Posted on 04/24/2013 11:14:40 AM PDT by nickcarraway
A Fort Myers business is charging you $2 before you even set foot inside the store.
Some customers are calling it ridiculous.
But the owner of Pet Kingdom said it is a necessary step.
We got to the bottom of this new store policy.
We asked customers their opinion on the cover charge.
"It will keep people away, it will keep families away, it will keep people on a budget away," said said Tony Alvarez, a LaBelle resident.
A couple weeks back, pet kingdom started asking customers to fork over two bucks before they walk in the door and shop.
And as you would imagine -- it's causing controversy.
"It's kind of scary. What if they charge you that to get a price on tires?" said Alvarez.
Pet Kingdom's owner says it's a way to take back control of the store.
Charlotte Hornsby says she only charges the fee on weekends.
She says that's when crowds were becoming chaotic and bothering customers who were there to shop.
"It was wall to wall people, kids running around everywhere. We were their free Saturday and Sunday amusement park," she said.
The owner says the experience at Pet Kingdom is different than other pet stores. There you can do things like hold a ruffed lemur in your hands.
"It was $4 for all 6 of us and I mean if you go anywhere with a family this big you're paying a lot of money," said Jamie Jones, a Cape Coral resident.
If you buy something at the store, you get the two bucks back.
You can also pick up a $5 club card, which will get you in for free the entire year.
"Of course we had some people who said oh I'll never come there again. I'm not gonna pay $2 to come in and look at the animals. I say go to the Naples Zoo and take your kids there and spend $20," exclaimed the owner.
The owner doesn't expect the new policy to be bad for business.
It was put in place after 32 years of free visits to pet kingdom.
only when Laz is working there I bet
From your link, I'd have no problem paying $2.00 to go in just to look around. Pretty cool place........
In the city you no longer can leave your garage door open because as soon as you leave the beautiful people with royal like privilege walk right in to take inventory.
When you challenge them they innocently say ‘I thought you were having a garage sale’.
You really hit a nerve with me on this one!
I too have seen that very behavior. And then of course there was the time the teenage Black guy rode up on a rusted beat-up bike and decided my new Schwinn looked better under him that his old bike did.
He wasn’t very happy when I followed him all the way home and waited until the Police showed up. And he had the Absolute GALL to claim it was his all along! A quick trip home with the officer showed I had all of the Schwinn paperwork. And THEN I had to demand that the kid be arrested.
anti-riff-raff fee. I like it.
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