PETS+ Readers Share Hot-Selling Products and Services for October

Goldpaw Series fleece as the weather gets cooler. It’s a great value, suitable for dogs of all sizes including our Pit Bull customers. Washes up easy and wearable indoors and outdoors — even under a jacket. Matt Brazelton, Four Muddy Paws, St. Louis, MO

Products

• We sold a lot of VeRUS pet food. We tout it as our store brand and love to sell it because it is local to us, never been through a recall, and the company really backs the small-business owner. Diane Marcin, Benny’s Pet Depot, Mechanicsburg, PA
• Frozen food was good. I like to sell it because those people who buy it are more serious about their pets. Danny Bik, Wet Pets SRQ, Sarasota, FL
• I found a used bakery case to move my decorated cookies and cakes into for display. Wow! If I had known how much that category would start selling because of the case, I would have done it so much sooner. My decorated treats sales have more than quadrupled. Danielle Wilson, Bath & Biscuits, Granville, OH
• S&C Wild Weenies were huge because we participated in their display contest. Dani Edgerton, Paws on Main, Columbiana, OH
• Orijen original in the 25-pound bag was our top-selling food for the month. We also had successful promotions for Seresto collars and bulk pig ears. Keefer Dickerson, Nashville Pet Products, Nashville, TN
• Bully sticks by the Natural Pet Company. Angela Pantalone, Wag Central, Stratford, CT
• Our best selling products continue to be the CBD products. We sell CannaPet treats, Lazarus Naturals Oils, Scouts Blessings treats and Super Snouts Oils. They all sell well and are our top sellers. We love it when we can educate a customer on how it can help their pet, then they come back to tell us how much it helped and, they buy more. Terri Ellen, Nature’s Pet Market, Salem, OR
• We sold a ton of die-cut vinyl stickers from Turtle’s Soup. They are adorable, fun and cheeky, and great quality. We have them in acrylic business card holders near our busiest register, and people love to rifle through them and grab one or two for themselves or as a gift. We keystone them at $2.99, and they just fly! Shane Somerville, Paddywack, Mill Creek, WA
• The new goDog (Worldwise) sugar skull toys were our most popular dog toys. They are relatively durable and have such fun colors/patterns to them. Kara Holland, Pittsboro Pet Supply, Pittsboro, NC
• Pet costumes seemed to be a big interest in my salon in October. I purchased a POP display from Rubie’s Pet Shop at a very reasonable price. It was fun watching customers putting on the hats and having a chuckle. Since I got great interest in it, I brought in the Christmas collection to see how it goes. Rachel Malmfeldt, Pampered Pups Grooming, Joliet, IL
• Nutrisource Dog food. It’s a great seller as it’s a good food for a reasonable price. They have several flavors and choices and with the added probiotics and chondroitin/glucosamine it makes it an easy choice for customers, especially those coming off grocery store type brands. Nicole Olesen, Woofs & Wags, Sioux Falls, SD
• After food, our best selling product(s) were hand-washed USA-made bully sticks. Chasing Our Tails has an incredible variety of odorless bully sticks that both our customers love, and their dogs do too! Options range from 6-inch standard to 12-inch XL and retail from $5.75 to $15.50. Johnna Devereaux, Fetch RI, Richmond, RI
• Trapeze toy, both sizes by Super Bird. Paul Lewis, Bird Unlimited, Webster, NY
• Dave’s Gobblelicious cat food in 5.5-ounce cans. Cases and cases and cases and cases. We did a Black Friday special for buy three cases, get one free. Eric Mack, Purrrfet Bark, Columbus, NC
• Bravo Homestyle has really made an impact in the store. Clients with fuzzy dogs really benefit from this easy, natural homemade food. Debbie Brookham, Furry Friends Inc., Colorado Springs, CO
• Our hottest seller has been Smallbatch freeze-dried foods. A top quality freeze-dried raw product that continues to sell itself! Duane Poland, Bones-n-Scones or Palm Springs, Palm Springs, CA
• Our sales of Specialty Pet Products pet odor removing candles always go up in the fall and stay high through the holidays. I think the fall scents like Pumpkin Spice, Fallin’ Leaves, etc. are really popular and folks like to stock up for the long spring and summer months without them. They are usually $10.99 and occasionally we will sell them as buy one, get one 50 percent off, but we hardly ever do that during the fall. We have a hard enough time keeping them in stock as it is! Kris Minkle, The Whole Pet, Fort Smith, AR
• Hot seller for October was Grandma Lucy’s biscuits. We opened a bag and let our human customers try them. Once they realize how great they taste, they flew off the shelf. James Henline, Asheville Pet Supply, Asheville, NC

Services

• The self-serve dog wash just went wild with new customers, thanks to a concentrated television promotion schedule! Pattie Boden, Animal Connection, Charlottesville, VA
• Our Seasonal Spa Package for our grooming clients always leads in add-on sales each month in my salon. We offer a special scent-of-the-month shampoo and cologne, toothbrushing, and they get a small bag of cookies from our cookie bar. Our total cost for the package is $1.79 and we charge $8. We normally sell between 175 and 225 packages monthly. An added bonus is once our clients have tried the treats we feature each month, I am finding they are coming in between grooming appointments to buy more treats for their pets. Teresa Hogge, Belly Rubs N Suds, Ashburn, VA
• Our best-selling (non-grooming) service was our DIY dog wash. A big-box pet supply store 3 miles from us closed, and customers have migrated here. We help them get their dogs into the tubs, help them select the correct grooming tools and shampoos, and check on them mid-bath to see how they’re doing (friendly customer assistance the big-box store didn’t offer). We give them a new customer kit (poop bag that contains a welcome letter, food comparison chart, price list and Just Fur Pets pen) and talk to them about their dog(s) during baths and at checkout. Marcia E. Cram, Just Fur Pets, Springfield, VA