January 2009
Pampered Pooches Demand More Luxuries

Market Trends Show Pet Products Gain Growth Despite Retail Slump
By Woodie Stephenson

It’s a dog-eat-dog world and the dogs are eating it up. Whether demanding pricey trips to the groomer or boarding house, today’s pampered pooches are living it up in style like never before.

Economic growth in the pet industry is far too often overlooked in favor of other niches in the consumer lifestyle. Did you know?: Americans spend more on their pets than they spend on the movies ($10.8 billion), playing video games ($11.6 billion), and listening to recorded music ($10.6 billion) combined! No kidding—Americans pet expenditures grew from $22.9 billion in 2000 to an estimated $41.7 billion in 2008

At last, it seems, retailers are focusing on oft-overlooked areas that allow consumers to treat their cherished pets to more luxuries and amenities than have ever been available before.

Yesterday’s styles and consumer options for things like pet food, doghouses, treats, and toys are antiquated compared to new innovations in the pet care and pet product industries.

Co-Founder and President of Leifers—a specialty pet product company based on a green eco-friendly philosophy—Kathy Ellis believes the industry is so strong that it may be impervious to the current economic downturn in the retail market.

“Even in hard times, or maybe especially in hard times, people want to take care of and nurture their pets,” Ellis said, “but, they still don’t want ugly or silly things in their homes. They want fashion, functionality, and innovation and this is what makes Leifers special.”

Leifers has found a market niche redesigning yesterday’s tired doghouse that sat in a muddy backyard corner into something special and attractive for customers. The company’s doghouses are designed to keep indoor or outdoor while serving as attractive home accents topped with a flowerpot. The company has also established its own line of health and wellness products, another market niche.

But Leifers is just one company who is offering consumers an upper tier of specialty products for their dogs and cats. Product designers and retailers all over are scrambling to provide the latest in organic pet food, pet mediacl insurance plans, handmade ornate collars, pet clothes, chic pet carriers, and doggy boots!

Ellis suggests that the pet product market’s growth is no come-and-go trend. “The pet industry remains strong with expenditures nearly doubling in the last eight years. It’s also a large market. About 63% of U.S. households own one pet, and two-thirds of those own more.* For struggling retailers, our product line opens up a whole new category called Pet Home Furnishing. Savvy retails will quickly see that focusing on their customer’s lifestyle is an approach that will work well in this economy.”

The amenities and luxuries available for today’s pets may astound people, but it’s deinetely a market worth taking very serious. If this world really has gone to the dogs, then at least they won’t have any reason to complain.

* Source: US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure
Surveys. *2007 and 2008 Estimates by Dillon Media LLC.