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KLAIPEDA - If you are a wag-and-woof lover, you may want to take in your four-legged cutie for a 15-buck ‘pawdicure,’ while you offer your wife a twice as costly pedicure. Just twenty years ago, pet grooming was thought in Lithuania to be a relic of the “rotten Western capitalism.” However, over twenty years, the trend is rapidly finding its way to the hearts and, sure, wallets, of Lithuanian pet lovers, bringing animal needs one step closer to human needs.
“In terms of pet care, Lithuanians have made a huge leap over the years. We are not behind Westerners in that sense. I wish Lithuanians would have caught up with them so quickly in other fields,” grins Saulius Laurusevicius, president of Lithuania’s Small Pet Veterinary Association (LSPVA).

In Alytus, an industrial town in the south of Lithuania, there were only two vets in state-owned veterinary one-room clinics twenty years ago. Today the business in the town is booming, with over fifteen vets and as many as several pet groomers available. The LSPVA president says some veterinary qualifications are in question, as they stick to very basics – giving vaccination shots.

“Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, the main forge of veterinary doctors in the country, prepares too many specialists. To be exact, 100 each year, which is, undoubtedly, too many for such a small country as Lithuania, where agriculture has been shrinking constantly,” the president says. In order to grip onto the market, he says, many freshly-made vets tend to open one-office veterinarian services at large shopping malls and supermarkets.

“However, most of them, as a rule, provide very narrow services, like giving dog chip-shots or vaccinations, thus, licking off the cream of the business. I call this kind of veterinary business ‘a garage-type business.’ These freshmen vets are not capable of rendering any wider services, as they require expensive tools, facilities that only large clinics can provide,” the veterinarian says. Though, he asserts, the veterinary service market is “blown out,” some large veterinary clinics keep opening up. “It means the veterinary-oriented businessmen still see good possibilities for their business, despite the apparent over-supply of the services. From what I see, most new clinics tend to provide wide-range specialized veterinary services. It might be the key word for their success,” Laurusevicius ponders.

Veterinary services are a part of the broader picture of pet shop entrepreneurship, which is still growing in Lithuania. Terra Animalis, who owns the largest pet shop chain, Kika, in the country, is the largest player in the market, running over 100 shops and employing over 500 employees in them, and offering products from more than 30 global brands. Kika could not be reached for comment for the story.

Alongside the conventional pet shops, online pet shops are muscling in, like Pet24.lt, which is the leader in the country’s e-pet goods market. Its director, Tadas Deksnys, maintains that “the e-market is still in the formative stage.”
“However, if the growth keeps up the pace, we will be able to call it ‘mature’ in four or five years from now. The swift alterations will be determined by the so-called ‘pet humanization’ – the perception of a pet as a family member. The one we spend more time with than with others,” Deksnys adds.

He says he observes “tremendous changes” when it comes to the cat and dog food segment. “Those people who tended to feed their dogs with human food leftovers are switching to specialized economy-class dog fodder, and those who used the latter go for premium-class fodder,” the Pet.24.lt director notes.

He says an average Lithuanian Joe spends roughly 300-400 dollars for his four-legged friend. “It is a lag compared to the developed Western countries. For example, Brits, the pet shop goods-buying leaders, for that purpose, spend 1,200 dollars a year, while Germans and Frenchmen spend 800 dollars. It will take us some time to catch up with these countries, however, it gladdens me that the Western pet care trends always reach Lithuania,” Deksnys says.

Speaking of the pet shop market leaders in the country, he acknowledges the leadership of Kika, which is followed up by Latvia’s Pet Center; supermarket pet departments and specialized local pet shops and veterinary clinics  are behind the two, he says. The pet shop entrepreneurs, however, expect that Internet stores will soon bring in “some very interesting changes” in the market.

“There are a dozen small Lithuanian e-pet goods stores out there; however, lacking investments, they are not our biggest competitors. I see the biggest competition coming from Polish pet goods companies that actively penetrate into the Lithuanian market, taking advantage of the favorable 8 percent VAT that Poland applies to pet fodder,” the e-store owner emphasizes. Conventional pet commodity stores, certainly, also are to be considered in regards to competition, he says.
“Internet sales take up a rather insignificant part of the sales total - 1.3 percent - according to Euromonitor. However, the e-sales trend is constantly growing, as customers tend to be more time and fuel-expense savvy, seek comfort and wide accessibility to information,” Deksnys points out.

Pet24.lt sells over 1,500 pet-oriented commodities. The e-store owner relates he has been engaged in creating various Internet projects and developments for over ten years. “Three years ago, when we were looking for the best fields for an investment, we chose the pet market. Currently we are focusing on investments in emerging social networking Websites and e-trade. I see a lot of opportunities here,” the businessman suggests. In his nearest plans he is considering opening an e-pet goods store in another Baltic State. “Or, possibly, acquisition of a running e-pet store there,” Deksnys adds.

The young e-businessman says his investments and marketing are focused exceptionally on the Internet. “We can calculate an investment return in an e-business with high precision. We aim to increase the share of our e-customers who find us through social networking Web sites. I see big possibilities here,” the man maintains.
Though he reveals a 160 percent year-on-year hike in Pet.24.lt sales in 2010’s second quarter, he acknowledges that overall turnover numbers are not “very high” yet. “Our company is planning on an extra 200,000 litas’ (57,900 euros) investment in 2012, which will allow us to upgrade the current e-trade system, merge it with social networking Web sites and expand the e-goods supply. I believe the steps will result in a 2 million litas’ turnover at the end of 2012, and profitability in 2013,” the e-entrepreneur said, sharing his business visions.

With the love for pets in the country growing, pet care is rapidly fanning out in yet another exotic direction – pet grooming. When Joana Paplauskiene, a retiree in Alytus, after long persuasions, gave in to her UK-dwelling daughter’s arguments to take her breedless canine for a haircut to a local groomer, she was stunned to see the abundance of scissors, clippers, combs and even animal dyes in the pet salon. “I could rarely indulge in such beauty services for myself in my life,” she acknowledged sheepishly to a correspondent of a local newspaper.

As her trimmed, ‘pawdicured’ and red-ribbon collared Simis, a former stray seven-year-old canine, has become the main celebrity of the apartment block she lives in, the pensioner shines with pride, expertly sharing her pet-trimming experience with others of the block’s retirees who, initially, called her a weirdo and her dog a princess. However, the pet grooming example worked infectiously – the pensioners, one by one, started bringing their disheveled and matted wag-and-woofs to the same groomer.

“If the elders opt for the services, it means we see another breakthrough in pet care in Lithuania. The common veterinary services fan out to pet grooming,” Laurusevicius says.
It seems, with the Western pet-care trends creeping in, not only dog lovers, who make up the bulk of all groomers’ clients, but also cat adorers, especially those with long-haired felines at home, gingerly knock at the pet groomers’ door.
“I have Sibute, a five-year-old long-haired Siberian cat at home. With the heat out there, she would gasp for air, snuggling at the fridge in attempts to cool off. When my co-worker suggested for me to take her to a groomer for a crew-cut, I thought she was poking fun. However, I gave in to her reasoning, and the cat now enjoys her new lioness-like looks – velvet-smooth little-hair body, a thick-hair collar and paws, and a whip-like tail with a furry tassel on its end. She looks awesome! Her new look cost me 130 litas,” Vaidas Alejunas, a Klaipeda resident, related to The Baltic Times.

Albeit pet grooming is a relatively new trend in the country, pet grooming salons are popping up, breaking the stereotypes of the Soviet times, and creating new job possibilities for true pet carers.
Toma Scemelioviene, a pet groomer in Vilnius, admits she had been juggling jobs until it occurred to her to start her own business – and do what she loves most – to beautify tail-waggers.

“I opened my pet grooming office in Vilnius last year. In the beginning, my customers came gingerly, as if doing something bad. However, the word of mouth was out there, and I see more people with their pets coming in,” the groomer said to The Baltic Times. She says she always hears her clients telling her about the troubles they had when trying to comb or hair-cut their four-legged friends. “They say they could not find any pet groomer around. They are happy to know I am here for the services of their four-legged friends,” said Scemelioviene, grinning.

With word of her craft spreading, she has expanded her pet services to attending to pets at home. “Ninety  percent of all my clients are dog owners,” she says. She maintains that dog grooming has become a part of dog care for most dog keepers. However, when it comes to cat grooming, especially long-haired ones, she says people still tend to treat felines in the old-fashioned way – let the cat itself take care of her own fur and nails.
“The example of cat grooming that you heard somebody had in Klaipeda is still a rarity. Long-haired cats, especially, need to have their hair trimmed,” she asserts.

The Vilnius-based groomer says that, despite the rising demand for pet groomers in Vilnius, she still faces little competition so far. “However, new groomers, in attempts to lure away my clients, usually slash their prices considerably, distorting the market rates,” the Vilnius resident notes. “Therefore, some scrimpy dog keepers who try out their services the next day knock at my door, asking me to fix the shoddy job. I am one of a very few licensed pet groomers. I have received my pet grooming apprenticeship in the only one of this kind of school in Riga,” Scemelioviene revealed.

With the number of clients growing, nevertheless, she admits she cannot make her ends meet from the trend-shaping craft. Just not yet. “The rent of the premises for the business swallows up a significant part of the income,” she confesses, refusing to elaborate on the details. “However, I hope I am moving where I will be able to establish myself as a sought-after groomer in the entire Vilnius,” she says confidently. Her far-reaching plans include not only this, but also business expansion to other Lithuanian cities. “However, before this, I think I ought to open my own pet grooming school in order to have the best groomers in my other grooming salons,” the young woman said, giving some insight into her plans.

In her meticulously thought-out price list, she says she has tried to find “the golden middle” - “the best services around for the best price.” Do you have a Yorkshire terrier that looks like a four-legged creature pulled out of a sewage pit and left to dry in the sun? Toma is ready to bathe, clean, comb, nail-cut, trim and groom it for 70 litas. “The entire service for this kind of dog will last roughly two hours,” Toma says knowledgably. She admits she doesn’t employ any other advertising forms but word of mouth. “It works best for me,” Scemelioviene says.