It’s not just home supply stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s that are poised to benefit from a housing recovery; it’s also pet supply stores like PetSmart — since families are more likely to buy or adopt a pet after they close on a home.
“There’s a high correlation to housing and pet acquisition,” PetSmart CEO Robert Moran told CNBC. “Right now about 62 percent of households, which equates to 73 million households, have pets. We believe we’re incredibly well positioned if there’s any type of housing recovery to take advantage of this.”
Pet adoptions are up, according to data from the Pethealth PetPoint Report, which aggregates numbers from more than 1,000 animal welfare organizations across the country. Adoption of cats increased 4 percent in October year-over-year, following an 8 percent year-over-year increase in both August and September. Dog adoptions inched up 1 percent year-over-year in October, but like cats were up 8 percent, year over year, in August and September,
This year, PetSmart expects a comparable store sales growth of 6 to 7 percent, and a total sales growth of 10 to 11 percent, CNBC said. [CNBC] — Zachary Kussin