SuperZoo University's comprehensive program is designed specifically to help pet retailers strengthen and grow their businesses. Three tracks (Business Development, Animal Wellness and Technology/Internet) offer a full curriculum of industry-focused sessions for pet retail owners, managers and staff. Seminars include Power Merchandising: Store Design & Lighting, Nutrition: A Discussion of the Options and Choices and How Best to Feed Our Pets and You Are Who You Hire to name a few. A complete grooming education program is also offered during SuperZoo, which includes demonstrations and hands-on instruction to help groomers perfect their skills and learn new techniques.
One of the featured topics at this year’s conference is “the Destination Business,” which will be presented by special guest instructor Jon Schallert of the Schallert Group. Schallert, the only consultant in the world teaching businesses how to reinvent themselves into “Consumer Destinations,” brings his proprietary 14-step strategy to SuperZoo in two, 90-minute sessions that will show participants the business benefits of
making the transformation from “store” to “experience.” The workshops will examine the pitfalls, mistakes and opportunities that go along with reinventing one’s store and projecting its uniqueness, and will include insights and case studies of top Destination Businesses that not only survived the worldwide recession, but came through it stronger and more profitable than before.
Pet industry owners, key managers, buyers and merchandisers can also arrive a day early to attend the 2nd Annual Pet Industry Executive Summit (PIES), held September 10 at the SuperZoo venue in the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. The summit is designed to address the hot topics and important issues facing the industry today. More information is available at www.petindustryexecutivesummit.com.
A complete listing of seminar sessions is available at www.superzoo.org, along with video excerpts from 2011, to give those interested in attending an idea of what to expect. Seminars begin at US$19 for WPA members and US$29 for non-members. Classes fill up quickly, so participants are encouraged to register early online for sessions they want to attend.