Big player in Sweden

“Our members are independent pet product dealers who want to procure advantages over their regional competitors with their membership of Djurmagazinet,” says marketing director Joakim Blomkvist. In his opinion, pet shops with a retail area of 600 to 1 400 m² in locations on the outskirts of cities or in shopping centres provide the optimum conditions for ideal implementation of Djurmagazinet’s concept. For city-centre locations, 200 to 400 m² is the ideal size for the concept. It is by no means essential for every store to undergo a complete relaunch; the majority of Djurmagazinet outlets comprise businesses that were already in existence, and in some cases had been operating for a considerable period. So far, brand new stores have been opened primarily by members who want a further outlet that they can call their own. Joakim Blomkvist believes that one reason for the popularity of his system is that Djurmagazinet members only pay a low monthly membership fee, and no sales-related franchise or advertising charge. The company’s central office is financed instead from fees paid by suppliers and manu-facturers to secure the orders of individual Djurmagazinet shops. The same opportunities for everyone Around 85 per cent of the range is decided by the central office. The range is based on specially negotiated framework agreements with suppliers and manufacturers. “We thus guarantee that all our members enjoy the same purchasing terms,” comments Joakim Blomkvist. Each retailer is free to choose how the remaining 15 per cent of the range is made up, in order to be able to take advantage of regional specialities, for example. If the proportion of sales of the prescribed products exceeds 85 per cent of overall sales, Djurmagazinet even pays its retailers a bonus. To make transaction handling easier, the till systems of all branches are linked to the central office. The services offered by the headquarters also include advertising and marketing support as well as a free website for retailers. Djurmagazinet uses TV advertising too. “These are all things that an individual retailer finds difficult to achieve by himself,” says Joakim Blomkvist. In addition, every retailer receives the company logo and uniforms for the staff. Sales training and management seminars are also offered – and if sales are not going as well as expected, retailers are offered professional assistance. Joakim Blomkvist highlights the store in Våsterås as one of the flagships of the chain. Linda…