While the home-gym movement has crushed from its pandemic growth as witnessed by Peloton’s struggles, the pet business growth is not only sustainable, but (although slower than ’21 and ’20) is here to stay. Americans have more pets and getting more pets. The number of single men and women should increase fast and sure this decade… Here on this blog I made the point that legal marriage is a disaster for men, and finally men are catching up to skipping what they’ve been conditioned to consider a rite of passage. Marriage for men is boarding the Titanic; no more, no less. Living a single life, these men and women are adopting cats, dogs, reptiles, etc.
The WSJ this weekend touched on these numbers: Pandemic Pet Boom has legs.
Spending on pets grew 19.3% to $123 Billion last year, a much faster pace than the 7.3% growth seen in 2019.
And the trend could be inflation-proof: Early indications show that people might be more inclined to trade down on their own food than their pets’ kibble.
WSJ, Jimjoo Lee
“While the pet category is still a growing pie, the fight for those dollars is as fierce as ever. Both Petco and Chewy are making investments in healthcare as a way to boost their dollar share with customers. Petco is remodeling stores to expand the footprint of hands-on services such as vet care and grooming. Chewy, which already runs a pharmacy business, recently announced it will launch a wellness and insurance business. Petco is expecting to increase its capital expenses by 25% this fiscal year, while Chewy is aiming to spend 40% more. BarkBox, which started by selling a monthly dog-toy subscription, is adding food and dental like pet toothpaste to its assortment to make its client base stickier.”
WSJ