to us... There was not a lot of fish or tanks to keep us there as long as I stayed but I made sure to look at everything well before leaving. Wasn't really until we were leaving did the people seem to warm up to us. Not much to keep you there since its a new store so they need to be quick with a greeting.

I will need to go back in a bit and check them out again. But these were some initial thoughts. I should have asked the owner if I could take a couple inside pics to share here. Maybe next time.

As we walked away the wife said my garage racks were nicer than that store, lol

 

[FishBeast]

A new store so no review per say but some thoughts.

When deciding to keep store pets like a dog, you should make sure the dog is friendly.
My wife and I were greeted by a medium size dog that was not happy with us and barked and growled. NOT A GOOT START! My wife really doesnt like dogs to begin with and then to have this as a first impression with the worker then having to explain... Some dog people can be dense, not everyone appreciates a dog charging at them barking.

If you are opening a new store and you see unfamiliar faces, be quick to greet and friendly.
I felt as if our greeting was to explain about the dog and it took a bit for the people to warm up to us... There was not a lot of fish or tanks to keep us there as long as I stayed but I made sure to look at everything well before leaving. Wasn't really until we were leaving did the people seem to warm up to us. Not much to keep you there since its a new store so they need to be quick with a greeting.

I will need to go back in a bit and check them out again. But these were some initial thoughts. I should have asked the owner if I could take a couple inside pics to share here. Maybe next time.

As we walked away the wife said my garage racks were nicer than that store, lol

Thanks for the quick review! It's a scary time for a new business to open, owner has some huevos for sure! Interesting to see how it evolves over time, especially in relative proximity to Aquarium Paradise.

 

[lloyd378]

I just stopped in here... they’ve been open since February and have a real nice selection of reptiles. I was able to get my son king worms and crickets for his bearded dragon ( most places have been sold out for weeks).

I checked out there fish too.

I was surprised that certain fish were as cheap as they were... the two 10-11” silver arrowanas were only $110 ( with some wiggle room they said). They were double to almost triple the size of the normal ones you get for $70 dollars else where.
They did have some shell dwellers that I was checking out hard, but didn’t think they would mix with my multis. They had both brevis and alto calvus for $17 each. I’m not sure on prices on those, but the calvus sounded like a decent deal from what I can remember the last time I had a couple .

it definitely had that unpolished petstore vibe going on ( like the old wild side pets), but when you got in there and looked closely they had a few nice fish.
Two real nice firemouths with awesome color.

also some decent angel fish but not sure on species.....

I was hoping for a pea puffer but I guess my hunt will continue.

The two brothers working there were friendly .

All in all I’d give it a 6/10 for overall pet store, 8 or 9/ 10 for their reptiles, and probably a 4 or 5 / 10 for fish.....

not too bad

 

[DMD123]

it definitely had that unpolished petstore vibe going on ( like the old wild side pets), but when you got in there and looked closely they had a few nice fish.

It did remind me the old Wild side! But no comment from the wife about the smell at this place, lol.

 

[DMD123]

I did an edit to the title so that it made more sense.

Anyone else check the place out yet?

 

[DMD123]

Overall Experience 5
Cost 5
Quality of Fish 5
Variety 4
Service 5

So this place is slowly growing with more tanks popping up as they grow. Looks as if its a bit of an afterthought with new tanks getting added but not really set up like a rack system but just odd tanks on stands. There could be a nice simple 2x4 rack system set up which would make selling fish a lot easier but it all requires money. Anyway I do appreciate the friendly staff and that they are trying hard to be a nice family, neighborhood pet store. Commendable to try and open a Mom & Pop type store with all the big box pet stores out there.

I just picked up a nice fish there recently, a three spot gourami

 

[fishguy1978]

Visited 03MAR21. Great little store. Not much variety to choose from but they try to bring in more than just typical run of the mill fish. They will special order. Sold them a bakers dozen of BNP fry and received cash.

 

[sir_keith]

Can they order tanks for you? With PetSmart not carrying anything larger than 75s at the moment, where will we go to buy 100's and 125's?

 

[fishguy1978]

Can they order tanks for you? With PetSmart not carrying anything larger than 75s at the moment, where will we go to buy 100's and 125's?

I think so. Worth giving them a call.

 

[DMD123]

Not a full review but Ive stopped in numerous times now to look around and to donate fish like some black kuhli loaches and an angel fish, also bought some feeder guppies at one point. I do like the fact this place is right around the corner from me if I have an immediate need. It is a small shop and in talking with one of the guys there, they are trying to keep it a nice little neighborhood shop, he is not looking to try and compete with Aqauarium paradise. I have found them to always be friendly and helpful.

 

[DMD123]

Went out for Mexican at Mis Tres Amigos and my wife says ‘have you stopped in there lately?’ So it means I can go look, lol


Overall Experience 2
Cost 4
Quality of Fish 4
Variety
Service 0

Wow, this was a bad visit. Not sure of names of people there but the one guy who brings in the dog (Harley?) is always friendly along with a woman who works there. Yesterday the guy working seemed to completely ignore us…not even a ‘hi’. Then the tanks were pretty bare, hardly any fish. The stuff they had looked good, but that is expected since this was likely due to stock brought in by @fishguy1978. Otherwise there just wasnt a lot to choose from. Not even sure what they were thinking bringing a big dovii in… does not seem for sale and obviously in too small a tank. I love the feel of the small mom and pop shop but this makes it that you kind of have to work harder to keep going. I just felt like this was a phone it in type thing going on. Not impressed with this visit.

 

[fishguy1978]

Bummer report. The last stock I took into them would have been some multies. They did have the dovii though.

 

[DMD123]

Bummer report. The last stock I took into them would have been some multies. They did have the dovii though.

Yep, your multies were there and the most interesting thing that had there.

 

[fishguy1978]

Yep, your multies were there and the most interesting thing that had there.

I take it that the nanochromis Splendens were gone then? They are way more interesting

 

[DMD123]

I take it that the nanochromis Splendens were gone then? They are way more interesting

I missed seeing them… either out of stock or again the multies were the more interesting fish

 

[fishguy1978]

Martin Henry's is phasing out fish. There wasn't much of a selection. @lloyd378 there are some large Jewel cichlids.

 

[DMD123]

Martin Henry's is phasing out fish. There wasn't much of a selection.

Well, that's sad to hear but they really were at a stage where they needed more tanks and a bit better layout. They also needed to say 'NO' to to some of the things they took in. They were not really equipped to dedicate tanks to some of the cichlids they took in and had an odd assortment of stuff they carried. Hopefully the rest of the store does well.

 

[lloyd378]

When I was there last week, tanks were pretty much empty. The one brother told me that they were still hunting for an aquarium unit like you see at petco.

while I was also there, they were dealing with some customers that kept buying expensive lizards from them and then trying to sell them back to them a few weeks later. I heard one of the owners tell the guy that he has done the same thing multiple times over the last couple of months and that they weren’t a pawn shop for pets.

i appreciated their stance and the fact that they told the customers that they weren’t going to sell them any more lizards but would still sell them supplies for them. I totally got the vibe that the customers were looking for quick cash to get a “fix” but that’s conjecture at best.

overall, I had really hoped their aquatic section was going to blossom, now I’m saddened to hear of one less place to check out fish locally.

 

[DMD123]

Had dinner at the Tres Amigos and peeked in from outside and it seemed tanks were still in place…