BARKING MAD OR A BRILLIANT IDEA?

Where, but in the United States, would you find a bakery that is entirely dedicated to supply the needs and requirements of dogs? Where, but in the US, would you find a pet shop where every dog is given a freshly-baked treat as soon as it walks through the door? Frederick Marsh reportsThe Three Dog Bakery was the brain-child of Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff whose three founder sister dogs - Dottie, Gracie and Sarah - are the central feature in every one of their 26 bakery shops, in photographic and cartoon format, just as Colonel Saunders' image is present in every Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet.The whole concept, which was initially conceived some eight years ago, incorporates a high degree of marketing sophistication. It also includes an element of jollity and, in a Disney-like style, dogs are portrayed somewhat like characters who can speak, read, and enjoy the good things in life.The founders Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff stated that they set out to ensure their products were made only with `all- natural' ingredients and no added preservatives, sodium, sugar or fillers. They insist that they only use whole wheat flour, wheat germs, corn meal together with other all-natural ingredients.They wanted their customers to understand which ingredients were being used, rather than being confused by an incomprehensible list of ingredients. And in seeing wholesome ingredients being converted into treats, biscuits, cakes, etc. for their pets, customers could identify and understand exactly what their pets were feeding on.They explained the Three Dog Bakery concept is based on Licensing and that it is not a franchising operation. There are, therefore, no franchise fees, nor royalty payments based on sales. Instead the Licensee must buy the ingredients used for in-store baking as well as most of the other products from the Licensor.Dan and Mark strongly encourage flexibility on the part of their Licensees. If a Licensee finds a new product with good sales potential, it is sent to the head office for evaluation. If approved products are made available to all the other Licensees.There are now bakeries in various parts of California including Hollywood, in Texas, in the Mid-West, in New Orleans, Chicago, Vancouver, Atlanta, etc. Plans are in the pipeline to open a further eight bakeries in various parts of the US during the next few months. As yet the founders have not examined the possibility of extending their operation outside North America, but indicated that this is a distinct possibility, since many other American licensing and franchising operations have been successfully introduced into Europe, Asia and Latin America.In addition to their chain of 26 retail bakeries, the company operates as a wholesaler for their range of treats. Its customers include Health Food stores the prestigious Nieman Markus department store chain. They also have a web-site and operate a Mail Order business with a customer data base of 100,000 dogs and their owners.Currently, the bakeries only stock very few articles for cats as experience has shown that cat owners appear not to have as much disposable income as dog owners.The Three Dog Bakery visited on this occasion was in Newport Beach, a small prosperous township some 30 miles south of Los Angeles. Located in a modern and successful shopping precinct called Corona del Mar Plaza, other outlets included a high-class grocery store, several cafes, a toy shop, an antique shop, an up-market furniture store and a number of clothing outlets and boutiques.Opened 12 months ago, the bakery has a floor area of around 130m2. The shop comprises a retailing area, ample space for pastry making and baking including an electric oven, a storage room and an office.Its owners/operators, Sandy Deem and Roger Haff, invested in the region of #62,000 ($100,000), which included the cost of staff training at the head office in Kansas City. In addition to its two owners, there is a full-time pastry chef and two part-time staff. Also in attendance was Max, a well-behaved Retriever and a favourite with all customers, particularly children.The house colours of the Three Dog Bakery are green and purple and the shop decor includes quite distinctive art work. On one wall of each bakery are the photographs of the three `Founder Dog' sisters - Dottie, Gracie and Sarah - and cartoon-style illustrations of each of these dogs are used to decorate other walls in the bakery. The tiled floor incorporates hand-made tiles with dog paw impressions.Great emphasis has been placed on design of product packaging.An outstanding centre piece was the confectionery patisserie display cabinet. All shelves and freshly-baked products were beautifully displayed and illuminated. The result was a mouthwatering manifestation for both humans and canines.Many of the fresh baked goodies and dry case delicacies - prices range from from $1 to $3 - can be personalised, that is, inscribed with the name of the dog. These inscriptions are made with carob and do not use chocolate. Prices of `Celebration Cakes' are in the range from $12.50 to $45.00, depending on size, shape and colour. They can be made in any shape and with whatever inscription is required.`Bark 'n Fetch' Cookies are available in the following varieties: apple cinnamon, fat- free-apple oatmeal, barbecue, carob chip, cheese & herb, peanut butter, and lastly vegetable chicken.Every dog visiting the bakery shop is given a treat and if the pastry chef is in the middle of preparing a batch of treats, biscuits or cakes, it is encouraged to have a lick of the `frosting' or baking mix, which is a really popular feast.The founders Dan and Mark have written a `Cookbook' which contains more than 50 recipes for treats for dogs made with all- natural ingredients.To encourage trade a `scrap book' with photographs of dogs as well as their names and that of the owners was on display on one of the counters. On the occasion of the birthday of the proprietors' dog - Max, there was a gigantic birthday party for the dogs of all their customers and around 350 canine visitors and guests came to the party.Weddings at the bakery are encouraged. At these events the bride and groom are dressed for the occasion and the highlight is a multi-tiered wedding cake formulated and baked specially for the happy couple and their canine and human guests. Other pet events include Christmas and Halloween Parties.As the company is still quite young, and many of these bakeries have only been operating for a short period of time, it was not possible to obtain information about average annual sales per bakery shop. Never- the-less some trade source suggest that at this stage they are probably in the region of #160,000 ($250.000) per year.PRACTICAL CANSA British company has found the answer to a problem that faces every pet owner? How to keep pet food fresh after opening the can. A revolutionary design has been developed that will make those loose plastic lids and other items a thing of the past.Six new petfood can designs produced by brand design consultancy Holmes and Marchant International include: resealable technology; twincans containing wet and dry petfoods; and new shapes for easier stacking and improved portion control.Research during the assignment, carried out for the Association of European Producers for Steel Packaging (APEAL), found pet owners considered steel cans to be value for money, but identified elements that could be improved - freshness, convenience, storage and disposal.APEAL found that cans that are easier to open and more shapely sell better because they are more practical.