How this Brick-and-Mortar Retailer is Winning in a Crazy Economy!

Written by Sal Salafia, Certified Avian Specialist, Founder of Exotic Pet Birds Inc.

With the increase in labor, expenses to operate, and incidental costs continuing to rise around our country. We, as retailers, feel the pinch. There is no argument to be had; our world’s economy continues to be a challenge for us all. That said, we at Exotic Pet Birds Inc. continue to work tirelessly to ensure you have a resource to affordable products for your pets.

It is moments like those we face in this daunting economy that continue to challenge us. Yet through strategic partnerships with vendors who value you and us, we are so proud to report we have locked in on some fantastic static pricing for you. We continue to be strong as a community because these vendors acknowledge that we are a large buyer as a community. They are aware that we don’t buy small amounts of items at a time and realize we continue to hold products here in-house rather than utilizing a pass-through approach of drop ship, like many retailers are doing. This makes us a bigger partner in the fight to control lower pricing.

As a consumer, you should be aware that what you buy online has a higher probability of going up because the online retailers stock very little. They are in control of none of the stock they sell you. That’s right folks, the tides have turned!! These online retailers that have been replacing brick and mortar retailers around the country are starting to give higher pricing because they don’t stock anything!!! They simply market the item to you and ask it to be sent when you click buy. The problem for you is as tariffs have become a real thing, they can’t buy in at the pricing we did months ago, so their volatile market continues to rise upwards to the consumers, whereas our nice heavy stock load remains available to you at a few months ago's pricing because we already committed to stock it and buy it. Meaning they need to raise pricing to ensure they are profitable.

The takeaway, EPBI clients are being rewarded for their continued loyalty yet again! We are raising products on things that are here, we are gladly selling them to the public, and keeping life affordable for all of us. Let’s continue to do great things together by shopping local right here and I promise to continue to make these moments happen for you in even better ways with our new facility coming in 2026!