From employee to manager to franchise owner, Joe Krawchuk’s found his place with Pet Valu
By Suzanne Bowness
A new business venture can be scary, as success is never guaranteed. But Joe Krawchuk was confident in opening his Pet Valu franchise in Thorold, Ontario because he’d already been part of the operation’s success for over a decade.
Starting as a part-time sales associate in high school, Krawchuk worked at the pet supplies franchise through university and returned after graduation as a manager. “After high school, I went to university and studied human geography. I enjoyed university, I learned a lot, but as I got closer to graduation, I realized that my true passion wasn’t building cities and revitalizing downtowns, it was helping pets and pet owners.” He jumped at the opportunity to take on a management position at the store. “I spent years learning every part of the business, from customer service and merchandising to operations and the financial performance,” says Krawchuk, who held the position of manager for 15 years.
When the mother-daughter team who owned the franchise (Krawchuk calls them his “second family”) were ready to sell, it was a full circle moment: he bought the franchise. One day in late 2023, he closed the store as a manager and the next he opened it as the owner.
Part of the pack
While many of his tasks are similar, Krawchuk says there is a mental shift in moving from manager to owner. “I’ve been doing a great majority of the day-to-day and operational tasks for years. But now it holds more weight. Every decision that I make is now directly affecting my business and my livelihood,” he explains. Fortunately, he knows the territory well. Thorold is his hometown, a small city of just over 20,000 residents located between St. Catherines and Niagara Falls.
As an employee, he’d already seen the store grow. The location sits in a busy strip mall in the hub of the city, and a few years ago had expanded by moving three units down from the original storefront.
Helping Krawchuk make the transition from employee to owner is his franchise business consultant, Kasia Chalas-Hollick. “She’s the go-to for anything I need whether it’s shelving or to bounce an idea about a community event I’m running,” he says. His fellow franchisees are always on call. “One of the most valuable aspects is the franchise family. It’s nice because we connect back and forth all the time, to share ideas and ask questions, and learn from each other,” he says, adding that certain franchisees in the circle become known as the go-to expert on various topics.
While Krawchuk already had more than a decade of experience under his belt, Pet Valu’s standard onboarding included a week of virtual classes and two weeks of in-store training for new owners.
Up for the challenge
Challenges in Krawchuk’s first year of ownership included the usual business headaches. In his case, the raw food freezers broke down and the dog wash station needed a repair. Krawchuk and his wife also welcomed their first child within ten days of the ownership transition, something he doesn’t recommend, even though he’s happy about both events. “If you really want to be tested stress-wise, own a business and have a baby,” he jokes.
Another ongoing challenge was dealing with the reconstruction of a community roadway. Due to the detours, Krawchuk and his staff had to take action to remind and reroute customers to the store. “I’m very thankful to have a great staff. We leaned into customer communications on Facebook and Instagram, and said ‘we will cross the tunnel for you and sit in traffic for you’ to deliver purchases when needed,” he says. He also leaned in to creating in-store adoption events as incentives for customers to make the extra effort in visiting his location. When you can remind customers that cute animals are the reward at the end of the tunnel, it’s not a hard sell.
Finding your place
As owner, Krawchuk has made the operation his own, leaning even further into the store’s reputation for carrying not just dog and cat products, but supplies for small animals as well.
“I have an amazing small animal clientele, and that’s directly linked to the adoption program that I run. Our store is unique because we have a cat adoption program, but I also have a small animal adoption program,” he says. “I partner with the local humane society, so we adopt out any animal from a rabbit, a guinea pig, or pairs of rats. Whatever the shelters have that they want to highlight and showcase at our store.”
Pet adoption is available year-round and means a lot to Krawchuk. “I think one of the prouder things from my first year of being a franchise owner is that we found forever homes for over 100 animals, between cats, dogs, and small animals,” he says.
Krawchuk advises anyone looking to become a franchise owner to both research the opportunity and be introspective. “Do your homework and ask a lot of questions. And be honest about what type of leader you want to be. If you genuinely care about people and your staff, and most importantly, your community, a franchise system would be incredibly rewarding,” he says. He adds that, though the effort is worth it, running a business is work. “Franchising gives you the tools that you need, but if you’re not willing to put in the time and the consistency, then you have to ask if it’s the right system for yourself.”
At the same time, ownership also means leaning on your team, as Krawchuk realized when he found himself having to resist his initial inclination to “do it all”.
“When I first started as an owner, I wanted to micromanage every aspect. I quickly learned that’s not possible,” he says, noting that handing off operational tasks to his trusted staff gave him time to think like an owner.
Still, he’s careful not to lose sight of the reason he loves the business in the first place. “I still like to be in the store as much as possible. I’m very much a people person and a customer service-oriented person, so I’d rather be out on the sales floor talking to somebody than sitting in the back room crunching numbers,” he says. He enjoys advising customers on pet nutrition and greeting the many dogs who know they are welcome in the store (some have trained their owners to head right for the treat bowl at the cash).
Not surprisingly, Krawchuk is a pet owner himself, with two dogs and two cats, plus a hobby farm with horses, chickens, and a donkey. He says owning the store and helping create a community around pets is exactly where he should be. “I want to be known as a place where people don’t only come to shop but people get connected. I want every single person who comes in to receive exceptional customer service and the greatest pet education that you can provide. Rather than providing a service, I want to provide solutions to people to make their lives and their pets’ lives better.”
Learn more about franchising with Pet Valu
