Sammie Hunt, the owner of award-winning Redpaw Pet Supplies in Devon, has admitted the move to a larger store has proved challenging. But she says the change of location has increased the chances of retail business survival in the current difficult climate.

Sammie told Pet Trader Xtra this week: “The thinking behind moving to our bigger store was such a difficult decision in these challenging times. It has given me many sleepless nights and I had long conversations with my team and close friends, talking through everything involved in running a successful business. 

“Many times I thought I must be mad, and other times I just thought I would regret it if I didn’t try. 

“The journey to get to open my new store has been incredibly difficult, and on a few occasions I felt like giving up because of the many hurdles being put in the way.

“Throughout the Covid pandemic my old store remained open, with limited opening hours, nevertheless our customer-base increased due to the exceptionally high number of pets purchased during lockdown. 

“For Redpaw this meant demand grew for our own products and also for our services, which included nutritional consultation and advice. It was great as I was able to do some of this online or via email. 

“We were able to meet demands for products when the store was restricted to low customer footfall, but when restrictions were lifted and the shop reopened fully, it meant we were very short on storage space. 

“So, I began looking for a new unit, and what a task this was! Eventually I heard of a unit becoming available just over the road from my old shop, and after nine months of anxiety, bureaucracy and delays I finally got the keys in November. 

“Then the hard work started to turn an empty unit into my dream. What was certain was I needed to make sure my store stuck to my original ethos of high quality and natural products. With all this in mind I also had to consider how I would keep the shop on trend, modern and stand out against the bigger chain pet stores who are located within a few miles. 

“Working with my incredible team we managed to open the doors to my new store on the 1st December. The initial focus was not to cause any disruption to customers, so we did not close the old shop until the day we opened the new store. Christmas displays helped to give the new store an extra special festive look for the opening. Perhaps we were lucky to be opening at Christmas time but the push to get the store open in just four weeks was immense. I look back now and wonder how on earth we did it all. 

“Moving forward in my new shop, I can proudly say we are settling in well, developing new displays with the help of some fantastic pet suppliers as well as finding new trade partners to work with. 

Redpaw has been able to bring customers many more products. I know we have lots of challenges ahead with the current financial situation but as a strong team Redpaw is always looking ahead and we will continue working as hard as we can to stay fresh and exciting for our customer base. 

“When I started Redpaw nearly 10 years ago I didn’t expect the journey to be quite so difficult but it definitely holds an exciting future, and it’s always so rewarding seeing our customers pets happy and healthy.”

Redpaw Pet Supplies was UK Retailer of the Year in the PIF Awards 2018. 

For more information visit www.redpawpets.co.uk