This is still a rough/first draft, comments or thoughts are appreciated - simply send them to us using the feedback form on the Contact page.

Who We Are:
Coming soon...

What We Do:
Coming soon...

What Makes Us Different:
Coming soon...

Our Story So Far:

The Past:
The story of A & B Oddball Pets and Aquariums actually cannot be told without telling a little bit of the story of Eric Bodrock and All Oddball Aquatics. Back in the early parts of 1991, Eric wanted to setup a mail-order business through which he could sell some of the rare and - of course - oddball fish he was breeding. After some time, factors beyond his control forced Eric to open his business on a retail basis in 1993. and the outlet that many of our customers remember was born. In fact, it was this retail outlet that quickly became one of the favorite fish stores of its current owners - Anya & Bill Schrier.

After months of shopping at All Oddball Aquatics, Anya and Bill stopped by the store one Saturday evening. When they arrived, they were quickly greeted as usual by both Eric and Tim Gross - only tonight, Eric told them that he would give them a discount on their order since they were good customers. Shortly after that, Eric revealed that the more specific reason for the discount was because he was announcing that the store was closing and he was liquidating all of the inventory and equipment. Shocked and rather disappointed, Anya and Bill picked out their fish and went home.

In the following days, Anya and Bill found themselves repeatedly discussing how unfortunate it would be when All Oddball Aquatics closed its doors and how there simply wouldn't be another aquarium store of that quality and calibre in the area. Fortunately, at the same time, Bill was looking to make a career change - having become increasingly burned out and disheartened with his work as an I.T. professional for a software company. After weighing the idea and discussing it with friends and family, Bill decided to approach Eric with the proposition of a turn-key sale of the entire business.

After a bit of negotiating, followed by many weeks of logistical headaches (loan applications, business planning, and other such 'red tape'), a deal was struck. On April 23, 2007 the doors at 262 Joseph St. opened as A & B Oddball Pets and Aquariums for the first time...

The Present:
A large part of the reason why Anya and Bill decided to purchase the store and keep it going was because of the many things they liked about All Oddball Aquatics. With that in mind, they made a conscious decision to keep many things similar to how they were before the change in ownership. Easily the biggest and most important factor they did not want to change was keeping Tim Gross as the store manager. Tim's wealth of knowledge coupled with his excellent customer service was and continues to be one of the most valuable assets to the store. Other factors that remain true to the store's roots are the focus on quality, healthy livestock with that extra attention paid to providing rare and 'oddball' pets, also a strong focus on customer service, and finally competitive prices. These factors were what kept Anya and Bill shopping at All Oddball Aquatics, and they hope these factors will help to keep our current and new customers shopping at A & B Oddball Pets and Aquariums!

However, not all change is a bad thing, and Anya and Bill set out to make some additions and changes to the store. The first major change finally fell into place around October/November of 2007 when a new reptile and amphibean section was added to the store. Focusing on similar type of reptiles as the fish, the reptile section features small reptiles and amphibeans that are exotic and fun to keep, and still easy enough to care for that any hobbyist can feel comfortable taking them home.

Another major feature that has not changed at the store is our large hatchery found on the second floor of our facility. Eric had spent a great deal of effort setting up an impressive hatchery and breeding facility, and we continue to utilize that asset. The hatchery allows us to keep certain rare fish always available at the store. What we did change about the hatchery is that we now devote a portion of the tanks to quarantine. Nearly all fish that come into our store spend approximately one week in quarantine to help us to ensure that we are only selling the healthiest of fish to our customers.

The Future:
So what does the future hold for A & B Oddball Pets and Aquariums? We're not entirely sure, but here are some of our plans and dreams...

First, we have already begun work on a salt water section. Though progress is slow on this part of the store, we hope to have it ready in the first or second quarter of 2008. Our focus in the salt water section will be the same as in our freshwater section - to provide healthy livestock that any hobbyist should be able to keep.

Ideally, we would love to open multiple locations and bring our special brand of pet store to even more people, but we'll have to see what the future holds for us...