That title may need some explaining. But it’s clearly understood if you live in Austin, Texas, where the local expression is “Keep Austin Weird.” It’s a reference to the unique cosmopolitan outlook of native townsfolk versus the rest of the residents of this mostly conservative state.
Naturally, their pets need to be on the same wavelength as their owners, and that’s where Scott and Renae Click come in. The Clicks operate four Tomlinson’s Feed and Pets in Austin, and are fierce proponents of the shop locally movement, which ties in perfectly with keeping Austin “weird.”
The concept—buying from local businesses that have their own distinct personalities instead of impersonal big box stores--holds a prominent place on their web site, and in their outlook on business.
“We have a different feel,” Scott explained, “Our people are friendly and a lot know their customers by name. All four of our stores are different—it’s not like a corporate store that looks the same whatever town it’s in.”
The Clicks encourage each manager to tailor the inventory of the store to suit the customers in that neighborhood.
What all four stores have in common, however, is their success with premium dog food. Scott estimates it accounts for 60% of his sales.
“We focus on the higher end pet foods—more of the natural brands and the human grade.”
And yet they don’t forget about higher end people food, either. One of their most memorable promotions involves giving out free apple pies at Christmas. The Clicks get a local bakery to make the pies, and co-op the venture with a manufacturer. They promote discounts on product along with the pie giveaway. They recently gave out over 700 pies.
“It was great,” Scott said, “People kept asking, When are the pies coming?”
As you can see, marketing is a strong suit of the Clicks.
For this year’s July 4 celebration, the stores promoted “Made in The USA” by sending out postcards with discounts on American-made products which included Coastal collars and leads. It was a stirring success.
Also a success is their long-standing Pet Club. Join for a mere $5, and customers receive 10% on dog food purchases.
“It’s really popular—you can make up the cost of joining with just one bag of dog food,” Scott said. The promotion is 20 years old, and was conceived by Scott’s mother, Nelda.
Renae, a former school teacher, recently joined Tomlinson’s in an official capacity in marketing and advertising. She’s currently hard at work on adding content to their website, which she designed.