HATS OFF TO THE CHAMPS

THE 2017 COOLEST PET RETAILERS UNVEILED!

 STORY BY PAMELA MITCHELL

If we learned one thing from our first America’s Coolest Stores Contest, it’s that there are a lot of very cool pet businesses all across the country.

So, what is cool? That’s hard to put a finger on, exactly, because “cool” is an amalgam of original ideas, tweaked unoriginal ideas, even stolen ideas, wrapped up into the package of an individual business … and that business’s individual market. What works one place, may not work elsewhere, after all. But the two underlying aspects of any Cool Store are being different — approaching a conventional business model with unconventional ideas — and a willingness to share. We want Pets+ readers to be inspired by these businesses and to take away from each story an idea or two that will work in their own stores.

In the Pets+ America’s Coolest Stores Contest, we try to put a finger on “cool,” by asking independent judges to rate entries in several categories: Aesthetics, Story History, Online Presence and Cool Factor. The top three winning businesses are featured in these pages, and Honorable Mentions will appear as Cool Store features in upcoming issues.

Be on the lookout for announcements for the 2018 Pets+ America’s Coolest Stores Contest, which will open for entries in January. Meantime, if you think you have a cool store, email us at coolstores@petsplusmag.com.