Petco rebranding to focus on pet wellness has included banning shock collars.
Petco rebranding their focus to more on pet wellness means that in early October they announced they were banning shock collars, which are often considered inhumane.
But now according to Fortune, that’s just the latest move in an overall rebranding effort as the tries to hold off the competition by focusing on pet wellness, even changing the full name of the company from “Petco Animal Supplies” to “Petco, the Health and Wellness Company.”
Shock collars account for about $10 million per year in sales, Fortune reports, though a 2018 article by Companion Animal Psychology summarizes a European coalition of pet experts recommending their being banned.
“We’re transitioning from being a company that asks, ‘Can I help you put that big bag of dog food into your cart?’ into a full health and wellness company,” Petco CEO Ron Coughlin told Fortune.
This explains why they recently started offering Jinx dog food and treats on their website, since the Los Angeles-based company is made from natural ingredients that are human-grade (we don’t recommend humans actually trying Jinx products – that’d be a little weird. Based on our staff dogs’ taste testing, your dog will love their treats, though!)
By January 2021 the company hopes to add about 40 full-service vet locations (up to around 140 or so) into their physical stores as a way to compete with rival PetSmart, which offers Banfield Pet Hospital locations in many of their stores, and Walmart is planning on unveiling vet services of their own called VetIQ by 2023.
Petco operates around 1,500 locations in total, and the San Diego-based company also serves as the title sponsor of their hometown baseball team’s stadium as Petco Park is home to the San Diego Padres.
This Petco rebranding also includes a remodeling of many of its stores, including more physical spaces for vet and grooming services, for example, and adding more wood elements to imply a more natural and peaceful landscape, as opposed to the metal shelving no different than a grocery store.
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