Maxi Zoo France targets 50+ new store openings in 2024

Maxi Zoo has expansion as one of its top priorities for the coming years. The pet retail chain currently has shops in 80 out of 96 departments in mainland France and aims to increase this over the next few years.

“Our ambition is to be close to all French pet owners. So every location which answers to this goal is interesting for us,” admits Maxi Zoo CEO Jan Wejbrandt in a conversation with GlobalPETS.

Maxi Zoo aims to close the year with 40 new stores nationwide—18 already opened in the first half of 2023, and 22 additional stores are expected to be launched by December. Next year, the French pet retailer has a target of 50 new stores.

“Our goal for 2028 is 600 stores in France, so we will be at 20 minutes maximum by car of each French pet owner,” adds Wejbrandt.

The retailer is currently testing a new area dedicated to the health of dogs and cats, bringing together products that meet specific health needs depending on a pet’s pathology or age. For now, market testing is taking place in 5 stores, and GlobalPETS learned that they aim to roll out the service to the largest Maxi Zoo shops across France.

Change in consumer behavior 

Wejbrandt highlights that Maxi Zoo customers prefer buying food and other essentials to toys and accessories.

“Concerning food, many customers are turning to food products that are a little less expensive, and therefore less premium, but which are still as good as possible in terms of quality,” he adds. 

The pet retailer is also seeing a trend among French pet parents to base their purchasing decisions on promotional offers while the demand for toys, technological products, and accessories is declining. 

Robust sales

According to insights shared by the retailer, Maxi Zoo’s optimistic targets come after a good performance in the first 6 months of 2023.

The company turnover was €250 million ($263.3M), and revenue increased by 30% from January to June 2023. In-store transactions rose by 18%, with almost 6 million checkouts recorded.

Revenue increased by 90% through their e-commerce channels as more than 325,000 orders were processed in the first 6 months of 2023.

In France, Maxi Zoo posted €427 million ($449.7M) in revenue in 2022 and is confident it will surpass last year’s performance in 2023.