Pets at Home back in the black, will shut Barkers

On January 23, Pets at Home Group Plc. announced its Q3 results with a revenue growth of 9.6 percent to £223.3 million. The growth was due to a strong demand for products during Christmas and the company’s move to cut prices across its 452 stores across the UK.

“I’m happy to report further progress in the third quarter, where trading momentum in our merchandise division built over the Christmas period,” Group CEO Ian Kellett said.

“In the year since we launched our lower pricing initiatives we have seen a really strong customer response to the investments we have made,” Kellett said. “At the same time, we continued to deliver strong growth in our veterinary business across both first opinion practices and specialist referral centers,” he added.

The store announced that it had reached the end of its trial run for its upmarket pet pampering stores Barkers that offered spa treatments, accessories and food for dogs. A spokesperson for the company said Barkers was a trial concept and that though the products and services were popular among customers, the cost of renting high street stores made them unprofitable. “There are a number of positive aspects from the trial that we will incorporate into our core Pets at Home stores,” she added. The seven Barkers stores will close over the year and its 55 employees will be offered roles in local Pets at Home stores.

Pets at Home opened two Pets at Home superstores, two Vets4Pets practices and five Groom Room salons last year and said they were on track to deliver full year opening targets of around 10 superstores, 40-50 vet practices and 20-30 grooming salons.