Pet Store

[annanicole18]

i've been debating wether i want to get on track to opening my own pet store. i see all these large chain stores and think how much i disliked buying my reptiles and fish there and would never consider buying a dog or cat from one. i have a couple questions for all you animal lovers here on backyard chicken!
1) i would like to open a small town pet store but am worried are people really going to go for it? or are they going to choose the chain stores because they have a larger selection?
2) i really hate puppy mills and would like to give people who would like a purebred dog but dont want to track down a breeder to have the chance to get a nice pet quality dog without having to fear where it came from. do you think a breeder would sell me a pet quality dog to resell in my store?
3) would designer dog collars interest you? if i had handmade collars for all types of dogs especially ones for sensitive dogs like grey hounds and whippets who have delicate throats. with the option of creating your own design on it.
Thanks to anyone who replies i just dont know if a hometown pet store would really be able to make it in the chain store world

 

[mwdh1]

With any pet store, i look for one that is well maintained and caries quality product at a fair price.

1) I think you would be best to cary some of the harder to find specalty brands with a rance of price points to allow people to comparison shop.

2) Personally I would not keep puppies in the store, but have a list of breeders available and try to work out a referal fee with local breeders on your list.

3) Yes!!!, I have a Doberman who is allergic to acrylic collars (nylon included) I think custom colors are a great idea.

 

[annanicole18]

see i wouldn't keep puppies either but they are kind of the biggest draw to the store

 

[scrambledmess]

An alternative to keeping puppies/kittens would be to have adoption days for the local animal shelter along with the list of breeders (with referrel fees.) People will get all their new pet stuff from you if they are adopting at your door step.

 

[dfunnyfarm]

I agree with not keeping puppies in the store. I think that breeder referals is a great idea. I would carry hard to find items at a decent price and the colars are a great idea. You could even carry clothes and bows. If you make them yourself or even find someone local who makes them would be great. Good Luck to you.

 

[Appytaz]

I must tell you I PREFER the local stores to the commercial ones. I buy all of my horse feed, hay, supplies and all of my chicken feed from a small family run feed store. They are much more helpful with questions or whatever you may be needing. I think a specialty store with the little things you can't find everywhere would go over great.

Somethings ours does to encourage customers is:

Low cost pet vaccination days

photos with santa

halloween costume contest (for the animals)

special lectures and seminars (vets or feed companies)

samples for everything to try - I was trying to decide between 2 different hoof creams and he gave me a small container of each to try and decide.

My dog really likes the bones on the counter for her to have

 

[CountryMom]

Our small town feed store is also a pet store and I enjoy going there 100% over our local Petsmart. One lady manages the pet room and that is a help to all the rest. There is also a grooming center inside the store.

One of our biggest draws is that they have animal shows. I love taking our guinea pigs up to Houston and Austin to show, but will be trying to get a show right here at our local store. They thought the idea was wonderful. They also have dog shows, pet costume contests, all animal shows and seminars for horses. Chick days is going on right now and they devote a lot to that.

Plus, you get to know the employees better I think. As long as you are people friendly it will really help.

Good Luck in your decision!

 

[Chirpy]

Personally, I don't go in pet stores. I am so hugely against puppies and kittens being sold that way that I totally boycott any store that has them. I can easily find the pet supplies I need at the local feed store or online.

I do love the personal help that I get at our local feed store. They know me by name and the owner gives lots of special incentives to draw people into her store.

 

[bheila]

I used to go to the pet store to buy my cat and dog supplies until I realized how much cheaper they were at my feed store.
I agree about not having cats and dogs from breeders in a store. We have a pet store here that I avoid because of that reason. What one of my friends used to do was keep a couple of cats/kittens at the store from our local animal shelter and get them adopted out that way. It still attracted people to come and buy things plus see the animals.
I love the designer collar idea. You could be selling them online right now

 

[Kanchii]

I work at a pet store, a nice locally owned one called Pet Arcade, the 3 owners work there every day.

Business has been bad lately, as you can imagine. I might hold onto that idea until after the economy picks up.

Puppies would be both your biggest income but also the biggest pain in your butt. We take excellent care of our puppies (and kittens) and they come from several legit breeders and the puppies are amazingly healthy and well socialized, not puppy mill puppies. We're constantly cleaning out the cages (we do poop checks every 30 mins or so) as well as water checks, they get fed twice a day, ect. Even though we take great care of them and give them lots of love (they get to run around the store while we're getting ready to open for an hour every morning, it's hilarious) people are so quick to call the animal control on you its crazy. Oh look, the nice lady just filled up the water bowl. Oh look, the silly puppies knocked it over. Oh my gosh they haven't had access to water in 2 whole minutes, I'm going to call the humane society and report them! It's nuts. I fill up water every 15 mins and take out the soggy bedding. They're being treated just dandy, I'd say.

The kittens are a lot easier and we get them from a couple local breeders, generally we get persians. They're a lot easier to care for, though we dont sell as many of them as the puppies. But everyone loves the kittens, me included.

We sell a lot of pet rats, Guinea pigs, and bunnies. We breed our own pet rats and piggies because it's hard to find the good quality of health we want (cant tell you how many times a day someone comes in complaining they got a rat at pet co and it died the next day) and also so that I can socialize them from an early age! Everyone in the area comes to our store for pet rats, it's probably the pet we sell the most, because our rats are awesome and come in a lot of cool varieties. The bunnies we get from a local 4-h. They have several families working on Holland Lops and they simply give us their "culls", the ones with wrong coloring and type, ect.

we sell a TON of fish. but that's very expensive to start up, because of the tanks and supplies, ect