Albea,

I saw this on another dog site;


Animal Lovers Alarmed By 'Puppy Retail' Venture
by Sherry Morse

A group composed of retail veterans who were formerly involved with Gap and IKEA have started what they call "lifestyle stores" selling puppies in Boston.

The new venture, known as Woof & Company, plans to compete with private breeders selling purebred puppies and upscale accessories in what they describe as a distinct niche in the United States "pet industry."

Linda Povey, a partner in the consultancy that created the company, says of other chains like Petsmart and Petco, "We're not interested in going head-to-head selling dog food. Their strategy is high volume, low prices. We're a lifestyle store."

However, neither Petsmart nor Petco sell puppies. Instead, both stores provide pet adoption days for local animal welfare groups.

The two stores that the new company has opened in Boston-area malls, as well as the other stores they plan to add over the next two years, will feature puppies from Hunte Corporation, a Missouri puppy broker.

Hunte Corporation, which also exports dogs overseas, is the largest puppy broker in the United States. The company has been linked to a number of negligent pet stores and breeders such as the Ohio-based PETLAND, INC.

Over the last three years the United States Department of Agriculture has loaned the company more than $4 million for expansion and upgrades.

Woof & Company plans on pricing their puppies from $750 to $1800 with an average fifty-percent profit margin expected on each puppy.

Doug Jones, a former Gap, Inc. executive who has twenty-five years experience leading retail chains, commented, "There is no clear market leader in retail market for puppies."

Jones said he wants to leverage the unique store format of the new company to creatively merchandise and market puppies and supplies.

The news has been received with horror by animal advocates. Given the masses of dogs languishing in animal shelters across the nation who desperately need homes, and given the cruel conditions endured by mothers and pups in commercial breeders' puppy mills, animal advocates consider Woof & Company's pedigree puppy venture morally unacceptable.

"While selling high volume at low prices may have worked well with stores like Gap and IKEA, it does not fare well when the product is little puppies being mass produced under horrible circumstances by the commercial puppy mills who supply the likes of puppy pimp Hunte Corporation," was the comment of one concerned individual on a Web discussion forum about the proposed puppy stores.

Woof & Company is already building a database of puppies and owners and is planning on increasing marketing when the markets they are focusing on get a critical mass of stores.

Woof & Company's parent company, Meridian Venture (www.meridian-venture.com), can be contacted by phone at 610-254-2999, or by fax at 610-254-2996.

© 2004 Animal News Center, Inc.



I hope Boston Dog lovers give this company a very hard time
& try to discourage this stupid idea.