Arken Zoo reaches tenth opening of the year

Swedish pet specialist Arken Zoo opens a store in Stenungsund, north of Gothenburg, on 27 August. The site at Strandvägen 52 carries the chain's standard range for dogs, cats, small mammals and birds. An opening week with promotions, goodie bags and a prize draw follows from 31 August to 6 September.

Stenungsund is the tenth opening Arken Zoo has announced this year, after Skene, Nödinge, Värnamo, Kållered, Mariestad, Hägersten, Umeå, Ludvika and Kiruna. At least two of those were takeovers of established independents. On 17 August, the chain also took over three stores in Uppsala, Västerås and Norrköping from grocery group ICA, which had run them under its own Gaston fascia since October 2024 and has now ended the pilot; the Gaston e-commerce site has closed. Both companies said in July that they were in talks about a longer-term partnership, including further Arken Zoo stores close to ICA outlets.

Arken Zoo describes itself as Sweden's largest pet chain and puts its network at more than 140 stores. It belongs to Finland's Musti Group, which operates around 400 stores across the Nordic and Baltic countries.