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| A free $10 card on the left, a free ball in middle, and Terrierman's Starbucks card on the right. |
The old Blockbuster video store across the street and up on the next corner from where I often have coffee has converted over to an "Unleashed by PETCO" store.
Unleashed by PETCO is the small-footprint PETCO store division that began in 2009 in California, and seeks to gobble up all the small independent pet stores that it can. The pet store that is most likely to suffer with this new arrival is the small independent-operator store tucked into the corner about 10 stores up from Starbucks. This store has had very marginal business for a long time. Thought it never sold dogs or cats, it used to have rabbits, some birds, a few hamsters, feeder mice, feeder goldfish, and a few snakes, but now it's just expensive dog food, expensive leashes, and chew toys of various kinds. Everything is over-priced and every time I go in, I am reminded of why I shop online. Ditto with Unleashed by PETCO, by the way. $32 for a plain 6-foot leather leash you can get for $7 online? Gimme-a-break!
On the upside, Unleashed hit me with a free $10 gift card and a ball coming through the door, and though I did not buy anything (maybe later), I give them a small plug here if for no other reason than it underscores the point I made earlier, which is that the pet store market is changing rapidly, and the small independent operators are being driven out by the mail-order and chain-store folks.
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1 comment:
Unleashed sells leashes...?/ Seems contraindicated . No thanks I will stick to "Mom and Pop" for as long as I can.. and of course.. the mom and Pop called my computer.
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