PATS just added a retailer education track to its 2026 Grooming Zone, built for store staff who sell grooming products.
The decision PATS actually made
The show partnered with the British Isles Grooming Association (BIGA) to run dedicated retailer-focused sessions alongside live grooming demonstrations. The sessions cover understanding different coat types, selecting the right products, welfare-led grooming practices, and building customer loyalty through expert advice. The program is designed to equip retail teams with the knowledge to have informed conversations with customers and recommend the right products.
The three-day exhibition runs September 27-29 at the NEC Birmingham.
Who this helps and who it squeezes
If you stock grooming tools, shampoos, or finishing sprays, you already know the problem: a customer walks in with a specific question about their dog's coat, and your floor staff doesn't have the language to answer it confidently. That customer may not come back.
PATS is addressing the knowledge gap between what grooming products require to sell well and what most retail teams actually know about the category. The retailer sessions run separately from the live grooming demonstrations, the demos show technique, the sessions focus on product selection and customer conversations.
For grooming brands, this is the window. If your SKU needs retailer education to move, if the sell-through depends on staff understanding why a slicker brush works differently on a double coat than a pin brush does, PATS just built you an audience of buyers who'll actually understand the pitch.
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Our read: this works if the sessions are actually groomers talking
The move only lands if BIGA brings working groomers into the room, not brand reps reading off spec sheets. Retailers don't need another product pitch; they need to learn the questions groomers ask so they can pair the right products when a customer says "double coat" or "hand-stripping." The partnership with BIGA suggests PATS understands that, but the proof is in who's actually leading the sessions.
The broader signal: PATS sees value in category-specific retailer training and is dedicating floor space to it. If this works, expect other shows to follow with their own high-margin, high-knowledge-barrier categories.
What changes if you stock grooming
If you're already planning to attend PATS, block time for the retailer sessions, not just the demos. The demos show technique; the sessions show you what to stock and how to talk about it. If your grooming section underperforms and you can't explain why a customer would pick one de-shedding tool over another, this is the gap you're there to close.
If you're not attending, the move tells you what the category is starting to require: staff who can have informed conversations about coat types and product selection. The stores that can do that will have an edge over the ones that can't.