After 34 years of operation,
the Kennelwood brand
was due for a change. Co-owner and Chief Marketing
Officer Chris Danforth says
that the company was founded
as Kennelwood Village, and
it had a “village mentality.”
At the time, it was one store
that did pet boarding and
grooming, with some elements of retail. Now, the
company, which has grown
to 2007 revenue of $9.5 million, has changed its name to
Kennelwood Pet Resorts to
reflect its new concept: a vacation spot for pets, with plans
to expand to new markets.
“We saw an opportunity to
change our look and tie it all
together,” he says.
Smart Business spoke with
Danforth about how to plan a
rebranding effort and how to
expand without getting in over
your head.
Q. What advice would
you give a CEO who is
considering rebranding?
As we’ve just begun the
process and are learning about
it, we have been conservative.
We want to make sure we’re
doing it right. We don’t want to
rush in and grab into a market
we’re not prepared to be in
yet.
You have to do your due diligence and really understand
that cities are becoming more
and more like each other, but
there certainly are some differences. Make sure you understand the differences in the
marketplace. If it takes a little
longer, that’s better than rushing into it and realizing you
missed it or you’re in over
your head.
Q. How do you decide where
to expand?
The way we’re targeting is
looking geographically and
making sure there are households with a propensity to
spend. We’ve also looked at
competition. We know we can
open up multiple locations in
Chicago, Nashville or wherever, then break down the market and use our partners to
research real estate.
That helps make sure we’re
in the right areas. Get close
proximity to the ZIP
codes we want to hit. In
St. Louis, we know what
ZIP codes we want to
hit, but we also know
that we might not want
to be right in that ZIP
code. We could be a
stone’s throw away and
save some money on
leasing or owning land.
We rely on the experts
we’ve brought along the
way to help us out. The
real estate brokers, the
construction management company, whatever.
