The Kika network

Kika was founded 13 years ago by Janita Januskauskaite, an entrepreneur with courage and vision in equal amounts. Bringing the love of animals of her fellow countrymen together with the lack of provision existing in the country at the time for keeping pets, she came up with a business concept aimed at creating an extensive network of pet shops stocking live animals throughout Lithuania. Now with 19 branches, Janita Januskauskaite still owns and runs Kika and has come close to achieving her goal of being among the top companies in the country. Kika has several branches in the capital Vilnius and in Kaunas, the two largest cities in Lithuania. The rest of the shops are distributed uniformly across the country.
Kika endeavours to choose locations close to well-frequented supermarkets. Establishments in shopping centres, i.e. in shopping streets and immediately adjacent to food stores and hypermarkets are even more popular. Examples of these are the Akropolis shopping mall in Vilnius and the Hyper-Maxima Centre in Kaunas, where Kika’s administrative office is also located. The Senukai chain, which started out in the DIY sector and has now expanded into household goods, furniture and electrical appliances, is happy to lease premises to Kika since the presence of a pet store also generates new customers for its own stores.
Female power in Lithuania: Kika proprietor Janita Januskauskaite.
Janita Januskauskaite wants to cover all price ranges with her product range, and her company offers a wide selection in virtually all product segments, from low-priced goods via the medium price sector to high-quality, expensive items. “The customer demands this choice, and we are proud to be able to compete successfully in price terms even with the supermarkets in many areas”, the self-assured Kika boss comments. Decisions regarding the range and proportion of food and accessory products are taken on a case-by-case basis, resulting in significant differences between the branches.
An aviary from Juwel Ladenbau in the Kika branch in the Hyper Maxima shopping mall in Vilnius.
If no tie-in with large food retailing or DIY store structures is possible, locations of interest are occupied on a quasi “standalone” basis. The retail area of individual branches thus varies accordingly from 30 to 150 m², but all branches stock a full range of products covering all pet categories. Kika currently employs 165 people across Lithuania, and this figure is likely to increase. Sales personnel in the…