We were lucky to catch up with Alison Chandler recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alison, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

The profit margin on Pet Food Industry is slim, it is not the normal 100% mark-up like everyday retail products. Therefore we have to sell a lot of pet food to make a profit. We do have traditional mark-up on hard goods and this is where we see most of our profit. But when the economy is slow it hurts our bottom line as people will traditionally skip the toys and accessories.

There are unethical pet stores out there that do mark up the food astronomically, I won’t name names but you will know when you get there that you are certainly being ripped off. When we started this business we wanted our quality food and goods to be affordable to pet parents from all walks of life, we still stand by this philosophy today.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I decided to open a pet supply shop when I was recovering from Breast Cancer in 2003, We got a puppy and wanted to feed it a raw food diet. There were no stores in Central Phoenix for me to shop at, and I had to drive to North Scottsdale to buy dog food. I knew I always wanted to own my own business one day, and a lightbulb went off in my head, this area of town needed a Natural Pet Supply! Luckily one of my best friends decided to join me in opening the shop.

We are very critical of the products we sell at the shop. They must be a beneficial to the animal, and the pet owner should feel secure that they are spending their money on a product that works! Everyday we are able to solve pet problems with a natural health remedy or simply by changing the animals diet. It make us proud to know we are helping to keep pets healthy and happy.

We’d love to hear about how you met your business partner.

My business partner, Marsha Vallee, and I met in High School at the age of 16. We are both graduates of Chaparral High School in Scottsdale. And we are both graduates of Arizona State University. I met Marsha and her sister at Back to School night where I was working at the Theater Guild Table. I knew instantly that we would be life long friends.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Well as luck would have it the day after we received our business loans from the bank in 2007 the economy went into a deep recession. We learned quickly to cut costs and not make unnecessary purchases. That lesson served us well.

The COVID appeared in 2020! We closed the door to the store and sold all of our products curbside. Our customers would call, place their order and drive over to the shop. When they arrived they opened up their trunk and we put their purchases inside their vehicle. It was very labor intensive but we managed to keep the lights on. Our customers were very grateful that we were able to stay operational.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noblebeastpets.coms
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/noblebeastpets/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NobleBeastPets
• Twitter: NEVER, ELON MUSK IS EVIL