Shopping malls offer a host of advantages

With a retail area of 219 m², the shop run by Cecilia Dannborg-Wilson is one of the larger pet stores in Sweden. It is located in the large Bäckebol-Homecenter shopping mall in Hisings Backa, just outside Sweden’s second-biggest city Gothenburg. The shop belonging to Cecilia Dannborg-Wilson’s mother, Gunwor Dannborg, is roughly 100 m² in size and likewise part of a shopping mall, but in Gothenburg’s city centre. “Being situated in a shopping mall is an important part of our concept,” says Cecilia Dannborg-Wilson. The two entrepreneurs are currently also thinking about opening a third store and regard a retail area of around 300 m² as the maximum. The 219 m² store has most recently achieved annual sales of approx. SEK 6.6 mio (€ 660 000). Although the two stores keep separate accounts, they purchase their stock jointly. Two Zoo Centers with a combined retail area of 319 m2 are operated in shopping malls in Gothenburg. The stores stock a full range of food and accessories, aqua-riums and ornamental fish as well as birds and small animals. Swedish pet dealers are subject to extremely stringent conditions and regulations with regard to the presentation and care of live animals in particular, and so it’s no wonder that Zoo Center employs three full-time and four part-time staff members. The smaller shop also has three full-time and three part-time employees. Rodents and guinea pigs are the best-selling animals, followed by ornamental fish. Sales of birds have also started to increase again recently. However, the segments with the highest sales are dogs and cats. Cecilia Dannborg-Wilson’s best sellers in these segments are accessories and clothing, areas that the entrepreneur has specialized in. Her imports of leads and collars from Italy and clothing from the USA are very popular with the customers. Food and treats naturally bring in a lot of revenue, but the profit margins on these products are well down, not least due to the fierce competition from supermarkets in the shopping centres. Most treats and chew products come from manufacturers in Sweden and are then offered in their own packaging – an advantage compared with the offers in surrounding stores. Cecilia Dannborg-Wilson has been running her 219 m² store in the Bäckebol-Homecenter for many years. The competition situation in and around the shopping malls is also the factor that has prompted mother and daughter to exclude certain companies from their ranges. Thus Ferplast has recently been withdrawn from…