Tom & Co. embarks on expansion

The Belgian pet store chain Tom & Co., part of the Delhaize Group, has been testing the waters in the French pet market carefully and attentively for a few years. Now the concept with which the speciality chain intends to drive expansion forward in its southern neighbour appears to be up and running. Tom & Co. opened its third French store in Valenciennes back in March, and store number four followed in Montévrain, close to Disneyland Paris, in June. This outlet is in a new retail park containing stores of well-known retail companies. Another new opening for Tom & Co. is scheduled in the Paris area shortly.The store in Montévrain is the first Tom & Co. outlet in France to open as a franchise store. Frank Guyon, whose background is in agriculture, is the company's first French franchisee.

The new Tom & Co. store has a retail area of 500 m2 on which it offers a full range of products including pets. Although the product range is so diverse, great importance was attached to creating sufficiently wide aisles for customers to navigate in the design of the store. Areas can be found at regular intervals in between the dark brown rows of shelving where customers can pause a while; this is certainly the case in the centre of the store, where a large enclosure for small mammals attracts the attention of young and old. The aquarium department at the back of the store and themed or promotional islands focusing on particular product groups also catch the customer's eye. Other visual highlights of the store include a food bar and an additional department for dog apparel. The core sides of the sales gondolas are used for presenting the latest promotions. Big private label range The company's private labels are accorded a special status in the product presentation. Tom & Co. offers a pet food range that covers all price and quality levels from budget to super-premium.To draw attention to the Tom & Co. store in the extensive car park of the shopping mall, the company has put up posters in places advertising the new store.