Industry Retail Website www.petland.com Founded 1967 | Subsidiaries Aquarium Adventure CEO Joe Watson (Nov 2005–) Type of business Pet Store | |
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Key people Ed Kunzelman, Founder and Chairman Headquarters Chillicothe, Ohio, United States Profiles | ||
Petland is a privately owned operator and franchisor of pet stores based in Chillicothe, Ohio. Ed Kunzelman founded the company in 1967. Petland currently operates 131 stores in the United States, and at least 63 in foreign markets including South Africa, Canada, Japan, China, Mexico, Brazil and El Salvador.
Contents
Shauna gesy shares some of the most commonly asked questions from petland guests
History
Petland was started in 1967 when Ed Kunzelman opened up his first store in Chillicothe, Ohio. The company originally owned and operated pet stores in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. In the early 1980s, Petland began expanding its presence in Canada and entered foreign markets.
By 2008, Petland had become a $50 million company with about 230 stores. Petland sells products and services worth about $300,000,000 in the United States, South Africa, Canada, Japan, and Mexico. The 2008 financial crisis and subsequent public relations issues have drastically affected Petland. Petland currently operates 84 domestic locations, down from over 140 stores just a few years ago. The company currently sells birds, fish, small animals, puppies, and kittens.
Aquarium Adventure
Aquarium Adventure is a wholly owned subsidiary of Petland. Ed Kunzelman was founded it in 1995, after working with Bill Wymard, a Petland franchisee and marine biologist, on developing a concept for an "aquatics only" store. They both saw that there was demand for a non-Petland branded aquatics-only pet store in major metro markets
Pets in the Classroom
Petland participates in the Pets in the Classroom program of the Pet Care Trust. This program was established to give teachers additional resources to acquire and care for classroom animals. Teachers can get grants for new animals, pet environments, food, and other supplies. This program started in 2010. As of July 2014, 40,111 grants had been issued.
Adopt-a-Pet
Under the Adopt-a-Pet program started in 1998, Petland staff work with animal shelters, animal rescue groups, and individual activists to place homeless animals including puppies, dogs, kittens, cats, and various small animals in homes. Many Petland locations use their storefronts to display these animals. This program also raises money for animal welfare organizations. This program has homed hundreds of thousands of pets. These pets receive basic veterinary care and vaccinations before being placed. In some cases, adoptive families are charged a small fee for de-sexing. Generally, intact pets are sent home with a certificate good for a free spay or neuter at a local veterinary clinic. Some Petland stores micro-chip all participating animals.
Animal welfare
Petland claims they do not source from "puppy mills." and obtain puppies from USDA-licensed and inspected breeders with clean records, hobby breeders with three or fewer breeding females, and animal rescue organizations. Many Petland locations only offer dogs from animal welfare organizations.