“Top dog” in Italy

Based in Boara Pisani near Padua in northern Italy, the D.M.O. Group is active not only in the pet supplies sector, but also in the perfumery, drugstore and body care spheres. The group operates chemist’s shops and perfume shops in northern and central Italy. Ten years ago it created the speciality chain Isola dei tesori, which specialises in the sale of pet products. The first store was opened in September 2000 in Ponte San Nicolò, close to Padua. Now the company has 140 sales outlets, over 50 of which are run as chain stores. In 2006, the D.M.O. Group took over “La Ciotola” with six sales outlets in Trentino-Alto Adige. A year later it acquired the chain store company Dog & Cat Supermarkt in Emilia-Romagna. The take-over of Shoppin Dog & Company with 18 shops and eight branches in Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy and Piedmont in 2009 was a further acquisition. The stores that are run under the latter logo are to be converted to Isola dei tesori stores, says Stefano Segantin, the sales director of the speciality retail group. Pet shops in DIY stores The group’s cooperation with the DIY store operator Brico Io, part of the Potenti Group, has become an important element in its strategy. “We were contacted by Marco Potenti, one of the main franchisers of Brico Io, because he wanted to have pet departments in his stores. We started out with two 250 m2 departments. Within three years we have installed 42 pet shops in the DIY stores of Brico Io,” recounts Stefano Segantin. The average retail area of these pet shops is 120 m2 and they stock a range of roughly 2 500 products for pets. The design of the pet shops in the DIY stores and branches of Isola dei tesori has been developed from the same concept, and the advertising concept is very similar too, although the product range in the chain stores is normally bigger. The pet supplies retailer is extremely satisfied with developments in the last year. Double-digit growth has been achieved in most months, says Stefano Segantin. One striking statistic here is that apart from December, August is one of the strongest months for sales at Isola dei tesori. Stefano Segantin comments: “Perhaps this is because the smaller shops shut in this month and then more customers come to us.” Pet food products account for 70 per cent of Isola dei tesori’s sales on average, with the other 30 per cent deriving from accessories and care products. The most important pet categories are dogs and cats, but Stefano Segantin says that small…