Pet Valu, Inc. (“Pet Valu U.S.”), a specialty retailer of pet food and supplies in the United States, today announced plans to commence a wind down of its operations due to severe impact from COVID-19. The Company expects that all of its 358 stores and warehouses in the Northeastern and Midwestern U.S., as well as its corporate office in Wayne, PA, will close by the end of the wind-down process.
Pet Valu U.S. licenses its name and contracts for certain services from Pet Valu Canada, which is a separate company based in Markham, Ontario that is not impacted by this wind down. Pet Valu Canada is a market leading, highly profitable and growing business with a tremendous history and a very bright future. Pet Valu Canada will continue to serve customers across Canada through its approximately 600 stores, franchise locations and e-commerce site at www.petvalu.com/ca/, offering its usual assortment of thousands of pet products and supplies and in-store services such as dog washes and grooming.
All Pet Valu stores in the U.S. are currently open and ready to serve their devoted pet lover customers through the wind-down process. Customers in the U.S. can continue to use Pet Valu gift cards and loyalty rewards for purchases. Effective immediately, U.S. customers will no longer be able to place orders on the Pet Valu U.S. e-commerce site at www.petvalu.com/us/.
Jamie Gould, Pet Valu, Inc.’s recently appointed Chief Restructuring Officer, said, “The Pet Valu U.S. team is proud to have met the needs of our devoted pet lover customers in the U.S. for more than 25 years. However, the Company’s stores have been significantly impacted by the protracted COVID-19-related restrictions. After a thorough review of all available alternatives, we made the difficult but necessary decision to commence this orderly wind down.”
He continued, “During the store closing process, we will continue to provide our customers with the same great in-store experience, offering them even better deals and value. We will work to assist our dedicated associates through the transition. We thank all of them for their commitment to our company and our customers, and especially for going above and beyond so we could help customers as an essential service during the pandemic.”
Pet Valu U.S. expects to commence store closing sales at all locations in the U.S. in the coming days. The Company will continue to take necessary precautions to keep its stores safe for customers and employees.
The Company has retained Malfitano Partners as its restructuring advisor, SB360 Capital Partners, LLC to assist with store closing sales and A&G Realty Partners, LLC to assist on U.S. real estate-related matters. Mr. Gould joins Pet Valu, Inc. from a successful career of retail restructuring in global assignments in the apparel, eyewear and office products industries. William Transier, Chief Executive Officer of Transier Advisors, has been appointed as independent director to the Board of Directors of Pet Valu, Inc.
Last weekend, North Americans welcomed 30,269 adoptable pets into their hearts and homes during PetSmart Charities’ third National Adoption Weekend of 2017 hosted at 1,500-plus PetSmart stores across the continent, making it the most successful National Adoption Weekend event ever for the leading funder of animal welfare and leading pet specialty retailer. With the help of more than 3,500 animal welfare organizations across the U.S. and Canada, PetSmart and PetSmart Charities found homes for a wide variety of adoptable pets, including dogs, cats, and even small pets such as rabbits, guinea pigs and birds.
In preparation for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, animal welfare organizations across the country worked together to transport adoptable shelter pets from Florida and Texas to other areas of the country to help free up shelter space in the communities that were in the hurricanes’ paths. That way, pets displaced or left homeless by these storms would have access to shelter, food and veterinary care while they wait to be reunited with their pet parents and families.
Several of PetSmart Charities’ animal welfare partners, such as Last Chance Animal Rescue in Waldorf, Md., were able to bring adoptable pets from the southern U.S. to their East Coast community through pet transport programs. Not only did this make more room in Florida and Texas animal shelters, but it also gave the recently relocated pets a great chance at finding a forever home since adoption demand in many east coast states like Maryland is high.
“During times of natural disasters like the recent hurricanes, it’s inspiring to see how the animal welfare community and pet parents come together. While PetSmart Charities is always focused on getting more pets out of shelters through successful adoption events like the one hosted this past weekend, during times of natural disaster, it’s even more important to clear shelter space and assemble resources animal welfare agencies are going to need to care for pets displaced during the storms,” says David Haworth, DVM, Ph.D. and president of PetSmart Charities. “By adopting a pet this past weekend, not only did families give a shelter pet the forever home they deserve, but unbeknownst to them, they also had a hand in helping rescues and shelters to care for, assist and reunite pets and pet parents impacted by the hurricanes.”
Pet Parents Supporting Pets in Need
Many pet parents and animal welfare organizations across North America are looking for ways to help pets affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. To provide additional support to pets and pet parents in need, PetSmart stores invited shoppers to donate pet supplies and food to local animal welfare partners. In all, a record-setting 615,000-plus items from stores across the U.S. and Canada were donated to support pets in need. Donations will support pets in local communities, as well as emergency relief efforts following the historic hurricanes along the Gulf Coast and wildfires along the West Coast.
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About PetSmart®
PetSmart, Inc. is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection, PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their pets so they, together, can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000 associates, operate more than 1,500 pet stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, as well as more than 200 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively priced pet food and products, as well as pet-focused services such as dog training, pet grooming, pet boarding, PetSmart® Doggie Day Camp® and pet adoption. PetSmart, together with non-profits PetSmart Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada, invite more than 3,500 animal welfare organizations to bring adoptable pets into stores so they have the best chance possible of finding a forever home. Through this in-store adoption program and other signature events, PetSmart has facilitated more than 7.6 million adoptions – more than any other brick-and-mortar organization. The company’s portfolio of digital resources for pet parents includes PetSmart.com, OnlyNaturalPet.com, petMD.com, Pawculture.com, AllPaws, an online pet adoption platform that helps potential pet parents find the perfect pet to adopt based on their home, family and lifestyle, as well as BlogPaws, the world’s first pet blogger and influencer network. Through these digital platforms, PetSmart offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet care information in the U.S. In celebration of its 30th anniversary, PetSmart launched its philanthropic Buy a Bag, Give a Meal™ program in March 2017, see petsmart.com/giveameal for details. In May 2017, PetSmart acquired Chewy.com, a leading online retailer of pet food and products in the U.S., which operates as an independent subsidiary.
Turn your passion for pets into a career you’ll love! Visit careers.petsmart.com to learn more about corporate, retail store and Distribution Center opportunities.
About PetSmart Charities®
PetSmart Charities, Inc. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization with a mission to find lifelong, loving homes for all pets by supporting programs and thought leadership that bring people and pets together. In addition to finding homes for almost 500,000 shelter pets each year through its in-store adoption program in all PetSmart stores across the U.S. and Puerto Rico, PetSmart Charities provides funding to non-profits aligned with its mission through four key areas of grant support: Preventing Pet Homelessness; Helping Shelter Pets Thrive; Supporting the Bond Between People and Pets; and Emergency Relief and Disaster Support. Each year, millions of generous PetSmart shoppers help pets in need by donating to PetSmart Charities using the pin pads at checkout registers inside PetSmart stores. In turn, PetSmart Charities efficiently uses 90 cents of every dollar donated and has become the leading funder of animal welfare in North America, donating about $300 million to date. PetSmart Charities, a 501(c)(3) organization, has received the Four Star Rating from Charity Navigator, an independent organization that reports on the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits, for the past 14 years in a row – placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this organization. To learn more visit www.petsmartcharities.org.
The Global Pet Expo (presented by the American Pet Products Association and the Pet Industry Distributors Association) was held March 22 to March 24, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
Here are the winners of the trade show’s awards and other highlights of the three-day event.
New Products Showcase Winners
AQUATICS
Best In Show
Seriphos Drop Off Aquarium
Elive, LLC
Second Place Jelly Cylinder 5
Jellyfish Art LLC
Third Place Brio 35 Urban Eco Garden
Deep Water Aquatics
BIRD
Best In Show USA Happy Beaks Toys
A&E Cage Co., LLC
Second Place Bird Temp – Digital Infrared Thermometer
Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.
Third Place Eco- Friendly Bird Nest
Le Sharma Trading, Inc.
BOUTIQUE
Best In Show Bake-at-Home Birthday Cake Mix for Dogs
The Lazy Dog Cookie Co., Inc.
Second Place Dodo Bird Family: Baz the Dad, Barb the Mom & Billy the Baby Dodo Birds
Merito Industries dba THINK OUTSIDE
Third Place PetCakes Frozen Yogurt Treats
PetCakes by Lucky Paws, LLC
CAT
Best In Show Catysmile Backpack Cat Carrier
Primetime Petz LLC
Second Place The Bridge
Molly and Friends Cat Furniture Company
Third Place Side Table Cat Bed
Sauder Woodworking Co.
DOG
Best In Show Qwizl
West Paw Design
Second Place PAW5 Wooly
PAW5
Third Place TropiClean Natural Flea & Tick
TropiClean Pet Products
NATURAL PET
Best In Show NO-HIDE DOG CHEWS – PORK
Earth Animal
Second Place Ruff Bone
Himalayan Corporation
Third Place CannaBoost (TM) CDB/Hemp full spectrum extract
PawFlex, Inc.
REPTILE
Best In Show Exo Terra Gecko Food
Hagen Group
Second Place Exo Terra Tall Terrarium
Hagen Group
Third Place Zilla Front Opening Terrarium
Central Garden & Pet
SMALL ANIMAL
Best In Show Kaytee Run-About Ball LED Light Rainbow 7 inch
Central Garden & Pet
Second Place Walkin’ Wheels Mini Wheelchair
Walkin’ Pets by Handicappedpets.com
Third Place Kaytee Critterhome 30 x 18 Deluxe Habitat Large
Central Garden & Pet
POINT OF PURCHASE
Best In Show Meowijuana – Retail Display Box (Large)
Meowijuana LLC
Second Place Earth Rated 2017 Collection
Earth Rated
Third Place Kaytee Crittertrail Building Station
Central Garden & Pet
Global Pet Expo Retailer Excellence Awards
Here are the winners of the Sixth Annual Global Pet Expo Retailer Excellence Awards. The award ceremony took place at the Show’s Pet Industry Breakfast on March 23, 2017 at the Orange County Convention Center.
The Retailer Excellence Awards are designed to honor outstanding independent pet stores in a variety of categories. The following retailers received designated awards in each of the 10 different categories:
1. Paw’s Natural Pet Emporium of Richland, WA Best Overall Single-Store Retailer: This award recognizes a single-store retailer for excelling in sales, customer service, store design, merchandising and community service.
2. Yarn & Bone Pet Supply Co. of Camden, DE Best Overall Retailer (2 – 10 stores): This award recognizes multi-unit retailers with less than 10 stores for excelling in sales, customer service, store design, merchandising and community service.
3. CountryMax Stores of Victor, NY Best Overall Retailer (10 or more stores): This award recognizes multi-unit retailers with more than 10 stores for excelling in sales, customer service, store design, merchandising and community service.
4. Most Valuable Pets, Inc. of Nicholasville, KY Best Live Animal Retailer: This award recognizes a retailer that excels in sales, promotion, display and knowledge of the dedicated live-animal category.
5. Pet Pantry Warehouse of Rye, NY Best Merchandising: This award recognizes their outstanding creative techniques to promote sales and services.
6. The Green K9 of Mount Dora, FL Multi-Service Excellence: This award recognizes their effective offering of a broad spectrum of services including grooming, training, boarding, etc.
7. Bark Out Loud Doggie Boutique & Café of Mansfield, TX
Best Marketing: This award honors effective execution in sales and promotional techniques to increase sales and customers including the use of advertising, public relations, social media and more.
8. Natural Pet Enrichment Center of North Royalton, OH Best Customer Service: This award recognizes an unmatched level of customer service, demonstrates familiarity with products and services, etc.
9. Pet Express of Saugus, MA Best Store Design: This award honors excellence in overall store design including merchandising displays, store layout, curb appeal and more.
10. Petsway of Springfield, MO Best Community Service: This honor recognizes fellowship, integrity and a clear demonstration that the store is committed to giving back to the community.
Entries were judged by a committee consisting of Global Pet Expo and Pet Business Media staff members.
New Product Launches
Here are a few of the new products that launched at the 2017 Global Pet Expo.
The following information are excerpts from press releases:
(Photo courtesy of Le Petit Treat)
Le Cordon Bleu trained chef Gigi Samandari, the founder of Le Petit Treat, announced the release of new premium dog biscuits that are inspired by the flavors of France and use all-natural, non-allergenic, grain-free ingredients which are 100 percent made in the USA. The treats are made in small batches, using only grain-free, premium food-grade ingredients. The flavors are inspired by classic French dishes like Quiche Lorraine and Coq au Vin with new packaging that has a sophisticated yet vintage look.
Merrick Backcountry Hero’s Banquet (Photo courtesy of Merrick Pet Care)
Merrick Pet Care is expanding its partnership with K9s For Warriors with the launch of Merrick Backcountry Hero’s Banquet recipes, a new lineup of natural dog food & treats to raise awareness for K9s For Warriors’ work pairing service dogs with military veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disability (PTSD).
Introduced at Global Pet Expo, the world’s largest pet food trade show, the new Merrick Backcountry Hero’s Banquet recipes build on Merrick’s million dollar partnership by giving pet parents a way to support K9s For Warriors while feeding a nutritious, ancestral canine diet to their dogs. Beyond the new recipes, Merrick provides all the food and treats for K9s for Warriors and has since 2015. Last year, Merrick also committed $250,000 to complete clinical research showing the effective role service dogs play in the treatment of PTSD among American military veterans.
Three new Hero’s Banquet recipes will be part of Merrick’s Backcountry line, which was introduced in 2015 and continues to be the fastest-growing ancestral canine diet in pet specialty. The Merrick Backcountry Hero’s Banquet recipes include a protein-packed kibble infused with freeze-dried raw meat; a complementary wet food; and a meaty soft & chewy dog treat. Recipes are making their ways to stores this spring. In a special K9s For Warriors promotion this July, Merrick will make a donation to K9s For Warriors for every Merrick Backcountry Hero’s Banquet item sold.
Wellness CORE RawRev (Photo courtesy of Wellness Natural Pet Food)
Wellness Natural Pet Foodunveiled its first line of grain-free, raw meals and treats for dogs, Wellness® CORE RawRev and Wellness CORE 100% Freeze-Dried Treats for dogs, marking the brand’s first foray into the quickly-growing category of raw nutrition for pets. Wellness CORE RawRev combines high-protein, grain-free kibble with 100 percent pure bites of freeze-dried meat for a delicious topper, snack or complete and balanced meal. Wellness CORE 100% Freeze Dried Treats are made with just a single raw ingredient to deliver high protein with delicious flavor. At just two calories per treat, they are grain, gluten and filler free. Wellness CORE RawRev is available in three delicious flavors for dogs: Turkey, Lamb and Turkey Small Breed recipes,. Wellness CORE 100% Freeze-Dried Treats are available in four meaty flavors for dogs: Boar, Salmon, Turkey and Beef.
In addition, Wellness Natural Pet Food introduced 28 new and improved Wellness Complete Health recipes, giving cat parents more grain-free options to choose from in a variety of flavors, forms and textures. From smooth pates to fresh cuts of savory protein in rich gravies, the new recipes offer tantalizing flavors and textures, in complete and balanced meals for cats—without grains or fillers. By taking out the grains, cats are able to enjoy more protein-packed meals filled with nutrient-rich fruits, vegetables and botanicals that keep them feeling satisfied and healthy, meal after meal and year after year.
Wellness Complete Health Gravies (Photo courtesy of Wellness Natural Pet Food)
The new recipes include Wellness Complete Health Gravies, which feature delectable bits of high quality meats in ample gravy without fillers. Available in delicious flavors such as tuna, chicken or salmon, Gravies provide tasty nutrition with plenty of hydration your cats will love. Wellness also ensured cats have a crunchy, grain-free option by introducing new Wellness Complete Heath Grain-Free dry food for cats, available in three flavors for cats: Deboned Chicken (Kitten), Salmon & Whitefish Meal (Indoor) and Deboned Chicken (Adult) recipes.
Existing Wellness Complete Health wet cat recipes have also been enhanced, featuring new and improved packaging, lower pricing and are now Carrageenan free.
