“Time for a change of heart”

The pet requisites company based in northern Germany will distribute the lines in Germany, Italy, Austria and France to start with and then probably in other European countries soon afterwards. The scratching posts are made from natural wood from Austria and natural sisal. At the product presentation, the Austrian firm Ruben & Partner (advertising slogan: “The art of wood”) highlighted the fact that the posts were natural, tailored to the needs of cats and individually adapted to the style of the living space. The high-quality models are intended to address the requirement of many customers for a sturdy yet stylish cat furniture design. Proprietor Gerhard Ruben and managing director Matthias Göschke stressed that the scratching posts were sufficiently stable for even larger cats to be able to let off steam to their heart’s content. Two different lines were unveiled, which are to be expanded in stages to include new products. The “Classic” series, which caters for the needs of customers of the speciality trade, comprises six different models, which can be dismantled and reduced to the dimensions 60x40x40 and packed conveniently into a box. They are named after magical and fairytale characters, with names like Merlin and Aladdin. Different artificial fur covers have been developed for the line, made from especially soft material, as Ruben & Partner emphasises. These are washable and interchangeable. The second line, which is geared primarily to high-class destination stores and upmarket cat boutiques, is called “Exclusive”. The three models in this line take their names from the Austrian imperial court and are larger and of higher-quality design. These are offered at recommended retail prices of between € 599 and € 1049, which strongly limits their suitability for the range in an average pet store. René Pammer, who has been active in the pet supplies sector for over 20 years and played a key role in establishing the cooperative arrangement between Ruben & Partner and Trixie, has tested the scratching posts in his former Futterhaus store and reported on his experience of the new products at the product presentation. The speakers, including Trixie managing director Volker Haak, agreed that the natural wood scratching posts represented a terrific opportunity for the speciality trade, and came at a sales price that could give the trade a high margin. Varied agenda Trixie welcomed its national and international customers to the house fair at its…