Market Focus: Los Angeles

Los Angeles

With a population of roughly 4 million people, Los Angeles is the largest city in California and has emerged as a major marketplace in the pet industry. There are 328 pet stores in the greater Los Angeles area and 161 different companies. Within the marketplace, the top three retailers (Petco, PetSmart and Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies) take up 35 percent of market, single-store retailers represent 38 percent, and the other leading retailers make up the remaining 27 percent. The marketplace has seen some growth since 2020 with an additional four pet specialty stores opening in Los Angeles and three new companies joining the market.

Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies

With a total of 18 locations, there are 17 Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies stores in the Los Angeles marketplace. The pet retailer takes up 5.18 percent of the market share. Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies started as a small feed store on Centinela Ave in Mar Vista founded and owned by Al Barnes. The company’s owner had a vision of starting his own city called Barnes City, and unfortunately, it only lasted for a year. The city became part of Los Angeles, and the original feed building was declared a historical landmark. Barnes turned the city hall into the first Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies location. The retailer changed hands multiple times during the next four decades, until Tom and Mieko Nakagawa bought it in 1974.

The couple passed the company on to their sons: Chris and Dwight Nakagawa. Now, Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies offers a variety of services: dog self-wash, dog training and dental care. Centinela Feed & Pet Supplies is known for its community outreach. The retailer focuses on giving back to the communities it serves through partnerships with Midnight Mission, the YMCA, Exceptional Children’s Foundation and through holding adoption events in-store to help animals find their forever homes.

Healthy Spot

Healthy Spot has a total of 20 stores with 16 located in the marketplace, which takes up 4.88 percent of the market share. The company was founded in 2007 by Andrew Kim and Mark Boonnark after the duo noticed several recalls in pet food categories.

“The main trend is this focus on improved health and wellness and quality standards for our pets,” said Boonnark. “That’s what we started within 2008, and our mission is that we’re committed to inspiring healthy pet lifestyles and everything that we do is leading to achieve that for our customers from the products we select and put on our shelves, to the services that we provide. We want to do so with care and quality and high standards in mind.”

Over the years, Healthy Spot has continued to expand its footprint throughout the market. In 2017, the company opened three locations at the same time: Silverlake, Beverly Grove and Downtown Los Angeles. At the time of the expansion, Healthy Spot had eight locations, and opening three stores at one time was a milestone for the company.

When it comes to Healthy Spot’s unique store experience, co-owners Kim and Boonnark have put emphasis on ensuring consumers receive the best treatment at each location.

“For us, our second core value is that it’s all about the experience, and we think it’s really important,” Kim said. “You can have the right products, the right service offering, but if you have the wrong approach with people, it doesn’t add up to much. We’re mindful of setting the stage for our staff members to shine. The thing that we do is

r From Pg. 6 whether it’s the visual aesthetic, the smell of our stores, we really want to invest in the individual and the training. Our reputation is that we have a deep knowledge of our product offering and our services, the reviews from customers are consistent.”

Pet Food Express

Pet Food Express is a California-based pet specialty retailer with a total of 64 stores. There are seven locations in the Los Angeles marketplace, which takes up 2.13 percent of the market share.

The company was founded in 1980 in San Francisco by Michael Levy. The business started as a small dog training business known as Pro-Train, but when Levy met Mark Witriol at a dog show, the dog training company ventured down a different path to create Pet Food Express. Witriol and Levy partnered in 1993 and opened the second Pet Food Express in San Leandro. Today, Pet Food Express offers a variety of high-quality food solutions including all-natural and holistic pet food, supplies and products.

In an interview with Pet Insight, Levy outlined the company’s priorities and business practices that have ensured Pet Food Express’ success. “We believe in putting pets, employees and customers first, and we conduct our business that way,” said Levy. “One example is our motto: ‘If we wouldn’t feed it to our pets, we won’t sell it for yours.’”

Regarding the 2020 lockdowns, Levy said the company’s success directly stemmed from its dedicated team. “We could not serve our customers without our incredible staff, so protecting our employees was a primary focus,” he said. “We completed the launch of same-day delivery and BOPIS in January 2020— fortunately, just in time for Covid-19. We have continued to improve our delivery efficiency, website design and online marketing with the goal of excelling as an omnichannel retailer.”

The Dog Bakery

The Dog Bakery was founded with the intention of producing the dog treats of the highest quality. The company has been baking for more than 10 years and has five stores located in the Los Angeles marketplace. The company’s bakeries feature ovens that are constantly working to create fresh, quality and delicious treats. The company welcomes visitors from all over the world at all of its locations. Every ingredient is handpicked, all-natural, and free from artificial elements. The Dog Bakery offers a wide variety of dog baked goods for every occasion such as birthdays and anniversary celebrations.

The Urban Pet

The Urban Pet has five brick-andmortar stores, all located in Los Angeles. The company takes up 1.52 percent of the market share and features more than 80 brands of food, selected beds, collars, leashes and bowls. The company also offers dog training classes, pet photography, vaccination and dental clinic services.

According to the owner, Zack Grey, the Los Angeles marketplace is extremely diverse and versatile. “The diversity of Los Angeles reflected by its ethnic, economic and social demographic allows for retailers to express versatility,” Grey said. “Many consider pets as children and people are more apt to allocate a more generous budget to pet supplies. The opportunity to offer a wide range of products and price points was attractive. I believe it’s the diversity of Los Angeles and the market that separates the city from most. Each of the five stores has its own demographics and being 100 percent owner gives me the opportunity to be flexible in the products we offer. Although the stores carry many of the same products, each has unique items and customers.”

Grey continued. “In South Pasadena where it’s a very family-oriented city, we sell a lot of small animal supplies, bird, reptile and rabbit—whereas the Beverly store carries only a fraction. Beverly has a much higher density of ‘disposable’ income so the store carries a large selection of higher price point items such as designer beds, collars and bowls. These items don’t move so well in other stores, so their selection is limited. Silver Lake location sells almost equal dog and cat sup-

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Los Angeles and the market that separates the city from most.” ly opposite of those — Zack Grey, The Urban Pet shoppers at the West Hollywood store.” “Los Angeles is listed as one of the top five most diverse cities in the US, and that is definitely reflected by our customer base,” Grey said. “These diversities afford us the creative freedom to experiment with many innovative products with the confidence we will have a customer. As a rule, my experience is pet owners in Los Angeles have a greater knowledge and do more research than most. Customers come to the stores inquiring about foods with an understanding of what they want. It’s important to have a welltrained team that is prepared to answer questions and there are times that we have been introduced to new products by the customer. People are also moving away from the chain stores searching for alternatives that have a clear understanding of their needs and how to provide knowledgeable information to help them make the right selections. “

Bone Sweet Bone

There are currently four Bone Sweet Bone locations—all of which are located within the Los Angeles marketplace taking up 1.22 percent of market share. Bone Sweet Bone was founded in 2007 by Santiago Ramirez. The company offers alternative and conventional pet care services, and each location features an indoor and outdoor daycare area. Bone Sweet Bone also provides overnight boarding, grooming service, accessories and treat products. According to the company, Bone Sweet Bone was founded on the mission of providing a safe and friendly atmosphere for pets whose owners are looking for better solutions for their dogs while they are away.