An Albany, Georgia, veterinarian who plans on operating 70 pet supply firms by the end of next year is expanding into Tennessee with a new Pet Supplies Plus store scheduled to open Dec. 30 in the Highland Plaza shopping center in Hixson.
"We see Chattanooga as a strong market with a lot of opportunity," said Dr. Steve Whatley, a veterinarian who owns nine animal hospitals across the Southeast and entered the retail pet supply business nearly three years ago.
In a telephone interview, Whatley said his newest Pet Supplies Plus store will offer pet parents a variety of high-end dog and cat food, toys, collars, leashes and other pet equipment along with some live fish, hamsters and parrots. The new store will also have a grooming area along with such amenities as self-pet wash stations and carry-out assistance service to customer cars.
Whatley said the 7,500-square-foot store also allows for online ordering with same-day delivery from the store or for curbside pickup.
Pet Supplies Plus is the nation's third-largest pet supply retailer behind only PetSmart and Petco and operates about 700 company-owned and franchise locations across the country. The new Chattanooga store will be the first in Tennessee for the Livonia, Michigan-based retail chain.
"We think our service makes us different," Whatley said. "We don't call our patrons 'customers' -- they are our neighbors, and we often know them and their pets by name. We are in the service business, not just the supply business."
The store is scheduled to be ready to open by Dec. 30 and will operate from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m on Sunday. The typical Pet Supplies Plus store has about 15 employees, Whatley said.
Pet Supplies Plus / Richard Warren, chief operating officer for one of the franchisees for Pet Supplies Plus, plays with a dog in one of the 13 stories he jointly owns with veterinarian Steve Whatley.Whatley, who owns the North Jackson Animal Clinic in Stevenson, Alabama, among other veterinary hospitals in the South, joined with entrepreneur Richard Warren to gain their first franchise for Pet Supplies Plus in South Carolina in 2020. The two have added four new franchise stores in 2022 and plan more than 50 other outlets next year through both acquisitions and new development.
"Chattanooga will be our 13th Pet Supplies Plus location open and it will contain new innovations that will make the shopping experience more convenient," Warren said in an announcement of the new store. "These include digital tags and video boards showcasing current deals and specials."
Warren calls the Pet Supplies Plus "a high-tech, boutique pet supply store with warehouse prices."
The growing Pet Supplies Plus franchise is capitalizing on the growth in Americans' spending on their pets, which Whatley said has grown from about $90 billion a year five years ago to nearly $130 billion this year. With 5 million more pets in the U.S. since the pandemic began, Morgan Stanley projects an 8% annual growth in the pet industry by 2030.
The new Pet Supplies Plus store along Hixson Pike near Ashland Terrace is in Chattanooga's first shopping center built 64 years ago. The Highland Plaza shopping center, which has been refurbished several times through its history and is now anchored by a Walmart Neighborhood Center, was purchased earlier this year by Core Equity in Fayetteville, Arkansas, for $8.9 million.
(READ MORE: Walmart Neighborhood Market opens at Highland Plaza on Hixson Pike)
Whatley and Warren will host a weekendlong grand opening event on Jan. 14-15 with special prize giveaways, including a shot at winning a complimentary, one-year supply of dog or cat food, free nail trims for dogs, free pet wash and a free bag of dog or cat food.
Whatley said pet parents are welcome to shop with their dogs at the store, where team members are on-site to answer questions, offer tips or just get on their hands and knees to play with pets who enter the store.
Find out more
You can contact Pet Supplies Plus of Chattanooga at 423-226-1016 or on the web at bit.ly/PetSupPlus. The new store is scheduled to open Dec. 30.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.