September has become an important month for indie pet stores. The month has become synonymous with Neighborhood Pet Store Day, a concept created by The Independent & Neighborhood Pet Retail Association (IndiePet), a nonprofit trade association for independent and neighborhood pet retailers, as well as product manufacturers, distributors and service providers.
IndiePet, which was established in November 2020 by and for independent pet retailers, held its first annual Neighborhood Pet Store Day on September 23, 2023. The event was modeled after “Small Business Saturday,” the shopping event created by American Express in 2010 to encourage people to support small, local businesses on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
Described as a national consumer awareness effort, Neighborhood Pet Store Day has become a fun and supported way to get the word out about the important role independent pet retailers play in the market, in their communities and for their customers.
“I think it’s a great way to recognize independent pet stores,” noted Heather Blum, owner of Petagogy, which has five retail locations in and around Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “They do a lot for their community. They’re destinations and resources for pet parents. We sometimes see pets for their entire lifespan. We’ve seen some of these pets go from pet or kitten to, unfortunately, the end of their life, and that’s significant. Independent pet stores can play a pretty big role in a pet owner’s life.”
Neighborhood Pet Store Day has become more than a day dedicated to independent pet retailers and the experience they provide their customers. Many retail participants have noticed an increase in both store traffic and sales for the event. In fact, the 2023 one-day event resulted in a whopping 350 percent increase that day versus an average Saturday and a 200 percent increase over Black Friday sales, according to Astro Loyalty.
Martin Tuttle, who has run Pet People of Los Gatos in California for 40 years, is a strong supporter of Neighborhood Pet Store Day, which he says has become one of the most significant events for his store. For the first year, he reached out to his top vendors to partner with the store for one-day sales specials. He also promoted the event on social media and such local outlets as Next Door and Pages.
“We got a terrific response,” he recalled. “We vowed to make it bigger for the second year, and we did it. We made it a larger community event. Not just a sale but a real happening. We did free food, hot dogs and ice cream. We did a wading pool for visiting dogs. Vendors showed up with tables to promote their stuff. We had community groups like the 4-H and the wildlife rescue group and rapid haven rescue and adoption group – they all had tables. It became more than just a sale; it became a community event.”
“An average day of sales [for his store] runs about $5,000,” he noted. “At last year’s Neighborhood Pet Store Day, we did over $28,000 in sales. It was extraordinary. It blew us away. That was the single biggest day of sales in the 40-year history of our store.”
For the 2025 edition of Neighborhood Pet Store Day, the event will be held on September 27. Champion Petfoods, Nulo, Open Farm and Vital Essentials are just a few of IndiePet’s manufacturer members who are sponsoring Neighborhood Pet Store Day and offering specials to help retailers provide an ultimate on-site experience for their customers. Offers and promotions will vary by location, with some retailers holding raffles and giving out gift cards.
With IndiePet’s goal being to help independent pet retailers compete in an increasingly challenging market, the association provides participating retailers with marketing support including social media images, posts and ideas for celebration.
Blum has some tips of her own that her fellow independent pet retailers might want to consider.
“My advice to retailers is to work with your fellow retailers in your area,” she explained. “There’s strength in numbers – that’s been our philosophy with IndiePet. We don’t have to be competitors. We can work together. We have other competitors, like Chewy and Amazon. We can look at other independents in our community as colleagues in some ways. This can be one day where we figure a way to get the news involved, get your local press involved – we’re all working together to promote this one day. Businesses, who are competitors, are partnering to draw attention to this one day. I think that’s cool. That’s what makes indies cool.”
Tuttle has his own message for his fellow independents who have never participated in Neighborhood Pet Store Day.
“There’s no reason that you can’t participate, whether you’re a single shop like me or have a half dozen stores,” he said. “There’s only good comes out of this. And it doesn’t have to be a giant event like we did. For a single store like us, it’s not just a sale day; it’s a community event. It’s drawing attention to the fact that an independent store like us relies on our community support. It’s up to us to show that support back. When we sponsor events through the rabbit rescue or the wildlife center, that’s how we can give back to our community as well.”
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