Dive Brief:
- PetSmart has named Ken Hicks president and chief executive officer, effective Oct. 31. Hicks will also serve on the company's board of directors, per a company press release.
- Hicks is the former CEO and executive chairman at Academy Sports and Outdoors, and prior to that he served as Foot Locker’s CEO. He previously held senior positions with J.C. Penney, Payless ShoeSource, HSN, May Department Stores Company and McKinsey & Company.
- Hicks is replacing J.K. Symancyk, who left the retailer Sept. 30 after more than six years with PetSmart. Alan Schnaid, PetSmart’s chief financial officer, served as interim CEO during the retailer’s search for a new head.
Dive Insight:
PetSmart has found a permanent CEO after Symancyk resigned from the role to take the top spot at Signet Jewelers.
In Hicks, the pet retailer has brought on an executive with “depth and breadth of retail experience, visionary leadership and [a] proven track record of creating shareholder value,” according to Raymond Svider, chairman of PetSmart’s board and chairman of BC Partners.
PetSmart was acquired in 2015 for about $8.7 billion by private equity firm BC Partners. And last year, Apollo Global Management took a minority stake in PetSmart, with BC Partners remaining the company’s majority shareholder.
In fiscal 2022, the retailer had U.S. revenues of approximately $6.7 billion, per Statista. PetSmart operates close to 1,700 brick-and-mortar stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico, and runs about 200 in-store boarding facilities for dogs and cats.
The CEO change at PetSmart comes after competitor Petco also ushered in new leadership. Petco this summer brought on former Five Below CEO Joel Anderson to be its new chief executive. Anderson succeeded Mike Mohan who was interim CEO after replacing Ron Coughlin who stepped down after six years on the job.
Spending growth in the overall pet industry could reach 7% annually by 2030, according to a recent report from Morgan Stanley. The survey found that annual household spending on pets is predicted to reach $1,445 per animal by 2026 and $1,733 by 2030. That would be a 113% increase in total industry spending to $261 billion by 2030, compared with $122 billion in 2019, per the survey.
Total pet care department dollar sales in the U.S. exceeded $60.6 billion over the past 52-week period ended Oct. 6, according to data from Circana, a Chicago-based market research firm. That translates to a 1.2% increase over the year-ago period.
