Move to Aylesbury
It is normally hard to start a new shop in a new town, so Jenna choose one of the smaller units in Duck Farm Court, Aylesbury for her second shop. Taking the same care and attention to the fit-out as customers had seen in Winslow, soon Unique Pets was ready to open in Aylesbury. As many customers were already travelling from Aylesbury to Winslow, and more people were recommending Unique Pets, it transpired that the original unit was too small very quickly. Within just 6 weeks of opening, Unique Pets had already outgrown its first shop in Aylesbury!
Taking on a bigger unit on the same parade, Unique Pets was able to hold more stock and add a couple of extra freezers to satisfy the demand for raw food. There was also an upstairs to the shop which offered a number of opportunities. Jenna decided to add to the shop’s offering and sublet the room to a grooming salon, before taking the service in-house and creating Unique Pets Grooming.
While the new unit in Duck Farm Court coped with the initial increase in trade, it soon struggled with the boom in raw feeding. Unique Pets originally had a dozen small chest freezers in the shop offering three brands of raw food. But as word spread about the power of raw feeding, so the demand grew. Although we rearranged shelving and squeezed in a few more freezers, we found that they were empty again just days after delivery.
Another, smaller unit next door to the premises became available and offered the perfect solution. The additional area was annexed to the main shop to provide a walk-in freezer. This would then hold enough stock to refill the smaller freezers for customers. The extra space also meant that the grooming salon moved downstairs making it easier for all dogs to access. Upstairs became a much-needed office for the growing business and Lucy came on board to try and help steer the juggernaut.
Having heard of Unique Pets through a trainer, Lucy took her puppy Rory to try and find some food which didn’t go straight through him. After trying one bag of raw, Lucy and Rory have not looked back since. It’s amazing to think that a small business can grow so fast simply by the amazing power of customer recommendation.