Spectrum Brands' Global Pet Care segment returned to growth in fiscal 2026Pet Age opened nominations for its 2027 Retailer Excellence Awards, which close January 31AAHA published parasite guidelines for veterinary teams, not retail shelf decisionsScrumpf launched air-dried goat and venison meals at Interzoo and opened UK trade orderingH&H Group's pet segment fell 13.5% in Q3 as China contraction offset North American gainsWin World launched a walk-in dog house with attached run and storage for $1,499.99SquarePet hired Rich Zanetti to cover its South Central territory after promoting the prior repPet Wellbeing Launches Liquid Ashwagandha in Separate Dog and Cat FormulasSpectrum Brands' Global Pet Care segment returned to growth in fiscal 2026Pet Age opened nominations for its 2027 Retailer Excellence Awards, which close January 31AAHA published parasite guidelines for veterinary teams, not retail shelf decisionsScrumpf launched air-dried goat and venison meals at Interzoo and opened UK trade orderingH&H Group's pet segment fell 13.5% in Q3 as China contraction offset North American gainsWin World launched a walk-in dog house with attached run and storage for $1,499.99SquarePet hired Rich Zanetti to cover its South Central territory after promoting the prior repPet Wellbeing Launches Liquid Ashwagandha in Separate Dog and Cat Formulas
On the ShelfBy The PetRetailNews Desk2 min readAugust 1, 2026
Petsport Is Replacing Button Cells With USB-C Across Its Light Toys
The company is ditching button cells for rechargeable power, which touches your shelf and your battery order.
Petsport joined the Pet Sustainability Coalition and announced it's moving its light-based toy line to USB-C rechargeable power.
The decision Petsport actually made
The Pittsburg, California company, 30 years in durable interactive toys, catalog of over 200 products including the Tuff Balls line, is replacing button cell batteries across its electronics range with USB-C charging. The company's joining PSC, a nonprofit with over 200 pet industry members focused on environmental and social impact. The stated goal: reduce the hundreds of millions of disposable batteries that end up in landfills annually, according to the company.
Petsport called the transition "a game-changer for both the environment and pet parents," citing safer, more convenient, and more sustainable options for visibility and activity toys.
What this actually changes on your end
Rechargeable toys shift the category math. A customer who buys a USB-C light-up toy doesn't come back for button cells. The company's framing the move as safer and more convenient, which suggests they expect customers to see rechargeable as worth paying for, but the source doesn't give pricing or margin structure.
The shelf-set question: rechargeable SKUs mean the customer isn't buying batteries from you for those toys. The source says Petsport's making the move; it doesn't say whether other brands are watching or following.
This will get framed as a sustainability story. It is, Petsport's PSC membership signals they're treating environmental impact as product differentiation, not just marketing copy. But the format change means the customer pays once instead of coming back for batteries. The source doesn't tell us what Petsport's charging or how the margin compares.
The test case: light-based toys. The source says Petsport's starting with "the most popular light-based products." What happens there will tell you whether the format has legs beyond this first wave.
Our read: watch what actually sells
Petsport's moving an entire electronics line to USB-C. The source doesn't say whether other brands are doing the same. The data that matters: whether these rechargeable toys actually sell, and what that does to your battery order for the category.
The tell will be which stores actually give it shelf space and what moves. Our read: a rechargeable toy is a different pitch than a battery-powered one, the customer's deciding whether to pay more upfront to avoid buying batteries later. That's a trade some customers will take and some won't, and we'd expect velocity to vary by store format and how the product gets explained.
The other variable: what happens to your battery stock when some of your light-up toy sales shift to rechargeable. Worth thinking through before the category moves and you're holding inventory you ordered for a demand pattern that just changed.
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