No. 1 in Bulgaria

Zoo Center started out in 1995 with a small pet shop occupying just 50 m². The shop was situated in the centre of Sofia and was launched at a time when pet keeping was far from being as advanced and professionalised as it is today.  

Demand quickly exceeded the expectations of the company’s founders and Zoo Center soon became the first and also the largest pet shop chain in Bulgaria. “Every few years we opened a new branch. And in 2010, not only did we open our fourth branch, but with around 500 m² we also opened the largest pet shop in Bulgaria to date,” reports business partner Georgi Stamenov, not entirely without pride.

From then on, the company really stepped on the gas, literally flooding the city of Sofia with Zoo Center stores. There were even three new openings in one year. The current year, 2022, will see a total of 13 retail stores as well as six veterinary clinics, a pet spa hotel with a rehabilitation centre and two warehouses to supply the stores. One of the warehouses is located outside Sofia in Stara Zagora, halfway between the capital and the Black Sea. Not without reason, of course, as Georgi Stamenov reports: “Currently, we are only in Sofia, but we are already working on opening new branches in the other larger cities in Bulgaria. For example, we are currently planning to open another store as early as the beginning of 2023 and to complete the construction of a third warehouse. This is because, in parallel to the specialised trade, we are also working on a private label in the accessories and food sector.”

At Zoo Center, everything revolves around pets. Thus, dogs, cats, rodents, birds, fish and reptiles are also offered for sale in the stores. “They all come from certified breeders in Bulgaria and abroad, have all the necessary documents and registrations, are constantly monitored by our veterinarians and always receive very special care,” Georgi Stamenov emphasises. That is why Zoo Center also employs several veterinarians, each of them specialising in a different field of veterinary science.

Since dogs (750 000) and cats (815 000) are among the most popular pets in Bulgaria, Zoo Center pays particular attention to these. “We…