b"Sixty-fivepercentof18to34- I wasnt about to give up whatyear-olds plan to acquire or add a pet wed established as a brick and mortarin the next five years, helping drive to ecommerce, added Patrick. whatsexpectedtobea14percent As a franchise opportunity, Leoincrease in pet ownership by 2030.& Luckys stands out from other pet-Whats more, pet ownersespe- relatedfranchisors.Weareapetciallyyoungeronesarespending retailer first, said Patrick. Everyoneincrementallymoreontheirpets. always gets tied up in the day-to-dayAverageannualhouseholdspending operations, he says. Theyre so busyperpetcouldgrowfrom$980in with that, they dont get the opportu-2020to$1,292by2025,Morgan nity to do the thing theyre passionateStanley forecasts. aboutbeingouttherewithMore significant still, this spend- customers and helping their pets liveinghasstabilized.Consumersare the happiest life possible. increasinglylesswillingtocutpet Byprovidingthesupportofaspendingasawholewhenreal franchise model, Leo & Lucky's aimspersonal disposable income declines, to help with that challenge of owningsaid Simeon Gutman. equity analyst andrunningabusiness.Rachelhasfor Morgan Stanley Research. more than 25 years experience in theAn October 2020 survey of pet petindustry.Patrick,withaback-owners by the American Pet Products groundinbanking,has12yearsAssociation found that 66 percent of experience in the pet business. respondents said that their spending The ordeal of successfully runninghadntchangedintheprevious abusinessduringapandemichasmonth,while72percentindicated proven that this teams basic processesthey wouldnt alter spending on pet and business practices are soundly infood, regardless of their finances. place.For anyone who has been in the Firstandforemost,theyreas-petindustryforthelast10to15 sured their customer base. Using theiryears,mostofthisinformationwill emaildatabase,theirpointofsalesnotcomeasasurprise.Itdoes, program,andsocialmedia,theyhowever, support their investment of regularlykeptupthepracticeofboth time and money in an industry informingeveryonethatLeo&that caters to pets and their owners. Luckys was open for business. ThoseOf all the challenges a business customerswhodidnothaveemailsowner must face, what many faced in were contacted by telephone. 2020,andhowtheycameoutthe When we called, we also let ourothersideofit,issomethingnot customersknowthatweweretaughtinhow-tobooks.Itis thinking about them; that they couldhowever, a testament to the resilience count on us, said Patrick.of the people behind the business. Thedayswerelong.KeepingWe didnt close for a single sec- shelves stocked and making sure theirond,saidPatrickMcGinnis,co- employeeswerehealthy,bothowner of Leo & Luckys. We would physicallyandmentally,werethehave lost all the goodwill wed built couples top priorities. They also letup over the years with our customers. theirstaffknowthat,ifanyoneatRachel and I felt an obligation to our anytimewasnotcomfortablecommunity. working, they could stay home withAnotherfactorforremaining no repercussions.open was that ever-present thorn-in- Everyone rolled up their sleevesthe-independent-business-owners and we all went to work, said Patrick.side: e-commerce.Continued on next page gwww.TheNewBarker.com THE NEW BARKER 65"