PetSmart is a United States retailer of pet food, pet supplies and pet services, and it is credited in its company history with originating the pet food and supply superstore. The business began in 1986 as The Pet Food Warehouse, founded by Jim and Janice Dougherty, who opened its first two stores in Phoenix, Arizona in 1987 and sold large bags of pet food at discount prices from a bare warehouse-style store. Investors who had funded the early losses removed the founders from control in 1989 and brought in Samuel J. Parker, a veteran of the Jewel supermarket chain, as chairman. Parker renamed the chain PETsMART, added brighter tile-floored stores, a wide range of accessories, grooming, veterinary and adoption services, and expanded quickly; the company went public in 1993. By 2001 it ran roughly 530 stores in the United States and Canada and was a public company listed on NASDAQ.
Facts
Company Type
Company Type (category) Founded Year Connections
Founded By
Source PETsMART, Inc. History (FundingUniverse)
Led By
Source PETsMART, Inc. History (FundingUniverse)
Operates In
Source PETsMART, Inc. History (FundingUniverse)
Sources
1. PETsMART, Inc. History (FundingUniverse)
Header of the company history essay
Public Company
Company Origins, second paragraph
Jim and Janice Dougherty incorporated their company in August 1986
Operates In: Pet Industry, Company History, opening paragraph
The largest operator of pet food, pet supplies, and pet services superstores in the United States
Led By: Samuel J. Parker, Company History, opening paragraph
Samuel J. Parker, the company's chairman of the board and chief executive officer
In Group: Specialty Retail, Company History
The largest operator of pet food, pet supplies, and pet services superstores in the United States
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