Pet Food Retailer Chewy Opens Veterinary Care Centers in Metro Atlanta

Vet centers will focus — at least for now — on dogs and cats, she said.

The concept is a fusion of the company’s technology and focus on customer service, she said. “The business was born from the principle that we would combine e-commerce with the personalized service you expect from a local pet store. »

Chewy already has centers in Florida and Denver and plans centers in Austin, Dallas and Houston, she said.

The 14-year-old company, best known as a website specializing in pet food and products, has more than 20 million customers. However, revenue growth has slowed and the company sees opportunity in the business of providing in-person medical and wellness care to America’s pets.

Pets live in more than 90 million homes in the United States, according to the American Pet Products Association.

During the pandemic, many households have added pets. Overall, dogs lead the pack: Americans own more than 65 million dogs and 46.5 million cats, followed by fish, birds and other animals.

“About two-thirds of pet owners report spending more on their pet’s health than on themselves,” Malhotra said.

The current trend toward pet ownership is particularly strong among the great wave of millennials, who account for a third of all pets, the group estimates.

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The result is that Americans will spend about $150 billion on their pets this year, including about $39 billion on veterinarians, the group estimates.

But when it comes to in-person care, Chewy isn’t entering a void market.

The country has thousands of veterinary businesses and nearly 80,000 veterinarians, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Measured per capita, metro Atlanta has slightly more than average, with hundreds of veterinary businesses and about 1,600 veterinarians, the BLS said.

Like many industries, veterinarians have recently been the target of large investors hoping to buy up small, local businesses and create large, profitable chains. Between 2017 and 2022, private equity spent $45 billion on these types of deals in the veterinary sector, according to PitchBook, which tracks investment data.

Part of the appeal, experts say, is that each center is small, private and typically receives direct payments from clients, since relatively few have insurance.

VCA Animal Hospitals has more than 1,000 veterinary hospitals and clinics nationwide, including 17 in the Atlanta metro area, according to VCA. National Veterinary Associates has more than 1,400 veterinary hospitals and pet resorts across its network, with a spinoff company that manages 145 specialty veterinary hospitals.

Chewy Centers are also part of a chain, but the company says it offers something different, aiming for better-designed, more personalized facilities. The company says this may come partly from the technology, which gives the pet owner more information about diagnoses, treatments and medications, but also from the designation of a “concierge” staff to connect with every customer.

Atlanta is particularly attractive as a location for expansion, Malhotra said. “It’s a market where people are very attentive to the care of their pets.”

Pets in the United States, in millions

Dog: 65.1

Cat: 46.5

Other small animal: 6.7

Bird: 6.1

Reptiles: 6.0

Horsepower: 2.2

Freshwater fish: 11.1

Saltwater fish: 2.2

Composition of pet ownership by generation

Generation Z: 16%

Millennial: 33%