Pet Store Chain May Close Following Owner’s Death

Petland Discounts, a chain that operates in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, may shut down following the recent death of its owner, Neil Padron.

The company has filed notices with each of those states’ labor departments indicating that it may close stores and cut jobs, The New York Times reports. The documents suggest that more than 300 jobs could be lost across 70 store locations.

Amy Eisenberg, daughter of the owner, said it’s uncertain whether the company will shut down. Eisenberg, the company’s director of public relations and special events, said the notices were filed with the labor departments in case the closings did take place.

The family is “still trying to figure everything out,” she told the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

However, Dwayne Warren, mayor of Orange, NJ, said he was told by a Petland Discounts representative that the firm would “permanently close all company operations,” the newspaper reports.

Padron started the business in 1965. He passed away of bladder cancer on Jan. 14, according to The Times.

Read more at the The New York Times