Petland | Brazil

From Ohio to Brazil

Inspired by Disneyland’s entertainment philosophy, Petland was founded in Ohio in 1967 with the idea of enhancing interactivity between humans and animals. In the mid-1970s, the company began its expansion process via franchises. Currently, the brand has a global positioning with a presence in nineteen countries. All operations outside the US are carried out by local entrepreneurs.

Third largest market

Petland launched in Brazil in May 2014 and quickly expanded. Brazil is the world’s third largest market in terms of turnover, with the second largest population of dogs and cats on the planet. It is growing at an average of 7% a year and has the largest number of veterinary graduates in the world.

Veterinarians as shop owners

What is exceptional about Brazil is the fragmentation of its market. It has more than 40,000 shops, 95% of which are operated by owners of only one or two units. Nearly 50% of these shop owners are veterinarians. The market is therefore lacking in terms of management and training, which gives Petland an excellent opportunity to be part of the process of consolidation of the Brazilian pet industry.

Petland has visited more than 1,500 shops in fifteen different states. ”The culture of going into the field is part of our DNA,” says Rodrigo Albuquerque, CEO of Petland in Brazil.

The franchise operates with a business model consisting of four pillars:

• service based on providing the customer with information
• a real shopping experience with spaces for people and animals
• social responsibility, working with NGOs for both animal protection and humans
• fair price policy

The company has a comprehensive support package for franchisees that includes:

• seven brick-and-mortar Petland universities
• one online university (Extranet)
• PSP – the Petland Support Program, with consultants that visit stores, issue performance reports and provide guidance to franchisees
• management tools: dashboards integrated into the company system, application for the franchisee and several CRM tools
• events and sales conventions

Shops in Brazil are small (100 sqm), medium (400 sqm) or large (1,500 sqm), and operate in all types of areas, classes A to D, in shopping streets and indoor shopping centres. This enormous expansion horizon has allowed the company, after only four years of operation, to become the largest chain in Brazil with 85 units in thirteen states. Their goal is 400 shops by 2022.

With the Petland operation in Brazil performing so well, Brazilian entrepreneurs are now searching for new opportunities across Latin America.

Veterinary clinics

Another franchise company, Dra. Mei – Rede de Clínicas Veterinárias, has now been set up to operate within Petland units or independently. There is much room for professionalisation of veterinary medicine in Brazil. The new company only recently started up and already has five units. The goal is to have 250 clinics throughout Brazil by 2022.

Shop brand and logistics

Another innovation about to be introduced is products under the brand name Pet Choice: cat litter, toilet pads, snacks and beds will be sold in the pet shops. Franchisees can also make use of LogLand, a distribution centre for product storage.

The diagram shows all the companies and operations within the Brazilian Petland group.