Something Fishy – More Than Just a Fish Store

BY JACLYN ROSE –

David Baucom moved to Mena from Broken Bow his junior year of high school and graduated from Mena in 1992.  “My grandparents bought chicken houses and my parents decided they needed to get into the business too, so we moved to Mena.  Baucom is the father of three kids: Keelan, Macey, and Taylor, and has built for himself a well-known local reputation as a “car guy.” The owner of Walker Collision and Repair, he started doing body work and paint to automobiles in 1997.

Recently, Baucom has taken on an interesting new endeavor with the purchase of Something Fishy, a charming pet store located at 511 Mena Street.  “I have a large aquarium in my dining room and purchased my fish and fish food from Something Fishy. When the previous owner offered to sell it to me, I just couldn’t refuse,” explained Baucom.

Something Fishy has a wide variety of both freshwater and saltwater fish, including many exotic species: sharks and glo fish that glow under a blue LED light, aquariums, all kinds of fish food, including frozen foods, aquarium filters and other assorted fish items.  However, Something Fishy is much more than a fish store.  They also sell a variety of other animals: ferrets, gerbils, snakes, lizards, including a baby bearded dragon, birds, hedgehogs, guinea pigs, mice, as well as many feeder animals.  Baucom also offers the option to special order animals at any time.

“I like animals and enjoy getting in new and different types of animals.  I try to keep myself in the ‘wow’ so I can keep my customers in the ‘wow’,” explained Baucom.  “Something Fishy allows me to be around an entirely different type of people than in Walker Collision and Repair.  I’m not just dealing with insurance companies but the general public.  I had a lady come in and ask me to help her get over her fear of snakes, I was happy to help her.  I took her to the tank and helped her hold one.  She was shocked at how it wasn’t slimy at all but just cold.  She came in later and asked if she could hold the large snake we had.  It was great to help her get past her fear.”

Something Fishy is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

“I really enjoy the people in Polk County.  I also enjoy the freedom of life you get around here.  People are serious about their animals and their aquariums and most have been very pleased with how much stuff we have added to the store.  We are also looking to move to Atwoods Shopping Center in the near future and are excited about that change,” Baucom said.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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