“Growing harmoniously”

Futterhaus, the pet supplies retailer, rounded off a successful 2011 with three new openings in December, two in Germany and one in Austria. This brought the number of new Futterhaus stores last year to 29, including eight in Austria. By the end of 2011 the company had 243 outlets in Germany and 13 in Austria, and had also acquired new franchise partners. A new legal and contracts department was established at the new company headquarters and new staff added to the marketing department. A total of 69 people are now employed in the head office. Harmonious structures The larger a company and system become and the greater the number of people working there, the bigger the risk of differences of opinion arising. Futterhaus boss Herwig Eggerstedt is naturally aware of this and has gained some experience in this regard over the years. “Growing harmoniously and not forcing entry into any market are an integral part of our concept,” says Herwig Eggerstedt. He believes that this necessitates spending more time on working with new franchisees and getting to know them above all on a personal level. The Futterhaus team has taken a big step towards implementing the new colour scheme and conceptual redesign of the stores that was unveiled last year. To date around 20 stores have been modified and refurbished accordingly. Up to 40 more stores are expected to follow this year, and the same again next year. “We are paying even greater attention than before to the overall corporate identity of our brand and are also keeping an eye on our partners to this effect,” stresses Herwig Eggerstedt. New outlets The store that opened in the Hamburg suburb of Winterhude, not far from the city centre, in November 2011 has a retail area of just 145 m². This is a classic shop in the so-called checkout area of a Toom retail park. It offers a range of pet products specially assembled for this store, including a host of treats and small items suited to impulse buying, as well as food in small pack sizes. No grocery items feature in the range, as a large-format supermarket exists under the same roof just a few metres away. “We will test this concept for a while and then decide whether to implement it in other stores across Germany,” says Herwig Eggerstedt. A first target for this year is to open 35 stores in Germany and Austria. In Germany, the focus is on the Hanseatic city of Bremen, where Futterhaus parted company with a franchisee with several stores at the end of 2009. Herwig Eggerstedt…