The Whiskers ’n Paws fascia from Pets at Home is evidence of flexible thinking that should be a given in retail but frequently isn’t.

There’s a new Barkers coming to Farnham in Surrey soon, and the quaint stockbroker town will probably be the better for it.

Pets at Home

Pets at Home

Pets at Home

In case Barkers has slipped your mind – which may well be the case because there are just four other branches – it’s a shop for dogs that is part of the Pets at Home empire.

It’s actually been around since 2014 when the first store opened in Wilmslow. Since then, the Pets At Home tail has wagged the Barkers dog and, although this remains a niche offering, it has proved sufficiently successful to quadruple in size in around 20 months.

Pet shop convenience

With this Pets at Home history lesson at an end, it is now time to point out that the new pup (or kitten) on the block from the retailer is called Whiskers ’n Paws, a novel format that opened recently in Dorking. This is different from Barkers inasmuch as it is intended to be a pet shop convenience store.

It’s the kind of thinking that has led the grocers to open very large stores, such as Tesco Extra, and very small ones – think Tesco Express. Both store types have their place and even given the wobbly performance of grocery in general over the past 12 months, both ends of the spectrum have proved their worth.

“It is to Pets at Home’s credit that it has looked at what others have done in an almost entirely unrelated retail sector and decided that it might work for pets”

John Ryan

It is to Pets at Home’s credit that it has looked at what others have done in an almost entirely unrelated retail sector and decided that it might work for pets. How often have you been caught short without dog chow for Rex or a treat for Mr Tiddles on the way home?

Or maybe you thought perhaps that it might be a good idea to have insurance against your pet getting something unpleasant that will be followed by an equally unpalatable vet’s bill?

If you’re not a pet owner, the answers will be never, and no, but if mutts or moggies are your thing then this will seem a pretty sensible move by a retailer that is usually characterised by warehouse-style stores on the edge of town.

New market

Others have made similar moves in retail, with Dixons, for example, having large and small stores with edited ranges that appeal to daily shoppers and those intent on something larger. It takes a certain amount of panache however to imagine that you can get away with a pet convenience store.

“It takes a certain amount of panache to imagine that you can get away with a pet convenience store”

John Ryan

It will probably work though and may also give this retailer access to the dog-walking community in a way that might not formerly have been the case.

Three woofs therefore for a retailer that thinks beyond the basket.