American pet care retailer Petco is to open concession areas within stores operated by furniture and hardware store chain Lowe’s in a major new retail partnership.
The first Lowe’s + Petco store-in-store concept is expected to open at Lowe’s Alamo Ranch, Texas, this month, with plans to expand to 14 additional Lowe’s locations in Texas, North Carolina, and South Carolina by the end of March 2022.
Petco supplies a range of pet nutrition, health and wellness products and services, including own brands and popular national brands. Lowe’s + Petco locations are also expected to offer a selection of Petco’s pet services, including Vetco vaccination clinics, microchipping, prescription pest prevention, and grooming.
The agreement was forged as American consumers increasingly see their pets as central to their domestic lives. More than 11 million new pets have entered US homes since the start of the pandemic, and a recent survey by Lowe’s shows that 67% of respondents find their greatest comfort in their pets, compared to nearly half who found that comfort in their homes.
Lowe’s stores already have a longstanding open-door policy to pets, and the new deal will allow pet owners to support their pet’s health and wellness and improve the home they share in a single shopping trip, maintains the company.
Lowe’s executive vice president of merchandising Bill Boltz said: “For many of our customers, their pets and their homes top the list of things that matter most, especially after two years spent mostly together within the same four walls. This partnership enhances the total home solution we offer them by bringing home improvement and pet care products, services and expertise together under one roof.”
Nick Konat, Petco’s chief merchandising officer, added: “Our pets’ place in our hearts and homes has never been more front-and-centre, and bringing Petco’s pet care expertise, high-quality products, and veterinary and grooming services to Lowe’s helps make it easier than ever to create healthy, happy homes for pet parents and the pets they love.”
Lowe’s operates more than 2,200 home improvement and hardware stores in “¯the United States “¯and “¯Canada with total sales approaching “¯$90 billion (2020). Petco operates 1,500 sites across the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico, including more than 150 in-store veterinary hospitals.
