Petco CEO Ron Coughlin said customers don't pull back on pet spending, even if prices go up and budgets get tighter.Petco has bulked up its private label offerings, expanded vet care and other pet services and wooed customers willing to splurge on everything from clothes to fresh food for their dogs and cats.CEO Ron Coughlin on Wednesday said the specialty retailer has a key advantage in an uncertain environment: Americans spend on pets, even when their budgets tighten.
At an investor day in New York City, he said the pet category is"resilient to economic downturns, resilient to inflation." Plus, he said, more people adopted pets during the pandemic, as they moved into larger homes with yards and spent more time working from home. He compared the dynamic to a baby boom, saying the need for food, vet care and more will outlast the global health crisis.
Petco is expensive