We recently connected with Christopher Joy and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love for you to start by sharing your thoughts about the pros and cons of family businesses.

Pets Plus always has been a story of family.

In the early 90’s, we like so many others, had a dog that had allergies and we discovered that the solution was a premium pet food. After feeding our family pet this amazing food and seeing the results, we started to tell our close friends and family about it, and we found that we were not the only ones with a dog that had sensitivities, needed better results, and food that could be fed less so their pet could flourish. Our company started small with pallets arriving into the garage and each bag was hand unloaded onto simple shelves. The goal was to help customers with their pets while providing excellent customer service.. Each bag was put in the family truck and delivered to friends, family, and customers in the area, often in between Jim and Mary’s regular jobs.

After a few years of deliveries and small retail storefronts in local shops, Pets Plus made the decision to move into our current location, but a bit smaller then it is now with 800 square feet of retail space. Mary came to work full time while Jim filled in whenever he could all while doing the build out.

Two more expansions followed over the years due to the demand for better and better products. Jim would do all the work he could with the building while assisting Mary with customers. Mary became the smiling, steadfast face of Pets Plus that customers came to seek advice from, talk with a friend, and always to have a smile. Pets Plus expanded to over 4,500 square feet and carrying multiple brands, toys, and so much more

In 2007, Pets Plus started the begin it’s second generation when their son Christopher came into the store to help with online sales and continue the tradition of working with our customers to find pet solutions. With the added help Pets Plus grew even more and began their largest endeavor, their own brand of Pet Supplies.

With the consolidation of pet food companies over the years, the Joy’s decided to start with own offerings using decades of experience and customer feedback, in 2009, North Winds Premium started. A pet care line offering dry pet food, wet, freeze dried, treats, supplements, and more. From the beginning the line would be simple, products that customers often looked for, made without compromise, with the best interest of the pet, the owners, and the planet.

North Winds Premium has become a rousing success both in their original store and beyond. Available to other stores looking for a pet care line without compromises and a wonderful price point, it continues to drive Pets Plus into the future. Pets Plus has always been focused on pets, customers, friends, family, and customer service. The family belief that if someone decided to come to you, you would be there for them. The belief that the focus on the pet & customer has always been the driver to success, and with three decades, thousands of satisfied customers, and wonderful standing in the community, it shows that you be do business the “right way”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Christopher Joy is the second generation owner of Pets Plus and is the owner of North Winds Premium as well.

I came into the industry in 2007 through my parents needing help at the store due to expansion, I’ve always loved helping customers and most of all, I love helping pets.

My skillset is often in development of products and systems here at Pets Plus and North Winds Premium. With Pets Plus it is to help customers and the staff to focus on working with customers to find solutions. On the North Winds Premium side of the business, it is to find the right products at prices customers can afford, while considering their focus themselves. Such as quality products, it’s sourcing, and good manufacturing. Often both of these departments blend because the focus is always the same.

What sets our products apart is that there isn’t a compromise. We always focus what is better every time. Our customers often come to us because they know we’re picky. Even down to the smaller details. They know if we carry it or even more, put our brand’s name on it, they know it’s a product that they can trust.

What we’re most proud of is that commitment towards excellence. From the simplest question to the details of the products we sell, our goal is always to be more. North Winds Premium is a prime example of what we hold dear in the pet industry, especially after so much corporate consolidation has removed that detail over the years. The focus should always be to maintain that trust customers have.

The main things that we would say we’re proud of, is that over three decades, we have actually gotten more into the sourcing side of products while training our staff to inform customers about our goals to find them the right product. We would not make a product that we would not feed our own pets. Plus, we’re always happy to help the best we can, either in store with Pets Plus or outside the store with our North Winds Premium line.

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

We currently use Shopify as our platform after using a competitor for years. Shopify has been the easiest to work with and to maintain so much of what we do. It’s intuitive and powerful.

The cons of using a system like Shopify is that we’re often left to our own platform, which we have to create ourselves. Amazon and Etsy are two of the most used sites in the world and having that customer trust is almost innate in those programs. With ours were building from scratch. So we have had our growing pains in growing the website but we’re proud to where we’re at now.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

First, it would be how to build trust. I always find that people can look through and see when people are trying to give them the run around with sales or not want to help a customer for whatever reason. Since the very beginning, we help each customer in order. Treat each customer the same regardless of order size. People can see when someone is “real” and personable because they truly want to help you. When you break down a job, no matter what you’re looking to do if it doesn’t end up as you helping someone, you may not be understanding your job correctly.

Trust then expands to the products we sell. North Winds Premium is a great example of that. Always sourced from responsible companies and a commitment to excellence lets customers know that you’re not there just to take their money, but to provide service, experience, and a product that does what it says it will do. It’s not always easy, but that is why it’s worth doing, customers can see you trying.

If the customer trusts you, they’ll trust a product that they know you invested in, put the time in, and it’ll resonate, everything else will be details.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mypetsplus.com, www.northstarpremiumpet.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PremiumNorth

Image Credits

All product design for North Winds Premium has been done by InkRoast.