It has taken a lot of blood, sweat and tears to elevate Not Just Pets in Bath to the highest pinnacle of independent pet retailing but according to owner Janine Tozer there has been a lot of fun along the way. This week Janine reveals how she and her husband Mike have made their business the envy of the pet industry.
After picking up Gold in the Best UK Independent Retailer category at the PetQuip Industry Awards, Janine (pictured with husband Mike) spoke to Pet Trade Xtra about how she and her "amazing" team achieve such success.
How many years have you had the store?
We have owned the Bath store since October 2004. I worked as business manager for the previous owner for three years before that - and Mike joined me from teaching in 2007.
When did you change the name to Not Just Pets?
We changed the name to Not Just Pets in December of 2011, when we moved the Bath premises, to bring it in line with our online presence and social media. We are about to rename our Frome and Larkhall stores with the same name soon too.
What's the secret of your success?
Hard work; adapting and evolving and listening to customers; attention to detail; trying to go the extra mile and give really good, friendly, knowledgeable customer service.
How do you stand out from the crowd?
By trying to keep everything fresh, sourcing unique, good quality products and providing a range of different services. For example, we are currently collaborating with a local vet and are offering health checks, vaccinations, pet passports and simple consultations twice a week. We support local rescue centres and get involved with our local community and offer free local delivery. We pride ourselves on giving really good customer service. Oh, and we also like to find weird and wacky ways of dressing up for fun 'open days' and fundraising days for local charities – last year, on May 4 we dressed up as Jedi to 'instruct' our customers on animal care while raising money for Bath Cats and Dogs Home.
Do pet owners travel long distances to visit your store?
Well, we have one lady visiting from America in November - does that count? Seriously, some customers travel from London and Poole because they like us so much.
How much do you depend on the internet today?
The internet has become an integral part of life, both personal and professional. I learned today that Google now uses social search and has started prioritising rankings differently - consumer engagement is key. We tweet, Facebook and blog and we think it helps. We also have a website and have started selling successfully from it - we think it is necessary, even if only as a presence on the internet.
Have you got plans to expand the business?
It is a difficult time to talk of expanding with the economic climate as it is, but we are changing things and working on our total branding. We are also hoping to expand the web side of things. We have recently joined MyHigh.st and hope to bring more companies on board with that to create Bath as a virtual town to drive more people who are looking after hours to shop online, but shop locally, to come to our stores.
How many people work in your stores?
We have three stores. In total, we have 18 staff plus Mike and myself. In Bath, we have seven members of staff plus us two.
For more information about the award-winning Not Just Pets visit www.notjustpets.co.uk
Janine and Mike after the PetQuip Awards at Harrogate.
