A b.c. company is taking the litter box to the big box with a new one-stop, pet-shop superstore concept.
Delta-based Petcetera is opening a 26,000-square-foot Vancouver facility which promises to carry 16,000 products and every imaginable pet-pampering service – but no animals. Instead, pet owners are encouraged to bring along their furry companions as they walk the store’s aisles.
Petcetera services include an animal hospital, a grooming and photography studio and an education centre that will host nutrition and pet-care seminars. The store also offers obedience training, licensing and identification services and pet funerals. The Petcetera Animal Welfare Society (paws) will provide prospective owners pet adoption information.
‘When this store opens, there is no doubt in our minds that we will be completely different and more dynamic than other pet stores,’ says Dan Urbani, the company’s executive vice-president and chief operating officer.
The store’s grand opening, scheduled for Nov. 15, is being publicized through outdoor transit and newspaper ads as well as radio spots, all created by Vancouver’s Karacters design group, a division of Palmer Jarvis Communications. One ad features a budgie over the words: ‘cheep, cheep, cheep.’
Karacters was also responsible for the corporate identity and logo of the superstore, which features cartoon icons of a dog, fish and cat.
The lively characters appear on the store’s signage, its flyers and some of Petcetera’s private-label packaging. The store’s premium brand, called Fortum, features a sleeker, more scientific look.
According to Karacters Senior Art Director Matthew Clark, the challenge was to create a unique personality within the warehouse store category.
Even the store’s tag line – ‘Everything for the love of pets’ -, which was coined by company President and ceo Danny Guillaume, reflects the store’s mission.
Urbani says the average expenditure on pets in b.c. is $669 per household, compared to $440 in the rest of Canada. He adds that pet products and services are a $2.2 billion market in this country.
To capture the greatest share possible of that outlay, Petcetera has instituted a loyalty program called Petcetera Plus that allows shoppers to earn points redeemable on other Petcetera products.
Confident that it has a winning concept, the company plans on opening 12 more locations in 1998 and 10 in 1999, primarily in Western Canada. PETCO Animal Supplies, which operates 430 superstores in the u.s., is providing product support and investment.
Phoenix, Ariz.-based chain Petsmart, which operates a dozen superstores in Canada, is Petcetera’s main competitor.