Growing in a stagnating market

How do you judge the current development of the pet supplies market in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Latvia? In the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the situation is very similar. We are facing stagnation in both markets. In Latvia, the situation is more positive, as the market has grown about 10 per cent year on year. One of the reasons could be the fact that in the last few years the Latvian market has declined considerably. Now the market is becoming healthy again and starting to grow. We have to realise that in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, each segment of the market is developing differently. The most successful at the moment is e-business with 12-15 per cent growth year on year. The grocery business is also doing well with 3-5 per cent growth, as well as pet shop chains. The independent market is in the worst position, declining by more than 15 per cent. How did your company fare in the first three quarters of this year? Our retail has very positive growth trends in all our markets. Comparing the three quarters of last year and this year, we have 9.1 per cent growth in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and in Latvia as much as 15.3 per cent growth in the year to date. We believe that this trend will continue also in the next few months. Which categories are doing well in your stores and which are not? Traditionally cats and dogs do well and we even have a slight increase in food, treats and toys. Rodents are on the point of stagnation. Aquatics and birds are in decline. We have also noticed a negative trend in the sale of livestock, mainly aquarium fish, which is not good for our business in the future. More and more pet retailers are thinking about combining their brick-and mortar business more closely with e-commerce. Is your company also considering this idea? Yes, e-commerce is developing well and it will probably continue to develop in the future too. We can see many companies going into e-business, but I am very sceptical, because if I look at their economic results. I can see that 80 per cent of companies are not making any profit in e-business. We are also thinking about e-business but we are still very reserved, and not drawing any final conclusions. What plans does your company have for the coming months? We will carry on developing retail in all three countries. We plan to open one store in Zlin and one store in Prague. In Slovakia, we have opened two new shops – ­the biggest pet shop in Kosice with a retail area of 400 m2 in September…