Personally, although I would love to go in such a pet store, I don't think it only has positives.
For one, all those different types of birds in one room with no actual barriers between them..size difference would be an issue for me. Lots of big birds that can come in contact with pretty small birds and accidents happen quickly, whether intentional or not.
Second, I wouldn't want just anyone trying to handle any parrot without any type of stricter supervision. From what I've seen, there didn't seem to be too many employees hanging around.
Although it might be only temporary, those cages did seem small for some birds. Granted, lots of other pet stores don't house parrots in appropriate size cages, I would think that more reputable stores would at least try to do so. One of the pet store chains that use to exist here and that sold big parrots did house the parrots in recommended size cages. It might not make a difference for a short period of time, but if people see this, uneducated people (regarding birds that is), they might think that these size cages are appropriate and who can blame them?
Michael wrote:It's definitely a win/win for the store and the customers. The visitors get to experience lots of birds, the store wins cause the visitors do the work of socializing the bids. The customers get a well socialized bird and the store gets people to fall in love with a bird they interacted and perhaps buy on impulse.
Win/win for the store and visitors maybe.
I don't think this always a win situation for the birds.
Impulse buys aren't always positives for the birds. Say what you will, some do well, some will not.
At least when a new owner is forced to do a little researching before buying, the bird will probably stand a better chance of not being rehomed for issues that were not foreshadowed.