Just for Pets has had plenty to celebrate this month, riding high on strong sales performance after the culmination of a two-year recovery plan and scooping a Pet Retailer of the Year 2019 Award.
Having been saved from the brink of administration when the company was bought by Pedigree Wholesale in 2017, the specialist retailer is now bucking the trend in a fiercely-competitive retail sector and enjoying sustained double-digit growth.
Paul Lewis, general manager at Just for Pets, attributes the success to a comprehensive store reimage programme and a renewed focus on the customer.
“We have made significant investment into Just for Pets over the last two years by rebranding our stores, introducing a new grooming salon, improving staff training and changing our product ranges including new packaging free deli treats and a specialist raw feeding store,” he said.
“Our customers have really responded well to these changes at their local stores and we can’t wait to celebrate our two-year anniversary and our pet retailer of the year award win with them in the coming weeks.”
PROFITABILITY
At a time when many retailers are struggling, Just for Pets has managed to implement a business model to drive the 16-store chain back to profitability again and safeguard more than 100 jobs, which were previously at risk. This has enabled the retailer to continue its rebranding investment, with nine of the 16 stores having undergone a reimage, three more converting this year and the remaining four completing next year.
Paul added: “The last 12 months have been a learning curve for us all, but we are continually improving and responding to customer feedback. We know there are still plenty of opportunities out there for us to improve further and we’re grateful to our customers for their continued support.
“I’m overjoyed that the hard work and dedication of our store teams was recognised by the PetQuip Awards. They work incredibly hard day in, day out to give everyone that visits Just for Pets the very best customer experience.”
Just for Pets Pet Retailer of the Year status was awarded at The PetQuip awards held at the Telford international Centre alongside PATS, the industry’s largest trade show.
