You nailed it. These days, a store hast to have a specific service, or be a speciality store to survive... This saddens me, I practically grew up working in a mom and pop, and then worked in the "pet industry" after that...Originally Posted by syearout
I too have a good friend who owns a small privately owned petshop here in Derby, KS. His strategy is just to stay specialized enough that Petsmart and Petco can't really complete. If you are the only place around to get most of the things you sell alot of, then you don't have to fight the big guys. It also doesn't hurt that Wichita has an ordnance against selling pythons, and he's 5min south of Wichita. Plus him and his guys, and girl, are so knowledgeable, and personable its hard not to become a loyal customer. On the stuff that you could get at the bigger places he stays pretty competitive too.
Down South: just remember that PetCo's Smarts, PetLands, ETC will run schematics on areas, so if your town is up and coming... then there is a good chance that one of the Box chains will have an eye on the location. My best advice, be original with an educated staff... that will be your best defence. Because, unfourtantly, you can't beat a Box Chain's prices. Just sad truth...
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