The Honest Kitchen Pour Overs. Dogs are going crazy over their superfood and bone broth pour overs! Customers love that it isn’t too messy, their dogs gobble it right up, and the fact that it is human grade. — Kara Holland, Pittsboro Pet Supply, Pittsboro, NC
Products
- Fromm Crunchy Os have not slowed down. Zignature small bites are growing. — Kimberly Taylor, Nashville Pet Products, Oshkosh, WI
- Perhaps not surprisingly, we sold a great deal of our own hand-made and decorated Valentine’s doggie cookies. — Kimberly Barnes, New England Dog Biscuit, Salem, MA
- Coco Charms Pumpkin Pie treats. These 100 percent organic treats are only 1 calorie each, which is perfect for the small dog families we cater to. We like that they’re made in the USA and they can help small dogs maintain a healthy weight. — Tom Jeffrey, Dinky Dog Club, Charleston, SC
- Victor Hi-Pro for puppies/adults. We have breeders who buy this formula in 5-,40- and 50-pound bags. The pups are beautiful and visit the store, so we see how good the food really is. — Nancy Okun, Cats n Dogs, Port Charlotte, FL
- CBD increases have been great. Just in the Pet Releaf Brand, we sell over 100 units a month, and we carry other brands as well. People are looking for relief for arthritis, seizures, anxiety, cancer, etc., and this just helps so many ailments. The vets have been sending tons of people in for it, which has been great. — Jennifer Larsen, Firehouse Pet Shop, Wenatchee, WI
- Our Vital Essentials Raw Bar is worth every penny! Some of the most popular items include: freeze-dried bully sticks (good for seniors or those with bad teeth); duck necks, moo sticks, cod skins and salmon skins. During slow periods, we offer buy one, get one, and then they fly off the shelf even more quickly! — Sandy House, The Store at Paws, Hamden, CT
- Raw food and new raw coated food. — Sherry Shupe, Fur Baby, Milford, DE
- Food! FirstMate was offering an incentive: Every $15 spent gets an entry into winning a $400 Traeger grill. — Jennifer Flanagan, Nature’s Pet Market Sherwood, Sherwood, OR
- Gibson’s Dog Treats from Wild Meadow Farms. — Gloria Von Zech, The Principled Pet, Collingswood, NJ
- Our best-selling product in February were Saltsox booties. Since we had such crazy cold and icy weather, they were selling fast. Customers were buying them because they were having trouble getting their dogs to go out in the bad weather and also to prevent their dogs from walking on the salt. They are very easy booties to put on the dog and they have Velcro that wraps around the ankle of the dog which keeps the booties secure. — Jan A. Hopper, Living Pawsitively, Lafayette, NJ
- Fromm Gold is our No. 1 food line. — Janelle Pitula, Wags to Whiskers, Plainfield, IL
- Our best sellers for February were the Gourmet Doggy Cookies from Preppy Puppy. Our customers wanted to make sure their pups felt the love on Valentine’s Day too! — Wendy Megyese, Muttigans, Emerald Isle, NC
- After taking a sales rep’s advice and merchandising our cat food pouches, we saw a definite increase in pouch sales. — Jack Carey, Amoskeag Pet Supply, Manchester, NH
- Our best seller was a donation! Every February, we raise money for a local senior dog rescue by inviting customers to sponsor individual dogs starting at $30 for three months (and we match the first $1,000 in sponsorships), or donate by buying a paper heart for our windows. Small hearts are $1, and large ones are $5. The $5 ones also had partner brands kicking in: For every $5 heart sold, The Honest Kitchen added an extra $1 to the rescue (up to $500 extra), and Weruva donated a pouch of wet food to the dogs. In total, we sold 510 of the $5 hearts, and raised nearly $8,000 total for the rescue! — Shane Somerville, Paddywack, Mill Creek, WA
- Doc & Phoebe’s Hunting Feeder for cats. — Pennye Jones-Napier, The Big Bad Woof, Washington, DC
- The Earth Animal No-Hides did well for us in February. They are nice to sell to someone who is looking for a longer lasting chew that isn’t rawhide. — Diane Marcin, Benny’s Pet Depot, Mechanicsburg, PA
Services
- In February we offered free teeth brushing to every pet who came through the door. We also gave out a toothbrush to every pet. This led to sales of oral hygiene products. — Carlos Carrizo, Alta Pet Center, Upland, CA
What’s the Brain Squad?
If you’re the owner or top manager of a U.S. pet business serving the public, you’re invited to join the PETS+ Brain Squad. Take one five-minute quiz a month, and you’ll get a free t-shirt, be featured prominently in this magazine, and make your voice heard on key issues affecting the pet industry. Sign up here.
