AR-News: Tell WOOF & CO - JUST SAY No to Puppy MILL Puppies

[Snugglezzz at aol.com]

A new group of entrepreneurs has started a new business venture hoping to 
compete with private breeders by distributing puppies purchased from puppy mill 
broker Hunte Corp through a new chain of pet stores in the Boston area.  There 
are already plans to expand to six stores in 2004 with the corporation going 
national in the year 2005.
 
While selling high volume at low prices may have worked well with stores like 
Gap and IKEA - IT DOES not FARE well when the product is little puppies being 
mass produced under horrible circumstances by the commercial puppy mills who 
supply the likes of puppy pimp Hunte Corporation.
 
<A HREF="http://www.promomagazine.com/ar/marketing_check_small_print">http://www.promomagazine.com/ar/marketing_check_small_print</A>
 
Purebred Hotbed 
A group of IKEA and Gap veterans are trying their hand with puppies. Woof & 
Co. has opened two stores in Boston malls, with plans to add six stores in 2004 
and roll national in 2005. The chain sells purebred puppies and upscale 
accessories, a distinct niche in the $30 billion-plus U.S. pet industry. It 
competes with private breeders, not big-box chains like PetsMart or Petco. “We're not 
interested in going head-to-head selling dog food,” says Linda Povey, partner 
at consultancy Kanter International, which created Woof & Co. “Their strategy 
is high volume, low prices. We're a lifestyle store.”

The Edison, NJ-based start-up gets its puppies from Hunte Corp., a Goodman, 
MO-based broker for U.S. breeders. Prices range from $750 to $1,800, comparable 
to private breeders, with a 50%-plus profit margin. Each pup has a three-year 
warranty against congenital and hereditary defects. Puppies travel by 
air-conditioned truck to stores, where they get 75% of retail space (for 80% of 
sales); high-end accessories get 15%; basics get 10%.

Former IKEA U.S. president Steen Kanter took a request from Meridian Venture 
Partners to save nine Family Pet Centers from Chapter 11 in 2002. IKEA and Gap 
veteran Don Jones became Woof & Co. CEO in October; Baby Gap alum Karen Oden 
took on operations in November.
Woof & Co. is building a database on owners and their puppies. For now, 
marketing is in-store only, with grand opening info mailed to pet owners within 
five miles. Marketing will ramp up when markets get a critical mass of stores.


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.envirolink.org/pipermail/ar-news/attachments/20040116/e0a216c1/attachment.html