Want a quick lesson in successful pet store marketing? Then check out the quarterly newsmagazine "Barkin' Mews" of Chuck and Don's Pet Food Outlet.
The 13-store Minnesota chain mails to fifty-thousand loyal customers, and is credited as a big factor in the company's growth and prosperity.
"It's our main advertising vehicle," Wendy Bartz, hardlines buyer, explains. Glance through the glossy, full color magazine, and you'll be amazed at the offerings-activities, workshops, clinics, dog washes, and more. It's filled with coupons with major savings on dozens of brands of dog and cat food, which motivates customers to shop in all 13 stores.
Inside the front cover of the Spring '08 issue is Chuck and Don's "Customer of the Quarter', in which a customer from each store is picked and featured in a photo portrait with their pet. Professionally done, it's easy to imagine the framed portrait taking a prominent place on the wall of the pet parent's home. In addition, they are entered into a drawing for a $50 gift card.
Also appearing on the same page is "Pet Perspectives", ghost-written columns by pets on social issues such as abandonment, adoption, or traveling with your pet on vacation.
The spring issue features a plump 13-year-old cat named Charlie, who writes about litter box maintenance tips. Cats enjoy privacy, but dislike heavily scented litter or nearby air fresheners, we learn.
The summer issue features another 13-year-old cat, Shu, who writes about the newly formed Mission Meow cat foster home program, in which pet lovers take in a cat and give it love and attention for a period of time, then bring it in to the local Humane Society when it will have a better prospect for adoption. Chuck and Don's have donated 200 litter pans to this program.
Store Promotions are Popular and Appreciated
Each store manager strives to host an "event" quarterly. The Lakeville store hosted "Dealing with Difficult Dogs," while the Northfield-Dundas store hosted a children's coloring contest for ages 1-12. The Shakopee store in June sponsored a Dog Wash day, in which donations went to the Carver-Scott County Humane Society.
"Each store manager knows their area", Wendy said. "We have a wide range of customers-from urban Minneapolis to rural areas, and each manager keys on their own community, and it really works out well."
Chuck and Don's have hooked up with locally popular Katie K9, dog trainer and radio show host. She recently made a circuit of the store locations and spent 2 hours in the store dispensing useful training tips.
"We're lucky to be located in the Midwest," Wendy said, "people are very knowledge-driven when it comes to their pets."
Wendy, an outgoing member of Coastal's Authorized Dealer board, recently leveraged a simple product demo into an effective marketing tool. At a Board meeting, she was shown a picture of the 3M reflective Lazer Brite collar and lead display where the camera flash created a lightning-bolt effect in the photo. She quickly brought the idea home.
She e-mailed a similar photo to all the store managers, who immediately were dazzled by the display and joined in with their enthusiasm over the product. Their joint efforts have made a major contribution to Lazer Brite's success. Chuck and Don's experience led Coastal to continue the practice at trade shows, where Polaroids are taken of retailers in front of the Lazer Brite display.
Coastal returned the favor by recently re-setting all Chuck and Don's stores. (A re-set is the term used to describe a major tune-up in the appearance of the collar and lead wall).
"It really went well for us-we were even selling collars with the new patterns out of the box before they even got put on the wall-we were really pleased", Wendy said.
How it All Started
Chuck and Don's is named for Chuck Anderson and Don Tauer, who met in the 80's. Chuck and his wife Sharon owned the Animal Inn Boarding Kennel. When a decision was made to add a training school, the Andersons sold the kennel business to Don.