Pet Product News - January 2016

GROOMERS HELPER, DOG
FASHION SPA WELCOME
NEW DEALER

Groomers Helper of Margate City, N.J., and New York-based Dog Fashion Spa announced that they have brought another Elite dealer online.

Furry Friends Holistic Pet Spa in Lancaster, N.Y., will be representing the Dog Fashion Spa line of professional dog grooming products and retail accessories. The family-owned and -operated business focuses on pet grooming and pet wellness, and carries holistic foods, treats, toys and natural remedies.

“We are truly thrilled to have
another family join ours,” said
Chuck Simons, creator of the
Groomers Helper and designer
of the Elite program. “When we
find wonderful operations like
Furry Friends Holistic Pet Spa
that treat their customers and
their pets like members of their
own family, we want them to
be a part of ours as well.”
The Dog Fashion Spa Elite
Dealership Program allows
grooming salons to use the
pets they groom as their top
sales-puppies by using the Dog
Fashion Spa products in the
back of the house, and then hav-
ing them packaged in attractive
retail portions and available in
a professional, lighted display
in the retail area. Elite dealers
make 100 percent markup on
these products as well as on
the fashion and gift items that
round out the complete Dog
Fashion Spa line.

Additional Elite dealerships are available.

Dog Fashion Spa luxury products are made in the USA with the finest natural ingredients. For more information, visit dogfashionspa.com.

REMARKABOWL CELEBRATES
TWO-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Remarkabowl LLC, a manufacturer and distributor of sports-themed merchandise for parties, kids and pets in Vancouver, Wash., celebrated its two-year anniversary October 2015.

Even before the company
launched its sports-themed
Pet-Pro bowls at SuperZoo in
Las Vegas in 2014, planners for
the 35th Annual Sports Emmy
Awards had seen them online
and featured Remarkabowl
in the gift bags for the awards
show. The pet industry took no-
tice as well, and Remarkabowl’s
Pet-Pro bowls were named One
of the 10 Coolest New Prod-
ucts of 2014 by The I Love Dogs
website (now iHeartDogs.com)
and One of the Best Products
From the Sports Licensing and
Tailgate Show by The Big Pitch,
and the bowls were on The 2014
Doggie Christmas List of Must
Haves by Trusty Tails, received
The 2015 Smart Design Award
from the 2015 Hong Kong
Housewares Fair and were fea-
tured on DogChannel.com.

Remarkabowl has teamed up with several U.S. distributors over the past year, including Coast 2 Coast Wholesale Pet Products in Garden Grove, Calif., Jacks/JMI Pet Supply in Washington Court House, Ohio, and Aloha Natural Pet Supply in Vancouver, Wash. The company also recently added Anipet An-

INDUSTRY NEWS

TV’s ‘The Profit’ Gives Pet
Stores a Business-Saving
Makeover and Sets Them
on the Road to Expansion

The year ended on a real up- swing for Chicago area pet business Bentley’s Corner Barkery. The seven-store chain, which sells healthful pet foods and wholesome treats, was founded by Lisa and Giovanni Senafe.

In November, they were featured on the hit TV series “The Profit,” hosted by entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis. Lemonis came up with a business plan to strengthen their business and took a 40 percent equity stake in the company.

Then Bentley’s reached out and bought the seven-store Pet Stuff chain to expand its reach in the Chicago area.

It is an interesting turnaround. Bentley’s had sought help from “The Profit” partly because it had expanded too fast and was struggling with everything from cash flow to employee stress.

Lemonis—who is the “ Business Whisperer”—laid down conditions before putting money into the company.

He worked with Bentley’s
to streamline the pricing struc-
ture, control inventory, develop
brand consistency and expand
the product offering across a
greater range of price points. He
also redesigned the merchandis-
ing to put customers in front of
higher-margin items before they
reached the essentials like food.

Said Lemonis: “Becoming involved in this vibrant and creative natural pet food business is an exciting new opportunity. While the healthy product offerings speak for themselves, their business process was failing due to lack of consistency and clear leadership, hindering their success.

“This is a great example of
why it’s the combination of
people, process and product
that are essential to a successful
business model,” he said.

Lisa credits Lemonis’ advice with turning Bentley’s around and making the acquisition of Pet Stuff possible.

“Over the past few months
we have experienced tremen-
dous growth based on having
the proper people, process and
product at our facilities, and
we look forward to having the
knowledgeable staff and re-
sources of Pet Stuff to help us
expand our Bentley’s Corner
Barkery brand,” she said.

“By acquiring the existing Pet Stuff locations, we are excited to now serve a broader area of the Chicago market with our healthy pet products,” she added.

Previous owner Jason San-chez opened the first Pet Stuff store in 2005 and enjoyed great reviews on the store’s quality, natural pet products and same-day delivery throughout Chicago neighborhoods.

Bentley’s Corner Barkery
sells dog and cat food; specialty
pet food brands such as Fromm,
Orijen, Zignature, Honest Kitch-
en and Stella & Chewy’s can be
obtained from all Bentley’s Cor-
ner Barkery locations. In addi-
tion, seasonal products and hol-
iday gift items are available for
purchase throughout the year.

“The Bentley’s Corner Barkery brand is not your average pet store. Though we compete with the big-box retailers, customers shop with us because of our variety of healthy pet products at affordable prices with unmatched customer service,” said Giovanni. “With Marcus’ direction, we feel that our infrastructure now has a great new foundation, and we are looking forward to future growth and productivity.”