Sunday Countdown: The top five animal supply stores

While you could go to a major retailer for your pet’s food, it’s more fun sometimes to go to a animal supply store.

On today’s Sunday Countdown, we’ll look at the top five animal supply stores in the U.S., as based on number of locations. A 2016 article from Pet Business Magazine helped a good deal with the writing of this article.

While Target and Walmart both sell mountains of dog food, as that is just one aspect of their gigantic retail empires, they do not qualify for this list.

5 – Pet Supplies Plus – 331 locations (as of 2016)

Pet Supplies Plus was founded in Redford, Mich., in 1988, and has 324 locations, mostly in eastern states. They brand themselves as a pet-friendly supermarket, and offer grooming, bathing and nail-clipping services at many locations. Their generic brand of dog and cat food is called Redford Naturals, but they sell all the main brands and varieties.

4 – Pet Valu – 620 locations (as of 2016)

Pet Valu is a Canadian company, based in the Toronto suburb of Markham, Ont., that has many stores in the northeastern part of the U.S. as well.

As the company website states, “Our philosophy is to provide pet owners with the best selection of pet care items at competitive prices, together with friendly customer service from our team of Pet Experts, at convenient, neighbourhood store locations.”

3 – Petco – over 1,500 locations

Petco is one of the first names that comes to mind when thinking of animal supply stores, and with good reason – the San Diego, Calif., company has over 50 years of experience and has locations across the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico, and has recently expanded into Canada as well.

The nonprofit Petco Foundation has been focused on promoting and improving the welfare of companion animals, and the comppany holds the naming rights to Petco Park, home of the National League’s San Diego Padres.

2 – PetSmart – over 1,600 locations

PetSmart (pronounced “Pets Mart,” despite the unusual capitalization) is the other huge name in animal supplies, with over 1,600 locations across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. Many stores have an on-site branch of the Banfield Pet Hospital, and they recently acquired Chewy.com, though it remains a separate business.

As the company website states,  “PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products and offers unique pet services including training, pet grooming, boarding, and in-store pet adoptions.”

1 – Tractor Supply Company – over 1,700 locations

Tractor Supply Company operates over 1,700 locations in 49 states after being started as a mail-order tractor parts business, they are the largest operator of rural lifestyle retailers in the country.

Since dogs are part of life on farms and ranches, they sell a wide variety of dog food and accessories, but unlike the others on this list, they do not solely supply pet products. Instead, their core audience is composed of “a niche market of farmers, horse owners, ranchers, part-time and hobby farmers, and suburban and rural homeowners, as well as contractors and tradesmen.”

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