A new retail group on the block

The Swiss pet supplies market has been dominated for several years by market leader Qualipet and its challenger Fressnapf. Now an entirely new pet store operator, Petfriends AG, has been launched with the aim of becoming established as a new third force in the Swiss pet product trade.Market analysts and suppliers have told PETworldwide.net, however, that they believe the potential for new pet store chains to be very limited in what they regard as a saturated Swiss market.
The first outlets, termed "ultra-modern pet stores of the future" by Petfriends AG, are expected to open in Oftringen and Wetzikon on 1 March. An online shop with over 9 000 articles for pets is also in the pipeline.
The managing director of Petfriends AG is Marco Bächler. Between 2004 and 2008 Bächler was a branch manager for the My Friends store chain, which was acquired by Qualipet AG.