(PRESS RELEASE) On March 22, 2018 in Orlando, Florida Pet Business, Wholesalepet.com and the organizers of Global Pet Expo at the seventh-annual Retailer Excellence Awards recognized Natural Pawz as one of the eight outstanding pet specialty retailers.
“Each year, the Retailer Excellence Awards recognize outstanding independent pet specialty retailers in a variety of categories, including customer service, community service, merchandising and live animal retailing. Nominations are accepted from manufacturers, distributors and other industry members, as well as the retailers themselves, and are judged by a panel of industry experts that includes members of the Pet Business and Global Pet Expo staff. “ –Pet Business
Natural Pawz is humbled to announce that we received the Community Service Excellence Award at the Global Pet Expo 2018. We extend our gratitude to our entire Pawz Team who worked tirelessly in 2017, especially during Hurricane Harvey. Natural Pawz was aware of how important it was to have our shops open as soon as possible after Hurricane Harvey for our pet parents. Some families and members of the community were in need of food for their pets so we worked with our store teams to open as quickly as possible and as many stores as we could while keeping the safety of our teams top of mind. We were one of the few pet stores to open within days of the storm and we were grateful that we were able to prepare some ahead of time and distribute to those in need before and after the storm.
In the days following Harvey, after ensuring that our stores were stocked with supplies, Natural Pawz partnered with some of our best vendors and we were able to provide and donate over 100,000 pounds of food and supplies to local shelters, rescues and police and fire departments. We learned that the way to overcome in a time of crisis and push forward is to lend a hand and come together as a strong community.
Natural Pawz strives to be an active member in out community all year long. We implement this by hosting monthly rescue and animal shelter events within out Houston and Austin stores. We implemented the “Round Up for Rescues” program in all of our stores that allows a partnership with the Natural Pawz Customers. Every penny raised through this program, which exceeded $20,000 in 2017, goes to provide dog and cat food to local rescues and shelters. We attend neighborhood and community events like school and church fairs and 5K runs. Most of these events are for a community cause and we are happy to dedicate our time and goodies.
Owners Biff Picone and Nadine Joli-Coeur were honored to attend the seventh-annual Retailer Excellence Awards presentation at Global Pet Expo 2018 and they would like to thank our beloved community, as we refer to as our Pawz Nation, for their continued support.
Natural Pawz is owned by husband-and-wife team Biff Picone and Nadine Joli-Coeur and was founded in 2005 with a simple mission: to positively impact the lives of pets and owners through all-natural, holistic food. With 21 locations throughout the Greater Houston and Austin areas, we’re committed to offering world-class products by personally researching and testing every item.
We’re also passionate about our community. Together with local pet rescues, the city, and customer support, we’ve helped feed countless of foster pets and meals-on-wheels programs in local Houston and Austin neighborhoods.