When you first put boots on dogs, it may take them some time to get their footing, which is fitting since that’s precisely what’s happened to the dog-boot category itself. Virtually unknown to pet owners a generation ago (unless they trained sled dogs), paw protection has gone mainstream, as evidenced by the sales surge for the products when Winter Storm Fern hit. For the week in late January, when the storm pummeled much of the US, Chewy saw sales of dog boots more than double year over year, rising 110%. Even more dramatic was the sales lift over the previous week in January, with dog boot sales more than tripling, with a 215% increase, per Chewy. “It’s a very triggered purchase by the weather, from what we can see,” Christopher Mohler, director of merchandising at Chewy, told Retail Brew. It will come as no surprise that sales were highest in states where Rex had the hardest time finding fire hydrants in the snow drifts, with the most booty purchases coming from New York, followed by Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia, per Chewy. Keep reading here.—AAN |