_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pets are more than just animals; they are companions when we feel lonely, a friendly face we look forward to seeing, and above all, they’ re part of our families. As Canada’ s leading specialty retailer of pet food and pet related supplies, Pet Valu is a company made up of thousands of Animal Care Experts( ACEs) striving to provide care and expertise through its network of more than 800 stores across all ten provinces and a modern digital channel.
With over 10,000 SKUs in its portfolio of pet consumables and accessories, combined with its mix of corporate and franchised brickand-mortar stores, direct-to-consumer( D2C) offering, and wholesale business, Pet Valu’ s supply chain is undoubtedly complex. Nico Weidel, Chief Supply Chain Officer, joined the company in 2022 to undertake a supply chain transformation, including the consolidation of nine distribution centers and warehouses into three state-of-the-art, partially automated sites.
Beginning by explaining the company’ s evolution in recent years, Nico opens:“ Pet Valu was established in 1976 and began franchising in the 1980s. Through both organic growth and regional acquisitions, we’ ve constantly expanded across Canada, and we now operate more than 800 stores, which are within minutes reach for 75 percent of the country’ s population. We also operate a significant wholesale business and launched our D2C website in 2021, integrating click and collect services in the same year, and later adding AutoShip, a subscription platform for regular pet necessities.
“ We pride ourselves on offering consistent service regardless of how or where our customers shop, and our advanced network allows us to drive industry-leading customer service metrics and generate competitive pricing. By combining our channels under one roof, we can leverage the same inventory, processes, and infrastructure to drive greater efficiency.
Nico Weidel
“ Our broad assortment includes premium, super-premium, holistic, and award-winning proprietary brands with products ranging from pet consumables like food and treats to accessories like toys, waste management solutions, cages and carriers, and apparel,” he adds.“ This means our supply chain is unique in that it functions in two halves; the consumables aspect behaves like a grocery supply chain, whereas the other half, like accessories and apparel, acts like a specialty retail distribution business.
80