When Anthony Gallagher started Petstop 30 years ago, dogs in Ireland were kept outside and got scraps. Now, the dog – or the cat or the fish – is absolutely a member of the family.”
The €500m+ pet market is three times the size of the baby market in Ireland, and globally, the pet sector is expected to reach €400bn by 2030 – that’s bigger than recorded music or gaming.
His career has spanned the graduate trainee programme in Penney’s, to owning a deli store, to being a retail consultant in London. While there he was asked to do a study on the Irish pet food market, which led to him taking an Irish distribution contract for a vet-focused brand. And then he convinced fellow Sligoman Seán Melly and corporate high-fliers Bernard Sommers and Liam Booth to back him and opened five large format stores. Petstop was born.

An ill-fated entry into online pet stores nearly sank the business but a lucky exit gave them the ability to regroup, carry on, and four years later come out the other side. Large format pet stores are now the focal point for the industry and Petstop is ideally placed to continue its growth.

This is the 51st episode with guest Anthony Gallagher, CEO and Founder of Petstop in the Davy podcast series 'Everyday Business with Aidan Donnelly'.