PETstock was born largely as a result of a dream the Young Family had.

In 1991 The Young Family took ownership of Ballarat Produce. In a short time frame it was quickly realized that the business needed to diversify from the traditional stock and produce products to incorporate more domestic pet lines, as there was a real growth potential in this industry. The pet industry was seen as being one of the last industries to embrace modern retailing.

The move was made and suddenly the business was attracting an entire new group of customers as they were able to satisfy the needs of all animals.

In 1997 Ballarat Produce purchased another produce store in Horsham and applied their new concept to this store also.

Over the next 4 years the two stores expanded their range of products to a point where the domestic pet section became the focus point.

In 2001 a third store was acquired in Warnambool and changed to fit with the same structure as the other two stores. It was at this point that the idea of a franchising became a focus.

As with all successful franchise’s it was recognized that a strong brand image together with sound policies and procedures and logistical infrastructure was going to be the key ingredient that would set this franchise apart from less successful pet and produce supply operations.

The first step was to find a name that would have the potential to become a household name. In the end it was a Ballarat staff member – Rod McGregor who came up with PETstock name. It was felt that PETstock captured everything about the business into one short and easy to remember word.

Now with the name chosen how were consumers going to identify with PETstock ?

A logo and brand structure needed to be developed

The business was broken into 6 major segments

• Equine
• Canine
• Feline
• Bird & Poultry
• Fish & Reptile
• Small Animal

The logo was then developed. The PET was capitalized and bolded to represent the major focus of the business and the ‘stock’ represents the past history and the breadth of product range. The colored vertical bands reflect each of the six segments of the business.

This colored segmentation is used in all aspects of the PETstock business and franchise stores for differentiation.

With a structure and brand established a franchise could be launched.

Through a number of different contacts, the Young Family were able to convince a group of other pet/product retailers in Victoria and NSW to join the PETstock franchise which was inaugurated in September 2002 with the following stores.

• Ballarat (Vic)
• Horsham (Vic)
• Warrnambool (Vic)
• Castlemaine (Vic)
• Albion Park Rail (NSW)
• Wollongong (NSW)
• Newcastle (NSW)
• Stawell (NSW)
• Gisborne (Vic)
• Belmont (Vic)
• Coffs Harbour (NSW)

Since 2002 the franchise has grown to be the market leader it is today.

Click here to view PETstock Concept Today.