A New Beginning

 

          
     I started Just Pets 19 years ago with some borrowed money, a love of animals, and some high school kids who didn't mind cleaning cages. And, since it was my business, I didn't need to put my kids in day care when they came home from school. I could bring them to the store and work their little butts off.  The focus of the business was family pets - all the little critters, the birds, the puppies, the fish, all the pets I drove my parents crazy with, but that I loved so dearly.

We made a lot of friends over the years, and I would have liked to keep going like that forever, but things change.  The big supermarket pet stores moved in, Lerner bought the Washington Nationals and raised my rent 40%, puppies got expensive and customers wanted their favorite breed, health insurance for my employees went out of sight, and I got tired.

  
  The options were to quit or try to revitalize the business with new technology and a new business plan that deemphasized the least profitable aspects of the business while growing new business around services the community needed, like grooming.  I decided to give it a try.  The plan was to renovate the store in a three month period without losing business days....well - almost.  More like six months and counting..  
  Not there yet, but we have made changes:

  • Grooming – Out of the storage closet - we have a new, modern, well equipped space devoted to grooming with room for three full time groomers. Jim Kuppers, whom I have known for 20 years, leads the section. Three groomers will allow us to offer grooming services 7 days a week.

  • Technology - A new computer system from 360PET interfaces directly with our suppliers, letting us order exactly what we need, keeping our costs and pricing accurate, and allowing us to keep our prices equal to or less than our bigger competitors.  We can search for thousands of products across multiple supplier catalogs, show customers pictures of items at the POS, take special orders at the register and have items drop shipped directly to you.

  • Puppies/Kittens - Selling puppies can be a pleasure when you find a great match between a puppy and a family, and it can be a nightmare defending yourself against the very passionate and well meaning advocates trying to stop commercial dog breeding. I think my customers should have a choice, but certainly never be offered puppies from breeders that do not provide appropriate care. I decided I would continue to find licensed breeders I could trust and personally inspect, but not limit myself to just a very few. I would photograph the facilities, the breeding pair, everything I could gather to insure our customers, our employees and myself that we were not dealing with that dreaded "Puppy Mill". We would continue to purchase whole litters to keep them together, change our warranty to include a 3 year warranty for hereditary ailments, lifetime adoption if you can no longer take responsibility for the animal, have our own Veterinary checkup and include the option for an ID chip with lifetime missing pet assistance. All of this is still in the development stage, but I hope we can start bring in new puppies very soon.

  • Adoption – We always have supported owners who needed to find a new home for their pet by providing a bulletin board at the store and on our web site, but we want to go further. We hope to take some small pets into our store and create a “Rescue Pet Section” to market pets for adoption. We have to limit the type and number because of space, and some pets may have to be vet checked before we can accept them. Since we don't solicit donations, we may have to charge a small adoption fee to help cover costs, but if it works, eventually all the pets we have may be “Rescued”.

 

    
 

  • Pet Food -  The most important products we sell. We have increased our stock of all the best quality brands so that we will always have what you need on the shelf.

 

          
 
 
 
 

  • Small Animals, Birds, Reptiles – We had to reduce the floor space devoted to this section, but we will still have an interesting selection to meet your needs, and of course all the supplies you need to keep these guys happy.

  • Services – We still offer small animal and bird boarding, and our Adoption Bulletin Board, but we are considering adding new services like Home Delivery to include grooming pick up and return, Home Aquarium Care and Setup, Pet Sitting and Home Care, Veterinary Care Affiliation, and general Pet Boarding. If you have some thoughts about these services, or others that you might want, I would be pleased to hear from you. Just click here.

  • Spaces - We have sacrificed the cluttered, family pet store look for a more efficient, well lighted, better organized floor plan. There was something about tripping over cages, animals running loose and knocking things off the shelves that gave Just Pets some character. But, the new floor plan, lighting and shelving looks much better and is more efficient.  We hope to have our new wooden floor installed soon which, I think, will make Just Pets a great place to work and shop.... Please send me your comments.

 

 

    

  • Tropical Fish - We have upgraded our fish section with a modern display tank system that will help us offer you a larger variety of healthy, colorful tropical fish...check it out.

 

      
   
Regards,