Making the running in Barcelona

The first Mister Guau Center was opened in the 1980s and was a typical inner city shop with a very small retail area, like many of the shops in Spanish cities at the time. Further stores followed, scattered across Barcelona and the surrounding area. In 1995 Jaime Rodriguez realised that he would have to combine the competence of all his existing stores in one central pet store to satisfy the rapidly changing requirements of the market. Following extensive planning and an exhaustive search for the right location, the Mister Guau Center was opened in premises offering approx. 2 000 m² of retail space, on two and a half floors, close to the historic city centre. To date it is one of the biggest pet stores in Spain. Rodriguez closed his other shops.To raise the profile of his store, Jaime Rodriguez was quick to enlist the help of the media in Barcelona: radio commercials and features, coupled with big advertising campaigns in most of the daily and weekly papers, let the inhabitants of Barcelona know that Mister Guau Center stocked the pet food they required daily, along with a large selection of accessory products. The business soon also took to importing exclusive product lines from Germany and Italy to differentiate itself from its competitors. The range of services offered was also widened over the years: grooming studios, veterinary practices and delivery services were almost a standard feature of the pet product trade in Spain as long ago as 1995. Jaime Rodriguez went one step further, however, in expanding his portfolio to include a training centre for veterinary assistants and dog trainers as well as a kennels and cattery. Here pet dogs and cats could be left for the day while their owners went shopping in Barcelona. Now there are three Mister Guau Centers once again in the centre of Barcelona - the main store with a retail area of roughly 2 000 m², plus two further stores, each just under 500 m² in size. The company employs over 80 staff.One important means of generating sales at Mister Guau Center is the sale of dogs, cats, small animals and birds. Pets account for 60 per cent of the company's overall sales. The aquarium and terrarium segments tend to play a subordinate role, although a basic range of fish and reptiles is stocked along with some accessories. By contrast, the selection of dogs and cats is extensive, with up to 70 dogs and 30 cats available at any time. The animals are kept in spacious boxes - a maximum of two dogs to a box - fitted…