New Petco CEO Joel Anderson Prioritizes Retail Fundamentals

Pet health and wellness company Petco announced Joel Anderson as its new CEO Tuesday (Sept. 10) during its second-quarter earnings call. Anderson, who previously served as CEO at Five Below and Walmart, replaces interim CEO R. Michael (Mike) Mohan, who is transitioning to lead a new Board committee focused on value creation.

Anderson emphasized moving from the strategy phase to the execution phase of the company’s immediate priority: “Our focus right now and No. 1 priority is improving profitability. I believe in what Mike was working on and what the management was working on. We’ve got to strengthen retail fundamentals. The second half is about executing.”

Anderson described retail fundamentals such as merchandise excellence and service-driven business.

“We have to get the service business right with clean, well-merchandised stores,” he said, “and make sure our digital offering is easy and efficient. We have to be masters of efficiency with a strict discipline around inventory. We’ve got to get those retail fundamentals in order before we focus on growth again.”

While Petco’s net revenue of $1.52 billion decreased 0.5% for the second quarter, comparable sales inched forward 0.3%. The second-quarter highlight was Services and Vet sales, which rose 10%.

“Merchandising is our greatest opportunity to deliver profitability,” Anderson explained. “I believe in Petco’s deep-rooted mission. I’ve experienced firsthand the immense joy pets bring to families, including mine. Today, Petco sits at a critical juncture. There are clear opportunities to significantly improve our financial performance.”

Anderson noted three things that excite him about Petco: “Our integrated store footprint brought to life across multiple channels, delivering a differentiated offering that can make Petco a destination for pets and pet parents. If we present our customers with unique, on-trend products, we’ll accelerate our return to retail excellence. And our breadth of services offering, including our Vet platform, which is the biggest competitive differentiator for us and a significant long-term growth driver.”

During his first few weeks on the job, Anderson is committed to what the team and board have worked on for the past six months.

“It’s a disciplined and holistic approach to retail with better execution, leveraging Petco’s unique strengths,” he explained. “Simply put, I love pets and I love retail. I’m filled with optimism for the opportunities we have to establish trust in our financial discipline and grow the brand.”

He noted four key initiatives:

Returning to retail fundamentals

Meeting and exceeding customer expectations

Capturing market share

Meaningful improvement to the bottom line

“My assessment is we are completely on the right track,” Anderson said. “We’ve got the right strategy. Now we just have to go execute. What got me excited about joining Petco is what’s not broken is the brand, and what’s not broken is the passion we have out in the field for pets and pet parents. We’ve got more work to do on the assortment, specifically looking at how we’re priced to remain competitive and generate a reasonable margin. We are not starting over. We have much work to do, but everything I’ve seen since joining mirrored what I was told during my hiring process. We’re on the path to return to retail excellence and return this iconic brand to its winning ways.”