Tom & Co. launches new-generation stores

"Tom & Co. is a concept that people really like," explains Guillaume Papillon, Tom & Co.'s operations and development director for France. The retail group projects a young, dynamic image and the idea of pets as fully-fledged family members is at the heart of its concept. The Tom & Co. stores are designed to be very friendly, bright locations where pet owners can choose from a wide range of products not familiar to them from supermarkets or from DIY stores and garden centres. These products include, for example, organic pet food, fresh products and grain-free food. The company says it also attaches considerable value to having well-trained staff who are passionate about animals and eager to pass on advice.

The 25th Tom & Co. store has just opened in Nantes. This is the first new-generation pilot store for the company in France. There are two pilot stores currently being tested in Belgium, at Genappe and Braine. In addition to a range of 8 000 products, Tom & Co. also provides numerous other services and advice. Grooming parlours for dogs, cats and rodents, dog wash, adoption services in collaboration with animal refuges, access to educational courses, separate areas where pet-owners can sit to talk with staff or each other and so on all feature in store.

With the arrival at the beginning of the year of Guillaume Papillon to head up Tom & Co. in France, the company now has a staff of 45 at its head office or in one of the five integrated stores. After gaining his initial working experience at Decathlon, Guillaume Papillon joined the SCAEL group (a farming cooperative in Eure et Loir) and ran a sales outlet before moving on to various other positions and becoming network manager of the 13 Gamm Vert stores operating as a franchise. 
Tom & Co. opened its first French store in 2012 in Douai and has developed its business in France using a franchise model. Indeed, France is where Tom & Co. is looking to concentrate its future development. Around a hundred sites with the potential to open a Tom & Co. store have been identified, stresses the company. Another seven new Tom & Co. stores will open for business in 2018, bringing the number of stores in France to 32. 

"Our aim is to quickly build a network similar to the one in Belgium, based on a franchise model," explains Lionel Desclee, CEO of Tom & Co. "In just a matter of months, Guillaume Papillon has demonstrated that he is the…