Melissa Osborne sent a message to Carol Meyrowitz that said:
May 25, 2018
Ms. Meyrowitz, Mr. Herrman, Mr. Canestrari, Mr. Goldenberg, Mr. Mizzi and Mr. Sherr:
I have been in the pet industry in one way or another my entire career. In the mid-1990s I worked at a pet store, eventually moving to a veterinary hospital. I graduated with a bachelorâs degree from Sacramento State in Biological Science and immediately found myself in the work of veterinary sales, first in prescription diets and then in the more coveted world of veterinary pharmaceuticals. I worked for Bayer Healthcare in this role for nearly 8 years before realizing my âpart-timeâ online store would be viable on its own. âVillage Petsâ opened in early 2015 and has been going strong since.
I give you this background to let you know where I am coming from and what I bring to the table. During the last 20 years, I have seen the entire pet industry turn in ways that although should have been foreseen, were not, and have taken all necessary routes to stay ahead in this marketplace. As you know, small business has taken significant hits from internet sales, although I do not believe any industry has been immune to the effects. In general, we are seeing a tremendous amount of brick and mortar businesses close, and the pet industry has been hit hard. The âMa and Paâ community stores are not able to weather the internet storm.
This brings me to the three points of this letter; 1) Below wholesale pet products are readily available, 2) TJX Companies is in a prime position to capitalize on the pet market, and 3) By hiring me as a buyer for your pet division I have the unique ability to increase your sales in this category ten-fold.
Let me explain.
1) Readily available product at below wholesale costs: Private pet stores are closing in rapid succession. Most of these are family owned businesses where liquidation of inventory must be done in a short period of time. Distributor companies are also feeling the internet pressure and many are rotating through stock at high levels in attempts to keep the latest, greatest products available to their customers. New products without or with minimal internet presence are pushed to make pet stores feel as if they have the upper hand on those products. As soon as the item is available online, the pet stores cannot compete and the distributor is left with large amounts of stock available on the internet for less than their wholesale price. These are both huge opportunities for purchasing low-cost, quality products.
2) TJX Companies are in a prime position: You have already achieved the greatest feat â you have customers walking in the door. Once you have them in the store, they will walk out with something. Pet products are the perfect add-on sale. They are cute, they are cheap, and pet owners will do more for their petsâ happiness than their own. Since there are very few pet product companies that the random consumer will know by name, it allows you to sell a huge range of brands. This, again, increases the ability to purchase low cost items because the brand name is not considered in the buying process.
3) My pedigree is perfect for growing this market for you: I know this industry. Iâve been immersed in it for 20 years. I know the players, the brands, the distributors, the big names, the little names. I understand how a pet-owning consumer shops for their animals. I can accurately sort through available product to solidify the best deals for your company, delivering the fastest sale and highest profits.
Iâll end with this â you have the customers â they are the ones coming in to buy home goods and jewelry and clothing in your stores, knowing they are getting good deals. And they are the customers who then go home and order their pet supplies online because they didnât have the opportunity to buy them from you. Let me help you fix this. With a marketplace of $86 Billion, you deserve a bigger portion than what you are currently getting.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I would be happy to speak with you in person or via phone at your convenience.
~Melissa Osborne
