Premiere in Ireland

The German franchise company Fressnapf has opened its first Irish store in Cork. Its Maxi Zoo store has a retail area of 400 m² and stocks around 5 000 different products. Further outlets are to follow in Ireland in the next few years. Fressnapf’s master franchise partners in Ireland are Tony and Alice Cross, both of whom have extensive experience of the retail trade. According to a press release by Fressnapf, around 50 per cent of Ireland’s population of four million own a pet. The Irish spend just under € 40 per capita each year on their pets. The market as a whole realised sales of over € 150 mio in 2005 and is growing at an annual rate of 6 over per cent in value and roughly 2.5 per cent in volume.