It’s unusual for a multigenerational family business to compete and prosper year after year in today’s world of corporate superstores.
Just ask former grocery, hardware, and general merchandise store owners who’ve seen their livelihood gobbled up when a giant retailer or supermarket comes to town.
But the Waughs of Lakewood, Colorado have defied the odds and thrived against the competition for three, going on four generations.
“My great-grandmother opened up a pet store in Denver in the early 30’s” Kelly Waugh explains. Her grandparents were next, who founded Cashway Pet Supply, a wholesale distributor. This was followed by her dad, Dick Waugh, who opened the 12,000 square foot Pets N’ Stuff 13 years ago also after a lifetime operating pet stores.
Kelly, 43, who has been working in family-run stores since she was 16, has help from her 3 children, who all contribute or have contributed to the family enterprise. Her oldest, Christopher, attends the University of Colorado in Greeley, and keeps his hand in the trade by working part-time at pet product distributor Nor-Sky.
Pets N’ Stuff is a full-line pet store with 11,000 items. “I tell people if we don’t have it, you don’t need it,” Kelly laughs. Dog supplies are the focus of the business, but it also carries products for birds, small animals, and of course, cats. Changing customer preferences recently dictated taking out aquariums in favor of allocating more space for dog products.
The store features a mind-boggling 35 feet of Coastal Pet products. Not surprisingly, “blue, red, black and pink” collars and leads are top sellers, as well as breast cancer awareness items. Coastal’s not the only collar and lead brand on the wall, however. “We also carry Yellow Dog, Spiffy Dog and Douglas Paquette”, Kelly said.
“Pets N’ Stuff is my favorite account,” said Judy Krause, a Burns Sales and Marketing sales rep who sells Coastal to the Waughs. “I enjoy going over there—they know what they’re doing and they’re easy to work with.”
Judy related a story that she repeats to other customers. She said Kelly’s dad told her “If you don’t make mistakes, you’re not doing your job, because you’re not trying new things.”
China Backlash
What are some trends you see in the industry? “US-made products are big now,” she said, referring to the fallout from the Chinese pet food recall. “A lot of people don’t want to buy from China anymore. They actually check to see where something’s made”. The Waughs take that concept a step further, and encourage customers to “buy Colorado,” products manufactured in their home state.
And, as you might expect in green-minded Colorado, natural, holistic and organic items also sell well. “We carry 25 brands of dog food, mostly natural,
