Unfortunately for those of us exhibiting or attending Global Pet Expo this year, love is not in the air as the show falls on Valentine’s Day.  Hopefully the love can float around a few extra days until we can get home and celebrate!

We are attending three shows this month and some brave souls are attending four- yikes! But for those of you who aren’t masochists and just want to attend one show, here is a run down of the four shows and what to expect.

 1. Groom & Kennel  Burbank, CA- Feb. 8-10

Target Audience: As the name implies this show is for groomers, spas, kennels, mobile groomers and even trainers and those considering adding services to your retail store.

Types of Exhibitors: Grooming supplies and tools (Scissors etc), shampoos and spa companies, grooming equipment (Hydrosurge, kennels, tables etc). There are about 90 exhibitors at this show.

Education: There is a full 3 day line up of seminars and lectures on topics ranging from adding retail to your grooming business, to the latest dog grooming techniques.  Most attendees come for the educational component.

Entertainment: Throughout most of the show a grooming contest is going on. But the highlight is  the Creative Styling Contest when groomers groom the dogs to look like anything from a cow, a camel, a zebra and the groomer dresses to match the dog.  Think lots of pink standard poodles. The above link will show you an example.

My opinion (for what it’s worth): We have exhibited at this show for 3 years because it’s close by- a 15 minute drive. The show definitely has a local, casual feel to it and is nothing like some of the larger shows. It’s in a much smaller area and has a more “industrial” feel to it then say the 2nd floor of the Chicago Christmas show.  You only need to attend this show if you want to add grooming services to your retail location, or if you are a groomer. In the grooming world this is probably the second most important show, after the one in Hershey, PA- also run by Barkleigh Productions.

Our Booth Number: 54

2. Global Pet Expo-San Diego, CA Feb 14-16

Target Audience: Traditionally APPMA has put on it’s show for distributors and chain stores although they are trying to pull in more independent stores.

 

Types of Exhibitors: In the past it was your large distributors and giant manufacturers but in the last couple of years they have tried to chage that. This year they have added a specific Boutique area which is upstairs. So, let’s hope that more boutique manufacturers will attract more boutiques! There are about 100 companies in this boutique section. According to their website: This show-within-a-show concept is for buyers looking for the trendiest, most fashionable boutique products to pamper pets. You will find custom designed jewelry, stylish carriers, couture clothing, luxury pet beds, elegant collars, spa products and more. The Boutique at Global Pet Expo is made up of Aisles of Style featuring everything a pet owner needs to satisfy their beloved, pampered pet.

Education: There are attendee seminars throughout the show. Topics include:

• Rick Segel’s Retail Boot Camp
• The Essential Online Solution…The Five Step Formula For Small Business Success
• The A-Z of Growing Your Sales and Profits
• and many more

Entertainment: Thursday, Friday and Saturday, February 14, 15 & 16, Pet Style News is hosting the Puppy Luv Fashion Show at 11:00am and 3:00pm each day at during Global Pet Expo.  It’s in the Boutique in Room 11B.

My opinion (for what it’s worth): The good news for attendees is that this show doesn’t have the mad rush feeling that some have. Nice wide aisles and not that many shoppers make it a comfortably buying experience.  This will be our third time exhibiting at this show and I think it will be the best, now that they’ve added the boutque section. Last year we were next to a company that made bird seed!

Our Booth Number: 7525 (upstairs in boutique section)

3. Luxury Pet Pavilion-Los Angeles, CA Feb 23-24

Target Audience: Pet Boutiques, gift stores/hotels/spas with pet sections, Dog spas and other higher end stores

Types of Exhibitors: High end. You probably won’t find cat litter or bird seed at this show. Think dog carriers, matching collars and leashes, beds, spa and more. There are at least 80 high end vendors exhibiting.

Click here to see some of the cool new products being launched at the show.

Education: There are a couple of attendee seminars. Topics include:

• Show and Tell just got serious! Presentation skills and follow up. Sat. Feb. 23 8:30 am
• Trend Spotting. trend watching is used to develop products, generate ideas, inform customers, create promotions and strategically plan Sunday Feb. 24th 8:30 am

Entertainment: There’s loads of entertainment at this show including a “Celebri-Dog” kick off on Friday at Laurel

Canyon

Dog

Park and the Pawscars on Saturday evening where awards will be announced.

My opinion (for what it’s worth): It’s a small yet very targeted show. If you are a boutique and live within 3 or 4 hours of  L.A. it’s definitely worth the trip out.  You won’t wear out your feet schlepping down endless isles where only 1 out of 10 companies you want to see.  If your main focus is food and basics this may not be the best show for you. It would probably be better to go to Global Pet Expo where you have a blend of boutique products and day to day stuff.   It’s too bad that it competes with the LA Showroom, which is only a day before. See my other post on this…

Our Booth Number: 215

4. LA Pet Designers at the Show Room, Los Angeles, CA Feb. 21-22

Target Audience: Pet Boutiques, gift stores/hotels/spas with pet sections, Dog spas and other higher end stores

Types of Exhibitors: High end (ish) Everything from collars, clothes, treats and more. There are at least 40 vendors exhibiting at this show.

Click here to see some of the cool new products being launched at the show. 

Education: There will be two symposiums. One is on starting a new pet business and growing your existing business. The other topic is growing your company via the internet.

Entertainment: There is a special event at the Sky Bark, which is a dog-friendly “club”. Sponsored by Petapotty.

My opinion (for what it’s worth): It’s too bad that this show is just a day before the Luxury Pet Pavilion. You could make a long weekend out of it and visit both shows though if I could only pick one I would go with the Luxury Pet Pavilion (and we did). There are more vendors there, so you will see more. If you want to know why there are two very similar shows, both in downtown La in the same week- see my other post.

Our Booth Number: This is one show we’re not doing!

Many of you may already read Working With Pets, a blog dedicated to helping businesses in the pet care industry.

Just today Danielle, the author of the blog launched a new forum, appropriately called “the Pet Business Forum- The Place To Network With Pet Care Professionals”

I’m particularly happy about this because as a small business owner, the number of other professionals I come into contact with certainly isn’t as many as I would like. When I worked in Corporate America, as annoying as it could often be, it did allow for  the exchange of ideas.  

So far there are forums on such things as:

1. Getting Your Business Started

2. Marketing Your Pet Business

3. Staff Management and Motivation 4. Legal Business Forms, Contracts, Insurance, and Licenses

5. Pet Business Finance

6. Pet Health

7. Chat About Your Pets

 Danielle says, “My vision for the forum is that it will be a place for pet lovers, business owners, and people that work with pets to network, exchange ideas, offer advice, and be inspired by others that are working with pets.”

Oh yeah, the first 10 people who register and post 5 responses or new topics before Feb. 15th will receive a copy of a special report “The One Page Pet Business Plan” which will lead you through the process of setting up a business plan that will give your business focus for 2008. With the report you will also receive an easy fill in the blanks template for creating your first business plan.

 See you in the Forum!

As you may already know, this February there are two  “high end” pet industry trade shows in Los Angeles, 1 day apart from each other.

Both shows cater to ”pet boutiques”   and the majority of the exhibitors will feature clothing, beds and collars (no bird seed or cat litter here).

Both will be held in downtown Los Angeles.

And both have been fiercely competing in the trade magazines. (but oddly their ads look remarkably similar!)

Before I write on I must admit that  happytails is exhibiting at one of them- Luxury Pet Pavilion, but only because we couldn’t do both, we just had to choose one. But the point of this entry isn’t to tout the merits of one or the other (well, maybe it is a little) but more importantly is to see if anyone else thinks that the number of pet “trade” shows is getting out of hand! Every year it seems like another show, or two, are added.

As exhibitors we don’t want to miss out on opportunities to see existing and new customers. So we end up spending far more money on trade shows to see the same number of customers and prospects.

The advantage for the buyer or show attendee, is convenience. A show might be closer to you so you save on travel, or there is more flexibility in dates. The downside of course is that the exhibitor attendance might be down so you don’t see as much. We can’t attend all of the shows. 

Okay, so what you really want to know– why are there two high end “luxury” pet trade shows in Los Angeles this Feb? The Show Room (LA Pet Designers) being held  at the convention center was born last year in Santa Monica when a group of 13 local vendors had a mini tradeshow in a nearby hotel. Small, quick and dirty.

Since it went so well, the main organizers decided to take it to the next level… little did they know that the gals at Luxury Pet Pavilion were bringing their traveling trade show to L.A.— Oooops!  And of course after they told everyone about it, neither party wanted to back down.

 We debated a long time about which show to attend. There weren’t that many points of differentiation. So, after really searching, struggling and looking at the minutia we chose Luxury Pet Pavilion  because:

1. It was over a weekend so we thought more buyers may be able to attend

2. We personally like the Bonaventure better that the LA Convention Center

3.  Luxury Pet Pavilion is a bit more established.

4. But the real reason is we got more phone calls from other exhibitors (our friends) ”encouraging” us to go with LPP

At “press time” LA Pet Designers/The ShowRoom has 19 exhibitors while Luxury Pet Pavilion has 40.  

Let’s not forget that Global Pet Expo in San Diego is also in February AND Groom & Kennel in Burbank… also in February.

We’ll be taking our vitamins!

Let us know what you think about all of these trade shows. Are they providing more opportunities for buyers or is it just spreading our time more thinly?

As we here at happytails Canine Spa Line navigate our way through all of the new technologies available to us in this web 2.0 world, I found something that might be very helpful to those of you who schedule  appointments– groomers, doggie day spas, kennels etc. 

It’s a software packge that sends text messages and emails to clients before their appointment as a reminder, as well as personalized enewletters, holiday/birthday greetings and even customer surveys  All of the communication sent out would include your logo. It’s targeted to the medical profession and spas, but can be used by any organization that schedules appointments. 

It seems like a cool way to eliminate missed appointments and to connect with your clients. 

Give it a try, they have a 60 day trial!www.smilereminder.com  866-605-6867 

This morning while eating a bowl of cereal at LA’s new cereal bar (only in LA) I was flipping through a mag called Business 2.0. There was an article about the top 10 trends to watch in 2008– one of which was dog rentals.

 Literally, someone has started a company which rents dogs to those who want a dog, but not full time either due to expense, space or time. The company is called Flexpetz which according to them, lets you bask in the unconditional love of man’s best friend without the trouble of having to take care of it.

The owner, Marlena Cervantes, is a former behavioral therapist and says that she has seen first hand the postive effect that interacting with a dog can have on people with health problems. But oftentimes these people are unable to take on the responsibility of dog ownership.

However well intentioned Ms. Cervantes may be in her efforts to bring cheer to those with health problems, has she considered the ill effects that this is going to have on the poor dogs?

Those who sign on with Flexpetz pay $120 per month which includes food, toys and a bed.  Members are required to rent the dogs at least twice a month.  When the dog isn’t rented out it’s in a cage-free day care center.  Potentially that’s 15 different homes a dog could visit a month!

So, the poor dog doesn’t ever get used to one location as it’s traveling around everyday, doesn’t have a place to call  it’s own, doesn’t have a guardian to give it’s unconditional love to… I really feel sorry for the dog! I don’t think the service is good for the dog (for obvious reasons) or for the dog renters.

The reason that humans love dogs is because dogs give their owner unconditional love. They wag their tail for you when you walk through the door and they do absolutely anything to be with you.  We always love our own dog more than someone else’s dog because someone else’s dog doesn’t jump as high when they see you or wag his tail quite as much.  Who would want to rent someone else’s kid? (unless you’re a grand parent!).  If this kind of service were available for human children, it would be outrageous.  Of course the child would end up with deep-rooted psychological problems… well, so will dogs.

In fact, most dog adoption agencies won’t let prospective adopters “test-drive” the dog even for a night as it would be too stressful on the dog.

Furthermore, there a numerous organizations out there which bring friendly dogs to hospitals, orphanages etc. to cheer up those in need. They are called therapy dogs.  in fact, dogs are quite often used in therapy. Typically this involves visiting hospitals, care facilities, nursing homes, etc. to cheer up patients. Wouldn’t that be a better option to get your daily dose of dog cheer? Visit www.therapydogs.com.

And for those healthy people who want to rent a dog– go to a dog park instead. 

I really hope that Flexpetz does not become one of the top 10 trends in 2008.

What do you think? Please let us know if you think this is as bad of an idea as I do, or if there is some merit.

For ideas on bonding with your own dog visit www.happytailsspa.com