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Originally Posted by Mleeja
I am not aware of any small pet supply stores in the Buffalo Ridge area. There is a store located in the Spanish Plaines Shopping Plaza. I am concerned about all the businesses in this plaza as the Publix is being remodeled.
Back to your original point. Small stores need to find their niche to compete against big box stores. Ace Hardware provides exceptional customer service and does well against Lowes and Home Depot. If the pet store can provide excellent customer service and be competitive on price, they should make it.
The real threat to both small and big box stores is the online business. For example, we just purchased Science Diet Dog Food from Chewy.com for $9.00 less that the cost at Petco. Shipping was $4.00 and provided second day delivery. If we had spent $3.00 more, the shipping would have been free. Point is when "the boss" says we need dog food it is much easier to just log into Chewy.com and place my order rather than take the cart or car to Petco.
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There is an excellent pet supply store just down the road from Walmart--Paws For A Moment. I don't consider Walmart to be a threat to the small pet stores because they sell low-quality pet food. But PetSmart has some higher-end food that could give this place a run for its money.
As for online shopping, it is giving every brick & mortar store a problem. Some people, however, prefer having a store to walk into and browse. I hope these smaller pet supply stores survive the onslaught of the chains into the area.