Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc. is a leading American specialty retailer that has redefined itself from a mail-order veterinary supply business into a comprehensive health and wellness partner for pets and their owners.
Petco’s modern strategy focuses on the "humanization of pets," a trend where owners treat pets as integral family members. This shift has led the company to prioritize high-margin services over traditional retail product sales. Petco Health and Wellness Company, Inc
Founded in 1965 as UPCO (United Pharmaceutical Company), the company originally focused on mail-order veterinary supplies in San Diego, California. In 1979, the name was changed to Petco, and it opened its first store outside California in 1980. By the mid-1990s, Petco had emerged as a dominant retail chain, rapidly expanding to over 200 stores and generating significant annual revenue. Today, it operates more than 1,500 locations across the United States, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. This shift has led the company to prioritize