Every story we've run.
303 stories on the business of pet retail. Browse by section.
A Pet Insurance Roll-Up Stopped Buying and Started Appointing Presidents
When a company stops announcing acquisitions and starts announcing presidents, it's done integrating and ready to sell.
5 min read · Jul 21
ADMC Took Savage Cat National. Freeze-Dried Margins Tighten.
When a distributor commits full-footprint, it is a bet on category velocity, and your freeze-dried assortment absorbs it.
6 min read · Jul 21
Pet Retail's Ownership Map: Every Deal Since 2020, and What It Bought
From Petco's IPO to the bankruptcy and rebirth of Pet Supplies Plus's parent, we mapped every deal that changed who owns a piece of pet retail since 2020 - buyer, target, price, and what it actually bought.
7 min read · Jul 20
How Independent Pet Stores Outlived the Chewy Panic
In 2018 and 2019, trade press and retailers alike braced for e-commerce to gut the independent pet channel. Chewy's own numbers, and what surviving stores actually did, tell a more complicated story.
6 min read · Jul 20
Why the Apartment Lease Became Pet Insurance's Easiest Sale
Healthy Paws bought the lease-signing moment, which is the conversation that used to happen on your sales floor.
6 min read · Jul 20
Vetericyn Bundles Common Complaints Into Kits, And Bets You'll Stock Them
The company grouped its products into problem-first bundles. Whether that lifts revenue or fragments shelf space turns on one thing.
5 min read · Jul 20
The Pet Distribution Roll-Up: Every Deal, 2019-2026
Phillips, Animal Supply Company, Pet Food Experts, and Central Garden & Pet spent six years buying, merging, and re-merging pet distribution into fewer, bigger networks. Here is every verified deal, and what it means for the store still counting cases by hand.
6 min read · Jul 20
The Premiumization Decade: How Price, Not Volume, Grew Pet Retail
APPA's numbers show a pet industry that grew from $95.7 billion to $158 billion in six years. Pull the unit-level data from Circana and NielsenIQ, and much of that growth looks like price, not volume.
7 min read · Jul 20
The Recalls and Rules That Reshaped Pet Retail Since 2018
From the FDA's grain-free investigation to New York's ban on pet store animal sales, the last eight years changed what an independent store can stock, say at the register, and legally sell. Here is the verified timeline and what each event actually changed.
7 min read · Jul 20
Costco Wants the Chemical-Free Tick Category on Your Endcap
A specialty tick mitt became a Costco value pack. That sentence should make every buyer who carries tick prevention sit up.
6 min read · Jul 20
The Pet Store Count, 2019-2026: Who Opened, Who Closed, Who's Left
Petco trimmed its fleet, Pet Supplies Plus nearly doubled its store count, and one overleveraged regional chain lost most of its stores in a matter of days. Here is what the verified footprint data actually shows.
7 min read · Jul 20
How Fresh and Frozen Rewired the Pet Aisle, 2019-2026
Freshpet's branded fridges, frozen raw's takeover of the freezer aisle, and General Mills' and Mars' 2025 entry into fresh all point to the same shift: refrigeration became the pet aisle's most contested, most capital-intensive real estate.
7 min read · Jul 20
Why Your Dog Supplement Shelf Drives More Questions Than Sales
Pet parents are more informed than ever. So why are ingredient lists alone failing to close the sale?
6 min read · Jul 20
Vitakraft's Rebrand Won't Fix Your Assortment Problem
The European brand surveyed 15,000 people and promises simpler shelf decisions. Your velocity is the only test that counts.
4 min read · Jul 20
Pet Trade Shows Since 2020: The Recovery, and What a Floor Buys You
SuperZoo and Global Pet Expo both went dark or virtual in 2020 and 2021. Five years and several attendance records later, here is what the recovered floor is actually worth to a store or a brand, and how to work it.
7 min read · Jul 20
Private Label in Pet Retail, 2016-2026: The Margin Play That Won
Chewy, Petco, PetSmart and Pet Supplies Plus all built house brands into their biggest margin lever over the past decade. What the numbers show, and what is left for a store that cannot build one.
6 min read · Jul 20
The DTC Pet Brands That Came Back to Wholesale, 2019-2026
Bark, Jinx, Ollie, Native Pet, and now The Farmer's Dog have all left DTC-only behind for retail shelves since 2022. A dated, sourced timeline and what it means for the store that stocks them.
6 min read · Jul 20
A 75-Gram Foam Frisbee That Doubles as a Tug Toy
A foam frisbee that floats and tugs is either a quiet win or dead inventory, depending on whether someone can sell the 'why.'
4 min read · Jul 20
Zoetis Bought the Teleradiology Platform 1,800 Vet Clinics Use
When the pharma company owns the diagnostic moment, the 'try this supplement first' conversation shifts.
5 min read · Jul 20
Your Holistic Referral Partner Is Now Part of a PE Rollup
The holistic clinic that sends customers your way for supplements and therapeutic products was acquired by a PE-backed rollup.
4 min read · Jul 20
The Vet's After-Hours Phone Now Answers Itself
VetRec's new AI answers vet clinic calls around the clock, including the after-hours traffic you have been counting on.
4 min read · Jul 20
RAWZ Wrote Your Operations Manual. Ask Why a Brand Is Doing That.
A brand handed you a guide on staff training, merchandising, events, and marketing. The question is not whether the advice is sound.
5 min read · Jul 18
Jollyes Grew 8.7% on Frozen Raw and Private Label While Others Chase Premium
A discount chain posted 8.7% growth by leaning into categories most indies reserve for the high end.
6 min read · Jul 18
SitStay Landed Ohio Valley Distribution for Its Chicken Chips
When a distributor stacks another minimalist chip SKU, they're reading velocity data most store buyers don't see yet.
4 min read · Jul 18