Survival of the fittest

Following the tough time caused by the recession, the Mexican pet supplies industry has been recording more settled sales and incoming orders again in recent months. The economy no longer seems to be in freefall, but the crisis has claimed victims. Many stores had to close during the financial drought, and the situation has made life more difficult for smaller pet stores. Those businesses in particular that are not located in shopping centres or are part of a big chain are experiencing problems in defending their corner. Many experts working in the industry in Mexico believe that 10 per cent of the companies in the pet supplies sector generate 90 per cent of overall sales, while the remaining 90 per cent of companies, most of them small traders, are battling for the remaining 10 per cent of the market. Yet the volume of the pet product market seems to be increasing steadily, in spite of the recession. At any rate, that is what Fernando Domínguez Bernáldez, veterinarian and employee of the Lomas Aquarium Group, says: “Five years ago, pet owners in Mexico were spending around US $ 500 million on their pets. Now the market has a volume of almost US $ 1 billion.” Even a marked downward trend in the aquatics segment has not had any impact on the upturn in the market. Bernáldez attributes this decline primarily to the large amount of time required to clean and maintain aquariums. People no longer have such time to spare, and so this market is slowly going backwards. This makes it all the more necessary for specialist shops to provide good advice in order to halt the decline. Development of the retail trade Good advice is something that the leading Mexican pet store chain Maskota is investing in. The chain was launched in 1995 with around 150 outlets in the country, and it has virtually a monopoly in Mexico. Maskota sells pet accessories as well as a variety of pets including cats, dogs, reptiles, birds and fish. In addition to stocking a wide range of products, the chain attaches special importance to having a trained workforce. Most of its stores are in shopping centres frequented by people with a higher spending capacity. The favourable location of the stores is also intended to tempt consumers to make impulse and chance purchases. Another smaller store chain is Dobemex, which was established by René Martínez, a behavioural scientist with over 25 years’ experience in training parrots. In addition to aquatics products, pets and pet fashion, the stores offer a…