Blog Post #1: Welcome to the World of PetSmart

PetSmart is the nation’s leader in pet care supplies for pets and “pet parents” with more than 10,000 products on their shelves.  The company offers numerous services as well, including grooming, adoption services, veterinary care, doggie day-camps, and pet hotels. 

PetSmart opened its doors in Arizona for the first time under the name PetFood Warehouse in 1987.  By 1989, the company began offering other amenities, such as their bird, fish, and small pet departments, and decided the best way to encompass everything that they offer was to change the name of their brand to PETsMart.  PETsMart grew rapidly, opening its’ 50^th store in 1992.  Just a year later in 1993, PETsMart went public on the NASDAQ stock market under ticket symbol PETM.  Today, PetSmart operates more than 1,200 stores in 48 states and Canada, and brought in more than $6.9 Billion in revenue in 2014. 

One of PetSmart’s biggest achievements was helping save over five million pets since 1994 through PetSmart Charities.  PetSmart Charities is an independent, nonprofit organization that saves the lives of homeless pets, and reduces shelter intake through spay and neuter efforts.  In 2012 alone, more than 450,000 pets found homes through the organization’s adoption centers, and more than $28 million was given to pets in need throughout The United States.

The mission statement of this multi-billion dollar company is “To provide Total Lifetime Care for every pet, every parent, every time – which means that we offer solutions, superior products, unmatched services and superb customer service.”

Defining PetSmart’s target market is a little difficult, as one could just say “anyone who has a dog, cat, parakeet, hamster, goldfish… etc,” but I am going to do my best to break it down.  After viewing a map of where every PetSmart location is, I quickly discovered that most locations are located in urban and suburban areas.  PetSmart does an excellent job of offering items and services for every income level, though, the majority of people who spend their hard-earned money to pamper their pets are middle class to upper class folks.