Fins, Furs & Feathers Pet Center
Sandord, N.C.
Chuck Connelly, owner

How’s business?

It’s a proverbial roller coaster ride right now. You take what you can get. It’s hard to compare last year to this; it’s not really apples and apples for us. Last year, I had a manager that drastically affected sales. Probably overall, it’s the same all in all or a little bit down. Mostly, I think that’s because of people not having jobs. In the state of North Carolina, the government issues Visa cards for unemployment instead of unemployment checks. The cards have the state seal on them, and I’ve noted seeing a lot of those come in lately. I think unemployment has drastically affected pet spending, at least in my area. Every week or two, I see another local business close down. Sometimes, it seems like there’s no consistency in how business is going for anyone.

Have you seen any new trends?

At least as far as my customers go, people are taking care of what they have but not actively pursuing new pets. In this industry, if someone looses a pet, we loose a customer for life—or at least the lifespan of the pet…until they bring new life into the household. So, it’s imperative that we bring in new customers and keep people buying new animals. Right now, people have to be conscientious with their spending.

They’re spending what they have to on the pets they already have but aren’t really going above or beyond.

Our fish tank sales are up, which my sales rep says is uncommon. But I think it’s because we’re kind of the only fish retailer in town. And we’re heavily customer service-oriented, so people know we can provide them with important information to successfully keep their fish.

I’m also selling a lot of premium pet foods for dogs. People spend way differently on their dogs than they do on their cats. But in mass-related stuff (basically anything people can find in Walmart), that’s where I’m taking the biggest hit. It’s hard for things like bird seeds, hamster shavings…even some dog foods—if they can pick it up in the pet aisle while they’re out shopping for other things. I try bringing in specialty items to differentiate my store. The manufacturers all say to capitalize on quality and knowledge. But it’s hard to compete with the convenience factor and the cost factor.

In my opinion, the manufacturers haven’t done anything to help independent retailers; the mass market doesn’t do anything to help the industry overall. It doesn’t help pet owners when they buy the wrong product because they don’t really know what to be buying for their pets.

When someone buys a fish tank and then tosses it in the trash a month later when the fish dies, it doesn’t help keep that customer in the long-term. Independent retailers are the better investment because our livelihood so depends on it. I’ve had this store now for about 20 years; I’m no spring chicken. And what I’ve seen is that it’s getting progressively harder over the years to compete. I focus on customer service, to really educate my customers on what they’re buying and why they should buy it. Knowledge is a price point and a service. People will come into your store, pick your brain for knowledge, and then run up the road to buy it somewhere else. These days, I’m working harder to make less because I spend so much time educating customers on items they end up buying elsewhere. It used to be a working formula, but it’s getting harder and harder to do. I don’t know how to change what I’m already doing [to improve profit]. Raising prices certainly doesn’t seem to help.

We’re known for our customer service. We’re not a destination location, but relocation takes effort and energy that we don’t have. And then there’s the added expense to pay rent and run in a new location. I do try to work up new ways to entice people, but I can’t afford things like paying for an insert in the newspaper a couple of times a month. I can’t compete with the big chains in advertising. My old co-op programs have left. It used to be the distributors offered co-ops about two times a year. But they can’t get anyone to commit their sales to add to the fliers.

Not enough manufacturers are stepping up to make sales the fliers. Our distributors are having to do it out of their own pockets to put one together for me. And I just wonder if manufacturers would say no if it was a big chain retailer asking instead.

Do you sell livestock?

Yes. We’re a full-line pets and supplies retailer at 4,500 square feet. But for a while now, pet sales have been way down. --LH