The animal specialist is bankrupt, and retailers want to continue the chain

This is evidenced by RTL Z's research into annual accounts, bankruptcy reports, court rulings and conversations with stakeholders.

Some retailers want to keep going

According to Franchise Association President Steve Van Amsvoort, approximately ten to twelve independent retailers are considering the possibility of continuing with the formula after bankruptcy. “Previous plans for such an acquisition turned out to be impossible. We are now working with a small group to see if it is still possible,” he added.

The businessman, who runs the Dierspecialist branch in Den Helder, admits that running a franchise organization with a small number of stores will not be easy. “This is why we are also looking for opportunities to cooperate with other parties. The bankruptcy is very disappointing, but we remain optimistic about it,” he added.

The tragic final chord

The retailer's bankruptcy was the tragic conclusion to an exciting decade, as original growth ambitions gave way to an unprecedented downturn.

Dierspecialist's roots go back to 2011, when the franchise chains of specialty pet stores Dobey and Faunaland merged. In doing so, they wanted to take a stand against increasing competition. Customers are increasingly buying pet food and accessories, such as dog leashes and cat baskets, from supermarkets, discounts or online stores.

At one time 170 stores

Post-merger, the group had 170 satellite stores and the ambition was to grow to 300 sites. To make this growth possible, parent company Target Pet Holding introduced a new formula in 2014: Animal Specialist.

However, the introduction of the “Pet Shop of the Future” with “Real Kids' Corner and Rodent Island” had mixed success. Dozens of stores have already converted to Dierspecialist. But there was no growth.

Dozens of dropouts

Many independent entrepreneurs have already quit due to disappointing results or dissatisfaction with the organization. According to van Amesvoort, the dropouts continued independently or simply stopped. “They were older and had no follow-up.” In 2020, there are only 67 branches left.

The displacement process has continued since then. According to the president of the franchise association, there were still 24 branches at the end of last year. “That number is now declining rapidly as well. Because of the bankruptcy, retailers can get out of their contracts. We are taking inventory of how many stores will ultimately remain.”

Acquisition failure

In March last year, parent company Dierspecialist was acquired by investor Mezza Invest. This is an investor who invests money in distressed companies and tries to get them back on track.

Mezza separated the parent company and wholesaler from the retail organization last year and has tried to make both parts healthy again and find a buyer for them.

Distrust

This failed. Franchisees left again, partly due to distrust of the new owner and growing delivery problems at wholesaler Van Ree. Retailers were forced to buy most of their range from this sister company.

“However, the wholesaler had significant debts, which led to problems with suppliers. As a result, we were unable to supply our stores properly,” says van Amesvoort.

Egyptian eagle

A recent ruling by a preliminary relief judge in Arnhem shows how upset some franchisees are. A Dierspecialist entrepreneur wanted to open a third location in January last year, but canceled his contract in June due to dissatisfaction with the turmoil that arose after the Mezza takeover.

The businessman portrayed the new owner as a vulture who “buys underperforming companies, splits them up and tries to sell them at a profit.”

Franchise Association president Van Amesfoort is also critical of Meza's approach. “Instead of working with entrepreneurs, they worked from the top down and only looked at the numbers. They messed up the formula.”

“Unjustified criticism”

“This criticism is unfair and unjustified,” says David van As of Mezza Invest. “The problems go back much earlier. When we intervened, the company was already on the verge of collapse. We made capital available to provide the organization with a fresh perspective and retain employment. For example, we came up with a scheme whereby part of the tax debt was waived.”

He admits that Mezza was hoping to make money investing in Dierspecialist. “Of course, we are investors. If we save a company, we also want to create value. There is nothing wrong with that. We have believed that we can build Dierspecialist for years, because there are very good entrepreneurs. However, last year we faced a decline in turnover, which It means it wasn't successful.”

domino

Ultimately, Dierspecialist's years of decline led to its demise. The first domino fell at the end of November, with wholesaler Van Ree going bankrupt. This was followed by the bankruptcy of parent company Target Pets Holding in mid-January.

Finally, at the end of January, the Dierspecialist Retail and Dierspecialist Franchising divisions were also folded. The latest bankruptcies are being settled by coordinator Willem Overgor, who was not available for explanation due to vacation.

Restart

“In recent years, plans to sell the franchise organization to independent retailers have failed due to the financing of this acquisition,” says Franchise Association President Van Amesfoort. “We hope that we can now maintain the formula through the restart. We are currently discussing this with the coordinator.”

Van Ree's wholesale business was relaunched last month in a much diluted form by listed Pet Service Holding. Mezza Invest's Van Ass says he is no longer involved in those plans. “We've already tried that and lost a lot of money. We're not interested in it anymore.”