PETsMART, idealab! to launch cyber petshop
NEW YORK, May 13 (Reuters) - No. 1 U.S. pet supply retailer
PETsMART Inc. <PETM.O> on Thursday said it had partnered with
Internet firm incubator idealab! to sell products ranging from
cat furniture to squeaky toys over the Internet.
Under the deal, PETsMART will combine its online business
operations with idealab!'s Web retail start-up PetJungle.com.
to form a new business to be known as PETsMART.com.
Scheduled to launch this summer, PETsMART.com is aimed at
tapping the $23 billion pet food, supply and services market.
The business will offer merchandise alongside pet-related
information and advice. PETsMART will add the cybershop to its
587 bricks and mortar shops in the United States, Canada and
the United Kingdom.
With more than half of U.S. households estimated to own
some kind of pet, demand for products and information is huge.
Terms of the agreement call for PETsMART to have a 50
percent interest in PETsMART.com. Other investment partners
include idealab!, known for setting up firms like eToys and
GoTo.com, and Global Retail Partners, a Los Angeles
investmentfirm specializing in e-commerce retail.
PETsMART.com will compete paw to paw with Pets.com, a
privately-held online pet-supply company. Internet retail giant
Amazon.com <AMZN.O> said in March it would buy a 50 percent
stake in Pets.com. Online pet information service Acmepet.com
has also said it will sell supplies on the Web. Pets.com paid
an undisclosed amount to become the premier pet store on N0. 1
consumer online service AOL <AOL.N>.
PETsMART.com will be headquartered in Pasadena, Ca. and
will handle Internet orders through an existing 260,000-square-
foot catalogue supply operation. The center stocks over 50,000
PETsMART products and employs more than 500 customer
representatives.
Pets.com launched its online store in November 1998,
selling 10,000-items ranging from dog food to aquarium
supplies.
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