The Campbell Reporter

News

New Campbell Pet Food Express
offers doggone menu of choices

By Cathy Weselby

The dogs in Campbell have something to bark about. A new Pet Food Express has opened in what was previously the Tower Records building on Bascom Avenue.

The pet food and supply retailer caters not only to canines but also to cats, fish and other small animals.

Pet Food Express president and co-founder Michael Levy welcomed Campbell residents at the store's grand opening on March 1 and 2.

"I was surprised to discover how much community there was around this location," Levy says. "We didn't realize that when we chose this site."

The run-down storefront has been given a facelift with paint, bright orange awnings and new signs. It's enough to make one's tail wag.

Inside the 11,000-square-foot store is a self-service dog wash and aisles of pet supplies and premium pet food.

Los Gatos resident Linda Smith stopped into the Campbell location on the way to get her car washed. She usually frequents the Los Gatos location, and says she appreciates the store's 20 percent discount on premium dog foods, especially since she has three dogs and one cat at home.

The Bay Area chain started as a retail space on W. Portal Avenue in San Francisco. Levy was a dog trainer and says he leased the store as a place to hold classes, but kept adding products that his customers liked.

"Back then, there were only a handful of pet food options--now there are millions," Levy says.

Levy teamed up with Mark Vitrol and the company now has 33 locations in Northern California.

Pet Food Express competes against mass-market pet stores and supermarkets by providing more options in holistic and premium dog and cat food and by emphasizing training and customer service with store employees.

Levy says all new employees go through a five-day training class at the company's head office in San Leandro.

"We're really a lot different than the rest of the industry," Levy says.

He says it's important that all Pet Food Express employees be knowledgeable about pet nutrition because of the frequent changes to pet food.

"Nationals are set up to stock product and sell it, and it's not cost-effective for them to train employees," Levy says. "But it's our main area to excel."

Pet nutrition keeps moving forward, he says, and holistic pet food, which comprises a majority of the stores' offerings, was just introduced seven years ago.

Levy adds that the raw food category has expanded in the last three years.

"It's the closest diet to nature, but it still needs to be nutritionally balanced," he says.

Pet Food Express offers two raw brands and is about to add a third.

No animals are sold, but the store walls are lined with posters of dogs who have been adopted through the company's online animal adoption resource, www.virtualpetadoptions.com. Levy says that more than 40,000 animals have been adopted through virtual pet adoptions during the past five years.

The Campbell location will also hold adoption fairs on weekends with local groups such as the Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority, Unconditional Love Pet Rescue, SaveABunny and Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue.

Levy plans to grow to 100 stores, but will stay within the Bay Area because he still wants to be able to visit the stores regularly.

For more information on Pet Food Express, 1902 S. Bascom Ave., call 408.371.5555 or visit www.petfoodexpress.com.