Special Report: Pet Stuff

Special Report

Pet Stuff

Founders and owners Giovanni and Lisa Senafe have continued to be industrious pet industry veterans since Bentley’s Pet Stuff inception in 2008. Bentley’s has steadily progressed over the years and in turn has become a top retail competitor in the industry and throughout North America.

The founding story begins in 2008 when the Senafes lost two cats to illness, and this inspired the couple to look into what they were feeding their animals. They soon realized the ingredient list was filled with things they couldn’t pronounce and had never heard of.

Lisa Senafe felt that buying the highest prices food was the best option for their animals. Once the couple realized that was not necessarily the case, they became motivated to enter the pet industry to help pet owners who might be in a similar situation as them. The couple founded the company with a mission of helping pet owners find the right and healthy high-quality food solutions for their pets.

Lisa Senafe mentioned, “We wanted to create a store where we’ll do the research for you.” This idea became the center stone for the company in the hopes that the consumer doesn’t have to worry or spend hours doing research since the company has dedicated their time to ensuring all food options sold are of the highest quality.

In the hopes of sharing what they had discovered, the couple opened their first store in Arlington Heights, IL, which is also their hometown. Unique to Bentley’s, the owners have a strong belief that animals need a variety of foods to remain healthy, which is why the Senafes encourage their consumers to rotate, mix and add fresh ingredients to their pets’ daily diets.

These concepts helped launch the company into expanding its presence throughout North America through new store openings, partnerships, mergers and acquisitions.

Acquisitions and Expansions

The first store was known as Bentley’s Corner Barkery, and in 2015, after an investment from entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis, Bentley’s began expanding and acquiring several locations.

In August 2017, Bentley’s Pet Stuff had been working to open 19 locations in the Milwaukee market under the guidance of Lemonis. At this point, the company had 395 employees across seven markets and nearly 80 stores.

In 2018, the rapid expansion had continued when the company acquired four Muttz Pet Goods and Gifts locations in Colorado. Bentley’s, at the time, had

made it a point during acquisitions to keep team members and owners on board as collaborators. Muttz Pet Foods and Gifts’ owner Kim Morgan maintained her presence in the business as her missions and beliefs aligned with the company. Around the same time, the company announced its acquisition of Green Pawz in Michigan and kept owner Lisa Pearce on board as well as many of the employees. By the start of 2018, Bentley’s had more than 100 stores across 13 states. Bentley’s Pet Stuff has a focus on providing services to its consumers in select locations. In 2018, the company remodeled several stores to focus on grooming services. “We saw the need and demand for grooming in our areas and a lot of our stores have some extra space in the back room or on the sales floor that we can carve that out for,” Lisa Senafe said. “It’s definitely something that we are doing and considering a lot of our stores. Lisa Senafe, Co-Founder of Pet Stuff America with Bentley, who inspired the flagship store, Bentley's Corner Barkery/Photo courtesy of Lisa Senafe Going forward, as we open new stores, that is a component we’re looking to add in right way so we don’t have to go back and add it later. Our customers were actually very vocal about it too, saying ‘you guys should do this.’ We heard it from enough stores that we looked into it a little bit deeper. It was a collage of information that started coming in that we were like this is an opportunity that we could be an added benefit to our customers as well.” The rapid expansion came to a halt in 2019. Bentley’s Pet Stuff had announced it closed all of its stores in Indiana and Ohio and some stores in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri, which was r Cont'd on Pg. 18

r From Pg. 16 approximately 17 locations. According to media reports, the closures were due to the lack of resources to effectively operate all of the new stores that had been added to the Bentley’s footprint.

Today, the company has 61 stores, and has recently made new partnerships and moves within the industry, which further solidify its strong presence as a top retail competitor. The company's latest partnership with EarthWise will catapult Pet Stuff to more than 100 stores. "We have actually been Pet Stuff America since October 2015," Giovanni said. "That was when we partnered with Marcus Lemonis and quickly knew we would try to be more than Bentley’s in Illinois. PSA is our holding company which now includes several brands of stores (Bentley’s, Dee-O-Gee, Protein for Pets, Green Paws, etc), our partnership with Earthwise Pet, a warehouse and our first product Heather’s Heroes."

In May 2021 the company acquired Dee-O-Gee, a leading pet franchise. The founders of Dee-O-Gee became directors of Pet Stuff Franchising and are said to be overseeing daily operations for the locations.

An Inside Look

Recently the company partnered with Earthwise, and while taking a look at how the partnership transpired, Giovanni Senafe touched upon the long-standing relationship and friendship the companies have had.

“We have been friends with Michael [Seitz] for years and have always had a mutual respect for each other and helped each other many times," Giovanni said. "As our focus switched to employee owned stores and franchising, we first acquired the Dee-O-Gee chain, which added an additional service of doggie day care and a fantastic pet services management software Pointr.io. After that, it was natural to think “why learn it all, when you can partner with one of the best out there?” The reasons for Earthwise was support, economies of scale and opportunity. They have

been singularly focused on supporting franchisees for 10+ years and we have been focused on products, self-distribution and the ownership of stores. The combination allows both sides to focus on the expertise which will add value to existing/new franchisees, corporate owned stores and independent stores looking to become part of something with more support, better margin and a warehouse solution to help with minimums.”

When investing in a partnership, Bentley’s and Earthwise looked at their values and dedication to pet owners, which aligned on all aspects, making the decision to join forces a no-brainer.

“I think if you know Michael, his partner Dan and my wife Lisa, their values couldn’t be more aligned," Giovanni said. "Same dedication to the best for pets and pet owners. Same commitment to the customer and in now both of our cases, the Franchise Partner and employees. I think the overall goal is to make owning or running a neighborhood pet store as fun, successful and impactful as possible. The goal is to continue to provide opportunity to people to be their own boss in one of the best industries to be in. For PSA, our goal has always been to keep as many doors open as possible in our industry but we can’t buy all the stores that call us to sell. These stores have many reasons for selling, whether it is for retirement, leases ending or usually just feeling alone, so having a full suite of services/ support we can offer those stores, may be a better answer than selling or closing down for them." Sharing a focus on all-natural, premium products and supplies, each retailer brings various aspects to the table when it comes to the partnership. Earthwise will add grooming services to Bentley’s locations, and according to media reports, the retailers are planning on partnering with other service providers to offer pet sitting, dog walk-

ing and more.

“The company right now is focused on services,” said Giovanni. “The DeeO-Gee brand is our first foray into doggie daycare and we believe services are critical for any neighborhood pet store to thrive. On top of that is the same story ‘How do you make the customer’s 85th visit as good as their first visit?’ We are lucky that customer service, education and gratitude can usually outlast disruption. Not saying it is easy, but it is what makes a company sustainable in any market conditions.”

Looking Ahead

Through the various acquisitions, partnerships and mergers, the Pet Stuff franchise has grown immensely over the years. The company has learned a lot through the ups and downs and has bright future ahead. According to Giovanni, Bentley’s will be put in the best possible to grow and thrive.

“Obviously, the integration and execution of our Earthwise partnership is top of mind," Giovanni said. "We also have several acquisitions to complete and then our continuous focus is on putting our stores in the best possible position to thrive. 2022 will be a lot of acquisitions, private label focus—we need to control our own destiny more—and new franchises coming onboard."

Photo courtesy of Lisa Senafe