Pets Corner facts for kids
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| Private limited company | |
| Industry | Retail |
| Founded | Haywards Heath, United Kingdom (1968) |
| Founder | Mark & Sandra Richmond |
| Headquarters | , |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Dean Richmond Steven Defaye Simon Forrest |
| Products | Pet supplies |
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Number of employees
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1050 |
Pets Corner UK Ltd is a chain of stores in the United Kingdom. They sell special pet products and offer services for pets. You can find natural pet foods, toys, and treatments there.
Pets Corner mainly focuses on dogs and cats. But they also have items for small animals, reptiles, birds, and fish. This includes both tropical and coldwater fish.
The company started as a family business in 1968. Mark and Sandra Richmond opened the first store in Haywards Heath. Today, their son, Dean Richmond, runs the company. Pets Corner now has over 150 stores and is still growing!
Pets Corner is part of a bigger group called Pet Family. This group also includes animal hospitals (veterinary practices), dog grooming salons, and dog day care centers. They even have their own pet food brands.
Pets Corner cares about its employees. They want their staff to be the best trained in the pet industry. They train about 300 staff members every month. This training includes over 900 different lessons, even pet first aid!
The main office for Pets Corner is in Crawley, West Sussex, in the United Kingdom. This office has teams for things like accounting, online services, and staff training. It also has a new store and a Doodley Dogs day care center.
Pets Corner grew a lot over the years. In 2008, they opened stores inside several Wyevale Garden Centres. In 2016, they bought another pet store chain called PamPurred Pets. This added 51 new stores to Pets Corner. This made them the second largest pet retailer in the UK.
Contents
How Pets Corner Started
Pets Corner began in 1968. Mark and Sandra Richmond bought a small shop in Haywards Heath, Sussex. They paid £2,000 for it. Both of them had worked on farms and owned many pets. They used their knowledge to create a local place for animal lovers.
The business became very popular. In the 1970s, they moved to a bigger building. In 1983, they opened their second store in Hove.
In 1989, Mark and Sandra’s son, Dean, joined the business. He was only 15 years old. Dean worked as a sales advisor. For 10 years, he managed the Hove and Haywards Heath shops. He also helped his parents open more stores every two to three years.
Growing with Garden Centres
A big step for Pets Corner was opening their first store inside a garden center. This happened in Brighton in 1992. During this time, they developed many of their sales ideas. These ideas helped them grow even more.
In 1998, Dean Richmond took over the business. At that time, it was a chain of seven stores.
Pets Corner opened more stores in garden centers in 1999. This was approved by Nicholas Marshall, who was the CEO of Country Gardens. When Wyevale bought Country Gardens in 2000, Pets Corner's plans to open more garden center stores paused. But in 2008, Nicholas Marshall became the CEO of Wyevale. Then, Pets Corner quickly started opening more stores in Wyevale Garden Centres again.
Expanding During Tough Times
The Great Recession (a time of economic difficulty) actually helped Pets Corner. In 2009, new store locations became available to rent. Because of the economic crisis, these places were cheaper to get. This allowed Pets Corner to keep growing.
Pets Corner also decided to offer veterinary care. This was to give customers a better experience. In 2015, The Pet Practice Veterinary Surgery joined the Pets Corner family. This animal hospital offers services like check-ups, vaccinations, and surgeries. You can now find these veterinary practices inside some Pets Corner stores.
Big Changes in 2016
The year 2016 was very important for Pets Corner. They bought their competitor, PamPurred Pets. This added 51 new stores to their chain. Also in 2016, Dogwood, the UK’s first natural grooming spa, was started by Julie Finlay. Dogwood joined Pets Corner in 2017. They opened their first grooming spa inside the Pets Corner Camberley store. Today, Dogwood grooming spas are in many Pets Corner stores across the country.
In 2017, Pets Corner launched Petfoodexpert.co.uk. This is a website where pet owners can compare different pet foods. They can check how healthy the food is. The site also lets food makers share details about their ingredients. It shows information about how easy the food is to digest and if it causes allergies. This helps make the pet food industry more open and honest.
In February 2018, Pets Corner announced great success. Their sales were growing, and the company was expanding a lot. This showed that Pets Corner was a leader in the pet industry.
In 2020, Pets Corner moved to a much larger distribution center. This 43,000 square foot building is in Handcross, West Sussex. It helps them manage their products and supplies better.
In 2021, Pets Corner bought Scampers. Scampers is an award-winning pet store in Cambridgeshire. It still uses its original name.
Pets Corner in the Media
Pets Corner has appeared on radio and TV shows. In 2014, they were on Channel 4’s Undercover Boss UK. They were also featured on BBC Radio 4’s The Bottom Line, in an episode called Pets Mean Pounds.
