Petco CEO Shares Bright Picture for 2020

Petco CEO Ron Coughlin spoke with Alexis Christoforous and Brian Sozzi on Yahoo Finance’s The First Trade Thursday and shared a bright picture of the state of the company this year.

“Our business is up double digits right now and it’s a mix between what’s happening in the stores which are growing and what’s happening with our online assets,” Coughlin said. “We are the pharmacy, we are the drug store, we are the supermarket for pets.”

Petco reports e-commerce is up more than 100 percent and the company was able to launch curbside pick-up in just two weeks, he said. Compared with some other retailers who might have had supply issues at the start of the pandemic, “our stores were an asset because we had inventory next to customers,” he said.

Petco is turning its successes this year back toward reinvesting in its employees, he said, having given out about $20 million in Covid appreciation bonuses on top of normal wages, and board members and executives have also contributed to a $2 million employee assistance fund.

“We’re doing fantastic and it starts with safety,” he said. “The No. 1 priority for us is to make sure our partners are staying safe.”

View the entire interview here. (https://money.yahoo.com/pharmacy-supermarket-pets-petco-ceo-154607166.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAMuePJfMjdwnRQSNxlNTJh2Waqr9gdhGlzucq4mmQuBTWfeEvleZQWiLvYSXmEEH7LK0dwsJsPw0SvpeYJ2SQCHSypIIuitpMQzgECc46reIYCQlOKmW9Joutmmu5KgFbDCJWQgo12waBtJh_bdsLryb1ULkkwYAvA3kEvuUl6_a)