Brief by Central Staff
Retailing – February 2000 – Colorado Central Magazine
Certain of our smaller merchants are apparently at the leading edge of commerce. Not because they are operating on the Internet, but because they bring their pets to work.
An article in a recent Wall Street Journal explained that “In the holiday shopping season of the Web, the mall, and the sprawling national chain, cute pets are a sales tactic that still works wonders for small retailers.
“Most big chains prohibit pets on their premises, giving the small store a potential advantage with animal lovers….”
It went on to quote a marketing expert: “The presence of pets confirms a strong sense of care to the customer. It’s a real competitive edge against the big-box national chains.”
Colorado Centralemerges from a house with a dog (Ted) and two cats (Hector, and The Cat Formerly Known As Princess), but we’ve yet to adopt any of them as a marketing mechanism.
We do recall that Suzanne MacDonald, when she owned Creekside Books in Buena Vista, once advertised “free cat hairs with every purchase.”
