The newsdesk

Every story we've run.

285 stories on the business of pet retail. Browse by section.

01 · Trade Press

67-Year Aquatics Supplier Pettex Shuts Down in 2026

The family-owned UK supplier closes September 2026. If you stock their SKUs, the re-sourcing clock is running.

3 min read · Aug 5

02 · Trade Press

BetterBone Hired Stella & Chewy's International Sales Lead

Scott Brownell ran international sales at Stella & Chewy's for eight years. BetterBone hired him three weeks before SuperZoo.

3 min read · Aug 4

03 · Trade Press

Hundreds of Indies Ran National Pet Shop Day Events. Nobody's Saying Whether It Moved Product.

Johnson's called the community response everything they hoped for. They didn't release comp sales, basket size, or any metric that tells you whether it paid back.

3 min read · Aug 4

04 · Trade Press

Redbarn's First Toy Is a Chew Cross-Sell With a Fixture Problem

The family-owned chew company launched a holder for its bully sticks. Now buyers have to decide: chew aisle, toy aisle, or endcap?

4 min read · Aug 4

05 · Trade Press

Two Consolidators Bought Wet-Food Capacity and Called It Brands

Assisi and United Petfood bought production lines in markets where you cannot easily add them.

3 min read · Aug 4

06 · Trade Press

Hill's Exited Private Label and Paid Two Points of Growth for It

The company exited private label manufacturing and Science Diet dog softened. That's real shelf space, and someone's about to fill it.

3 min read · Aug 4

07 · Brands & DTC

Standlee Wants Hay Merchandised Like a Supplement

The company is positioning forage around education and quality. That creates a specific economics question for independents.

3 min read · Aug 4

08 · Trade Press

A 130-Decibel Leash Has a Shelf Placement Problem

The merchandising call: leash aisle where it competes on price, or impulse zone where the safety story can actually land?

3 min read · Aug 3

09 · Trade Press

PetAg Went Into 2,000 Tractor Supply Doors With Your Endcap Set

The brand you built your puppy nutrition set around committed inventory to 2,000 chain doors. There is a call to make.

3 min read · Aug 3

10 · Trade Press

Do Occasion SKUs Earn Permanent Facings or a Seasonal Endcap?

The Honest Kitchen launched bake mixes. The real question: do occasion SKUs earn permanent facings or seasonal rotation?

3 min read · Aug 3

11 · Retail

Petco Put an Off-Price CFO in Charge of Its Audit Committee

Jeffrey Naylor's resume is off-price retail and inventory discipline. That's not the hire you make for growth, it's the one you make when the board wants tighter margins.

4 min read · Aug 3

12 · Trade Press

One Percent of Every Bag Goes to the Red Cross. Run the Margin Math.

The donation model gives you a cause story without negotiating your own charity partnership or sacrificing margin.

3 min read · Aug 3

13 · Trade Press

Terriers Are Selling in 11 Days and Your Small-Breed Logic Is Dated

Pets4Homes data shows working breeds overtaking doodles for the first time in years, and the SKU mix that worked in 2023 stops working now.

4 min read · Aug 3

14 · Trade Press

Charterhouse Bought 150 Animal Health Brands, Dental Among Them

Charterhouse bought Animalcare Group and took it private. The playbook that kept those SKUs stable has flipped.

3 min read · Aug 3

15 · Trade Press

Subscriptions Hit 15.3% at Pets at Home. Product-Only Is the Decline.

The UK's biggest pet chain expanded clinical staff to drive subscriptions. A single-location store still has a version of this.

3 min read · Aug 2

16 · Trade Press

The $580M Manufacturer Behind Your Private Label Is Betting on Lickables

i-Tail's treat segment surged 36.5% while wet food grew 4-5%. The margin gap most US specialty buyers are missing.

4 min read · Aug 2

17 · Trade Press

What the Functional Ingredient Premium Actually Buys You

Postbiotics, medicinal mushrooms, microalgae, insect protein, the premium is real. The question: does the retail lift justify the space?

6 min read · Aug 2

18 · Trade Press

You Flew to the Show. The Brand Rep Ghosted Your Appointment for an Influencer Shoot.

Three visits to the booth. Zero minutes with the rep. And pricing you overheard that doesn't match what you were quoted.

5 min read · Aug 2

19 · Trade Press

Pet Supplements Added $237 Million. Joint Health Is Not Where It Sits.

Joint health leads the category, but it's not where the acceleration is. The velocity sits somewhere else.

4 min read · Aug 1

20 · Trade Press

BetterBone Built a Fetch Toy Out of Its Chew Material

The company's betting one SKU can replace two. The float feature is the tell, and the fall launch gives you time to watch returns.

2 min read · Aug 1

21 · Trade Press

If You Cut Supplement Facings in Q1, Swedencare's Q2 Says You May Have Been Early

Swedencare posted 4% growth after a slower start. If you trimmed the category earlier this year, the signal has changed.

4 min read · Aug 1

22 · Trade Press

Austin and Kat Are Hedging CBD With Five Mushroom SKUs

The Seattle brand that built on premium CBD sourcing added five mushroom SKUs. The format question decides whether it works.

3 min read · Aug 1

23 · Trade Press

A Subsidized UK Delegation Is About to Walk Your Aisle at SuperZoo

PIF is organizing a SuperZoo delegation and a Global Pet Expo pavilion. The real story is the position these brands are in when they show up.

3 min read · Aug 1

24 · Trade Press

Dog Owners Did Not Cut Back. They Changed Where They Buy.

APPA's new data shows dog spending held while the channel mix shifted underneath it.

4 min read · Aug 1