In a Dog-Eat-Dog World, Local Pet Retailer Finds Her Niche

POTTSTOWN, Pa., PRNewswire – Today’s climate of big box competition
and belt tightening can be tough on small retailers. Lacking the arsenal of
resources that bigger retailers have to ensure profitability, small retailers
must rely on gut instinct and innovation to stay alive. That’s just what Diane
Dietch of Pottstown, PA-based Diane’s Discount Pet Supplies and Adoption
Center has managed.

Dietch has accomplished what few small business owners can do – turn a passion
into a business and then keep it alive for 20 years. The retail establishment
on Route 100 employs 15 full- and part-time people. It has thrived despite the
recent economic downturn and the opening of a national pet store just two
miles away – without resorting to layoffs. “We have seen a slight drop in
sales, so we really tightened control of expenses and thought of new ways to
service our customers,” Dietch explains.

For example, over the years Diane’s has introduced new services to keep up
with customers’ needs but also to keep cash flow strong. “We started offering
low-cost vaccine clinics several years ago,” Dietch adds. “This year we opened
a self-service dog wash so people can leave us with the bath-time aftermath.”

Dietch started her business in 1989 when she was 24 years old, but she was
already a veteran of the pet industry. “I started cleaning kennels when I was
12 years old. In high school I started working at a local pet shop where I
really learned the trade,” says Dietch. It was there that Dietch honed her
ability to connect with customers. That connection, and the pleasure she and
her staff derive from connecting pets with owners, has helped ensure her
business’s ongoing success while still looking after animals’ interests.

It’s no wonder, then, that one offering Diane’s is best known for besides its
fully stocked fish room and hand-raised birds is its pet adoption services.
“In the past 20 years, we’ve adopted out just over 12,000 dogs, cats, puppies,
and kittens,” Dietch adds. To encourage the spaying and neutering of these
pets, Diane’s offers a $50 to $75 refund when the owner presents proof that
the pet has been spayed or neutered.

Now that Diane’s offers on-site spay/neuter services through the work of
Dietch’s veterinarian husband Steven M. Silberman, DVM, the shop can better
uphold its drive to help control animal population. “We can now take a
proactive step to tackle an ongoing and under-addressed problem – the
unfortunate destruction of cats and dogs due to pet overpopulation,” Dietch
says.

Dietch’s resolve to help ensure no pets suffer through inhumane euthanasia is
evident in her past work with no-kill shelters and her current work with A
Shelter Friend, Inc., a nonprofit pet rescue group based in Elizabethtown, NC.
“A Shelter Friend sends daily e-mail messages for pets in shelters whose time
is running out. If no one commits to rescue the pets, then they are destroyed
in a gas chamber, which is a very cruel method of euthanasia,” says Dietch.
“We take in as many pets as we can – often meeting the transport van in other
states and many times in the middle of the night – so we can find homes for
these pets in Pennsylvania.”

Dietch’s unwavering commitment to both animal interests and her customers has
helped her business succeed and provide jobs in the local community. That’s
reason to celebrate – which is exactly what Diane’s is doing on Saturday,
October 24, 2009.

“To thank our customers and community, we’re having a ‘Barktoberfest’
celebration,” Dietch explains. “We’re having a big sale and free gifts plus
activities, demonstrations, and costume contests for pets.”

Activities include a K-9 North Coventry Police Demo at 1:00 pm, an Exotic
Animal Show at 2:00 pm, and Doggie Contests beginning at 3:00 pm for best
costume, biggest dog, smallest dog, and best look-a-like. Other attractions
include a canine mini-agility course, pet microchipping, face painting, and a
bounce house for kids, as well as visits from an animal herbalist, a pet
chiropractor, assorted vendors, and more. Food and beverages will also be
available.

To learn more visit www.ddpets.com or call 610.970.7500.

SOURCE  Diane’s Discount Pet Supplies & Adoption Center

Carol Dietch Long, +1-610-213-9245, cdlong@cdlbiz.com, for Diane’s Discount
Pet Supplies & Adoption Center

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