After almost 50 years in business Naperville’s Dog Patch Pet and Feed is closing next month.
The announcement came last week when longtime owner Greg Gordon posted on Facebook letting community members know of the decision.
Reasons For The Closure
“I didn’t expect it to be as emotional as it was because I was trying to make it as a pure business decision, but that caught up with me very quickly,” said Gordon. “The bottom line here is things have changed. The world has changed and I don’t think we’re caught up in it like we used to be.”
Gordon said he believes online businesses like Amazon and Chewy hold about 50% of the pet food market, leaving businesses like Dog Patch competing for the other half of the pie.
He also added that when he bought Dog Patch 10 years ago there was two other pet stores within a nine-mile radius and now there are 10, with Costco also set to be a competitor next month.
“We’re behind the eight ball when we start,” said Gordon. “A large chain will buy a trailer full of food, get it discounted, and they can sell it for what they paid for it because the discount is the actual margin that they are going to make. We can’t do that. We just don’t have that ability to buy in that kind of quantity.”
COVID-19 accelerated Gordon’s decision to close the business as less and less people are shopping in-person nowadays.
Dog Patch’s Legacy
Gordon admitted he’s cried in the last couple days, not necessarily because Dog Patch is closing but rather because of what it has been able to do over the years
“We placed on average a day a [rescues] animal [in a home] a day over the past 10 years, including cats,” said Gordon. “We did what we could. There’s an enormous problem in the south and we got a lot dogs up here and saved their lives.”
Gordon said a Facebook page dedicated to the rescued animals would remain active.
What’s next for Gordon, who has worked at Dog Patch over the last 25 years? Well he’s not quite sure, but he wanted to thank the Naperville community one last time.
“At the end of the day we appreciate all of your support,” said Gordon. “It’s been amazing how much we’ve been accepted and how gracious everyone has been about our walking away. It’s going to stay with me the rest of my life, so thank you Naperville,”.
Dog Patch Pet and Feed will close on August 31.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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