Photo: Courtesy of Zoom Room
Zoom Room, a Los Angeles-based franchisor of dog training gyms, signed a 10-unit franchise agreement to expand its eventual store count to 125, CEO Mark Van Wye tells Axios.
Why it matters: The pet category is booming post pandemic, when adoption rates hit record highs, increasing the demand for services like healthcare, grooming, daycare and training.
Details: The 10-unit franchise agreement, in this case with its own CFO Anthony Polazzi, is the latest in a string of deals for the rapidly expanding dog training concept.
- So far Zoom Room has opened about 40 locations and has an additional 85 stores in various stages of development, Van Wye says.
What they're saying: It's more capital-efficient to franchise stores and find firms large enough to sign multi-unit franchisee deals, Van Wye says of the company's model.
- Zoom Room has created a set of classes or curriculum around obedience and agility with the goal of democratizing and demystifying dog training.
- It also provides socialization events for dogs and their owners such as dog disco night and dog birthday parties.
- The startup also sells pet products, Van Wye adds.
State of play: A number of pet-related concepts have emerged to satiate the growing demand for services using a franchise model.
- Those include Dogtopia and Camp Bow Wow, among others, according to Entrepreneur magazine.
The intrigue: Van Wye says his goal is for Zoom Room to become synonymous with dog training, which he believes will take at least a couple of years.
- It's at that point the company can begin to entertain an exit such as a sale or IPO.
