Walmart shifts focus to pet care with new clinics after closing health centers for people

Walmart will now have extensive pet care services after shuttering the doors of it's medical clinics for customers.

The company announced Tuesday that five additional pet service centers will open in October and early November. The new pet care clinics will be located in Arizona and Georgia and will include veterinary care as well as grooming. The company's very first pet services center opened last year in Atlanta.

It's a smart move for Walmart as the pet space offers a substantial growth opportunity, pushing customers to spend more money, stretches across a wide demographic and tends to remain strong when consumer's budgets are thi n, according to Walmart US Vice President of Merchandising For Pets, Kaitlyn Shadiow.

• Walmart health closing: 51 centers and virtual care service to shut down
• Walmart makes 'revolutionary' self-checkout change after infuriating customers

The pet services center will be treated as it's own company but will still remain under the Walmart name. Locations will have their own entrances and be manned by employees proficient in vet care and PetIQ, a pet product company. Customers can utilize the center's wellness exams, vaccines and minor medical services as well as get their pets a nice trim.

Walmart reportedly noticed how well its first pet services location was doing and wanted to capitalize, Shadiow said. Before it's opening last year, roughly a quarter of Walmart frequenters had never purchased pet items from the franchise. She added that pet centers provided a "halo effect" with it's vet and grooming services that drove sales for pet food and other supplies.

“If you think about pet services, the business case is there,” she said. “We are already serving the needs of so many pet parents today, and it’s a great opportunity for us to help do that in one convenient location or trip.”

Other companies like Chewy and Petco branched into the pet services space as well, the latter utilized it's location to become a big player in the vet-providing area. Veterinary services yield more profits than pet food, but are more frequented than more durable supplies like leashes, beds and cages.

The Covid pandemic drove pet adoptions, yielding higher spending on cats, dogs and other domestic creatures. It also expanded the market for vets. A recent survey by Morgan Stanley Research projected that annual household spending on pets is on it's way to $1,445 per animal by 2026 and $1,733 by 2030—an astounding 113% rise in total industry spending from $122 billion in 2019 to $261 billion by 2030.

Click here to follow the Mirror US on Google News to stay up to date with all the latest news, sports and entertainment stories

The higher demand is seen in other sectors, like the vast amounts of subscriptions to veterinary telehealth provider Pawp, which was used more than any other limited-time offer from the company's membership program Walmart+. The growth in the pet space levels the playing field with Walmart+ competitor Amazon Prime according to Venessa Yates, senior vice president and general manager of Walmart+.

That limited-time service will solidify into a permanent benefit this week.