(PRESS RELEASE)The pet industry knows Polkadog’s kitchen as one of the most trusted pioneers of handmade, healthy, sustainable treats. In 2002, Deborah Suchman and Rob Van Sickle opened a small brick-and-mortar store in Boston’s South End neighborhood to bring their small-batch creations directly to customers looking for healthier, simpler treats for their dogs and cats.
“I’d never lived in a neighborhood like the South End before,” Suchman said. “I wanted, more than anything, to have a place in that community. Over the past 23 years, we’ve expanded our own retail locations around the city and a 14,000 square-foot kitchen at the Boston Fish Pier, but the South End is still my home. We still carefully source every ingredient and make every treat by hand,” Suchman says. “We have a bit of help now, though.”
Beginning in February, Polkadog will be partnering with Petco to bring that sense of sustainability and community to other neighborhoods around the United States.
“We’ve made it our mission to create healthy, limited ingredient treats in a thoughtful way and prove this is a sustainable business model for manufacturers in the pet industry,” says Suchman. “Through partnerships like this one with Petco, we can continue our goal of bringing our vision of simple, carefully sourced quality treats to neighborhoods across the country.” We are launching with our single-ingredient fish treats (Cod Skins, Haddock Skins, Salmon Skins, Salmon Chips, Cod Chips and Silverside) and later will add a selection of our best-selling limited ingredient crunchy and chewy treats.
Despite the increased national presence, Polkadog remains an independent retailer and manufacturer at heart. “We started out with one retail store in one neighborhood, and now have 11 stores across greater Boston and Rhode Island, and sell our branded treats around the world,” says co-owner Rob Van Sickle. “But our roots are in our community, as an independent retailer, so we understand the advantages of having that direct line of contact with customers, and also the challenges and opportunities of being a small fish in a big pond. We interact with customers first-hand in our stores and can get immediate feedback on our Polkadog Treats and new products. We’re excited about the exposure this relationship with Petco will bring to our brand and our story, and we remain committed to maintaining and supporting all of our retail partners and distributors that have grown up alongside us, through equitable pricing across platforms, as well as promotion and reward strategies.”
“In the end, we feel extremely confident this new partnership will indeed be the tide that rises all ships,” says Suchman. “We’re excited to embark on this next chapter for Polkadog and can’t wait to share our incredible products with an even larger neighborhood of pet parents.
About Polkadog
Polkadog was launched in 2002 by Deb Suchman and Rob Van Sickle with the goal of bringing simple, healthy dog treats to their local community in Boston’s South End. Over the past twenty years they have expanded to 10 Polkadog retail stores in the greater Boston area as well as one in Rhode Island. Polkadog developed a national presence when the company started wholesaling the first Cod Skins to be launched in the pet industry. Since then Polkadog has continued to innovate and launch additional single-ingredient and limited ingredient treats which can be found in every state in the U.S. as well as in Canada, Korea, and Mexico. Polkadog is committed to sustainable and transparent sourcing for all of its products.