Petco bets on experiential retail to drive store traffic
Bottom line
Petco is leaning harder into in-store “retailtainment,” using themed events like a July 12 “Piggy Cup” guinea pig soccer activation, a July 25 “Super Spiders” event, and a July 26–August 2 “Feed the Sharks” promotion tied to Shark Week. The strategy, outlined by Pet Age on July 14, positions Petco stores as interactive community hubs rather than just transaction points. Petco brand executive Alison Hiatt said the company is responding to demand from Gen Z and millennial pet parents for more hands-on, social shopping experiences. The move also lines up with Petco’s broader 2026 strategy to use stores to build community, increase engagement, and drive repeat visits. (petage.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this is another sign that major pet retailers are trying to turn brick-and-mortar traffic into deeper, recurring relationships with pet parents. Petco’s annual report says stores are central to its “differentiated, high-touch store ecosystem,” and the company continues to emphasize services, including its vet hospital footprint and future hospital expansion plans in 2027. If experiential retail succeeds, it could create more opportunities for preventive care education, nutrition conversations, and service referrals inside stores, while also increasing competition for attention in the broader pet care journey. (ir.petco.com)
What to watch: Watch whether Petco ties these traffic-driving events more directly to veterinary, grooming, training, loyalty, and prescription offerings later in 2026. (ir.petco.com)
Petco is expanding its experiential retail playbook, betting that live, themed store events can help pull pet parents into physical locations and keep them engaged longer. According to Pet Age, the company’s latest activations include a July 12 “Piggy Cup” with guinea pigs in soccer-themed matches, a July 25 “Super Spiders” event, and a July 26–August 2 “Feed the Sharks” promotion timed to Shark Week. Petco says the goal is to turn stores into interactive community hubs centered on animals, product discovery, and expert guidance. (petage.com)
The strategy didn’t appear out of nowhere. In Petco’s 2025 annual report, filed in 2026, CEO Joel Anderson described the company’s “trusted store experience” as a core competitive advantage and said Petco wants to use stores to build “community, excitement and customer loyalty” through frequent newness, events for families and pets, and services that drive repeat visits. The same filing says Petco’s customer base over-indexes to Gen Z, which the company sees as a reason to emphasize physical connection and experiences. (ir.petco.com)
That store-first push comes as Petco tries to stabilize and return to growth. In first-quarter 2026 results reported June 3, the company posted net sales of $1.5 billion, up 0.2%, and comparable sales growth of 0.7%, while adjusted EBITDA rose to $97.3 million from $89.4 million a year earlier. Petco said those results offered early validation of its Phase 3 “Reach for the Sky” strategy. The company ended the quarter with 1,378 stores, even as its broader brand materials still describe a footprint of more than 1,500 locations across the U.S., Mexico, and Puerto Rico or, in another corporate description, more than 1,500 stores across the U.S., Mexico, and Chile. That discrepancy suggests Petco is using different counting conventions across communications, but the broader point is clear: it still sees its physical network as a strategic asset. (corporate.petco.com)
Petco’s current event calendar shows this isn’t a one-off campaign. Its store events page lists recurring activations including free puppy playtime on Saturdays and “Petco Zoo” programming, while a June 2026 summer press release promoted free tasting events, puppy playtime, and adoption events as part of its seasonal merchandising push. In other words, the July “Piggy Cup” and Shark Week tie-ins look like an escalation of an existing operating model, not a standalone stunt. (petco.com)
Petco is also grounding the strategy in broader consumer behavior. Pet Age cited NielsenIQ data saying about one-third of Gen Z shoppers prefer to shop exclusively in stores. NielsenIQ’s more recent retail analysis similarly says younger pet parents remain heavy in-store shoppers in pet specialty, and that immediate need still blocks some online pet purchases altogether. That doesn’t mean digital is less important, but it does support Petco’s argument that stores can still matter when they offer something more than shelf space. (petage.com)
Industry reaction, at least from Petco’s own messaging, frames the events as a way to make stores more relevant and shareable. Alison Hiatt, Petco’s senior vice president of brand, said pet parents are looking for “genuine connection and joyful, hands-on experiences,” and said the company is aligning activations with cultural trends to create moments that feel relevant, educational, and exciting. Petco hasn’t, at least in the materials reviewed here, released outside expert commentary specifically on the guinea pig or shark-themed events, but the company’s language is consistent with a wider retail trend toward experience-led traffic building. (petage.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, experiential retail is worth watching because it can reshape where and how pet parents encounter health information, nutrition advice, and service recommendations. Petco already operates roughly 300 vet hospitals, according to its annual report, and says it plans to resume new hospital expansion in 2027. If store events increase visit frequency and dwell time, they could strengthen the retail-to-services funnel, especially for preventive care, diets, training, grooming, and pharmacy engagement. At the same time, more in-store traffic around small animals and aquatics may raise fresh questions about staff training, welfare messaging, biosecurity, and the quality of husbandry education delivered at point of sale. (ir.petco.com)
What to watch: The next signal will be whether Petco connects these activations more explicitly to loyalty, Autoship pickup, prescriptions, hospital visits, or other higher-margin services later in 2026, as its omnichannel strategy continues to evolve. (ir.petco.com)