Nnnooooo!!! This is the overwhelming response as word spread via social media on April 18 when PetSmart, Inc. announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Chewy, Inc., the online pet retailer with amazing discount prices.
It appears PetSmart has a strategy and combining the new companies will create a better company that will be better able to reach pet product consumers both online and in-store in North America. The deal is expected to close by the end of PetSmart’s 2017 fiscal quarter.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, PetSmart president and chief executive officer stated
“PetSmart strives to be the trusted partner to pet parents and pets in every moment of their lives. We are focused on improving our customers’ experience in-store and online as we continue to execute against our long-term strategic initiatives. Chewy’s high-touch customer e-commerce service model and culture centered around a love of pets is the ideal complement to PetSmart’s store footprint and diverse offerings. Together, PetSmart and Chewy will provide the most convenient customer experience to a wider base of pet parents across every channel.”
Chewy fans aren’t so sure the merger will benefit their pets or their wallets. They have some of the cheapest prices in the pet food industry. Coupled with super fast delivery (including order accuracy) and excellent customer service, Chewy, founded by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day in 2011, is one website shared by pet owners as being the one go-to company for all of their pets needs.
What’s happening is the merger of PetSmart, with over 1,500 physical stores with Chewy, an online-only company. Ryan Cohen told Yahoo
“Since we started Chewy, we have been dedicated to understanding and satisfying the evolving needs of our customers to deliver the highest quality pet products and customer service. Combining our strong e-commerce expertise with PetSmart’s best-in-class infrastructure, footprint and breadth of offerings including services will help us ‘wow’ our customers even more.”
Ryan will continue to lead Chewy after closing, as the company will operate largely as an independent subsidiary of PetSmart. Hopefully, the companies will continue to prosper and to do this they must deliver the most competitive prices combined with consumer convenience.
The acquisition is said to be the biggest in e-commerce history at a cost of $3.35 billion.
How do the readers feel about the merger of PetSmart and Chewy? I hope nothing changes, service-wise, as Chewy is about as good as they come on prices and their quick shipping.
Elisa
Source 1
As I said before, they are mutually incompatible business models. I don’t see an upside at all. The online business will fail to provide decent service and pricing it succeeded at. It’s buying out the competition, bleeding it for what it’s worth then dumping it in a few years when it’s dead. Mark my words. GEEZE this infuriates me!
Article: Certified Cat Behaviorist Exam
Hello! It is nice to be a part of the community again now that I am just one week from graduating vet tech school. I would like to share another certification I went for this week which requires a veterinary technician degree to apply for. I applied to become a certified cat behaviorist which entailed a whole lot more than I thought that it would at first.
You can apply to be a cat behaviorist through the IAABC which is the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants. I cannot speak much about the exam, but I had to write 3 case studies about cat behavior which ended up being well of 10,000 words total. The hard part is that they give you the topics to write about and a sheet of criteria you absoultely have to hit while writing your case studies. The case studies also have to be cases that you have handled personally and cannot be made up.
I also had to answer 4 scenario questions and some other short answer questions which used some pretty impressive psychology lingo. It requires an 80 percent on every part to pass the exam. I think there was 50 short answer questions total by the time I counted it all. I was just about to hit the floor when I answered the last question even though I knew a lot about cat behavior. The whole exam was just mentally exhausting because I was checking every little detail.
I honestly never knew that being a cat behaviorist was a career choice even though I had watched Jackson Galaxy on television. Or that the exam would actually be harder than nearly any exam I took in vet tech school. My goal is to work at a cat only shelter or clinic so this is an important goal of mine. I am going to help my local shelters by offering free assistance toward preventing cats coming back to the shelter for behavioral problems if I pass and other cool things.
If everything goes well, I will be a certified cat behaviorist this upcoming week. If not, there is always next time!
Thanks for this Zach. It’s good. I publish it now. I am impressed!
What does ANY of that have to do with the pet store merger???
In all honesty I don’t order food from Chewy, I do Ollie (myollie.com) but, I have been auto shipping treats, supplements and other stuff from chewy. All things petsmart doesn’t carry. And I would buy leashes and harnesses from them occasionally because again petsmart’s selection on those items is laughable. The ones they make themselves are even more of a joke. Well they are when you have pitbulls and pitbull fosters. Those harness won’t hold up for very long and neither will the leashes they sell. And forget a dual clip leash they plain don’t have them, I’d checked 4 stores before ordering online.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Sasha.
NO NOOOOOOO NOOOOOOOOOOO. A SAD SAD DAY FOR THOSE WHO DONT LIKE PETSMART, THE CRAPPY CHOICE OF PRODUCTS THEY CARRY & WHO KNOW THEY WILL MAKE CHEWY SUCK!!!
I used Jet.com once. NEVER again. I had a $160 order. They charged my PayPal all at once. THEN they started taking out each part of the order AGAIN just before they shipped. THEN they put the money back into PayPal upon shipment. In other words, I got to the supermarket and found my PayPal had been drained and it took a week to get it all put back. Chewy.com never did anything like that and the prices were great. Petco orders were wrong 4 times last year so I stopped ordering from them. For what I order, Chewy has been the best deal when ordering online.
Chewy announced several months ago that they intended to become “brick and mortar”, but they never revealed the method.
I used Chewy for quite some time until their prices skyrocketed. They became more expensive than Petco or Petsmart, mainly because they never offered competitive discounts. Before I left them, I inquired several times as to whether they would price match or honor competitor coupons. Their answer was always, “No”.
I love Petsmart and get continuous coupons for $5 off $25 and $10 off $40 worth of merchandise. They, truly, reward and value their customers. I am never without coupons from them.
I think that this is a very smart move for both parties. And, hopefully it will work out.
Dee, Are you aware that PetSmart profits from the “declaws” for kittens and cats that are part of Banfield’s Wellness package? I would never support this practice, with my dollars.
Is Banfield owned by PetSmart?
Part of the Mars, Incorporated family of companies, Banfield owns clinics in the United States, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Founded in 1955, the company operates many of its 800 plus clinics inside PetSmart stores. Banfield is the largest privately owned veterinary practice in the United States.
I’m not sure. But we love Chewy. The cat’s go crazy when the boxes arrive. We have to get Cujo a treat so he doesn’t feel left out.
I don’t use Chewy only because they insist that deliver be at home. I can’t picture the debacle if someone left a box of pet food on my doorstep and we weren’t home. Their prices and selection are wonderful though.
I’ve never had to be home for a Chewy shipment!
Yup, Mars bought VCA DISGUSTING-
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-09/mars-expands-in-pet-care-with-9-1-billion-deal-for-vca
In 2015 VCA posted an article on declawing- as a LAST resort- NOT a NO-Resort article. This really sucks.
https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/declawing-cats-controversy-and-considerations
/wiki/Banfield_Pet_Hospital
Banfield Pet Hospital is a privately owned company based in Vancouver, Washington, United … PetSmart received rent and a share of the profits from the clinics
Banfield does “declaws” on kittens and cats as part of the “Wellness” package. Ugh! Petsmart benefits. I never support either one.
It wasn’t that long ago that Banfield was supposed to acquire VCA pet hospitals. Seems to be trend in here somewhere.