How the Smallest Shops are Doing What the Biggest Brands Won’t

This year isn’t looking great for the big brands. From Southwest Airlines getting rid of free checked bags, Hertz’s nitpicky new AI software, and a Cracker Barrel rebrand that somehow made everyone mad, large companies haven’t painted themselves in the best light. It seems like every day, the big brands are choosing profit over consumer satisfaction, giving their customers only two choices: take it or leave it.  

Small brands aren’t leaving their consumers high and dry, however. In fact, small businesses have stepped up time and again for their communities this year, giving themselves a distinct advantage over big brands. Here’s how the pet industry has shown support for its communities recently. 

Helping Hands and Paws  

The most recent triumph of small pet businesses over larger corporations is providing free pet food to families in need. Mutts & Co., a small chain of pet stores in Ohio, is offering one bag of pet food per week for those affected by the most recent government shutdown. During an unpredictable time for many, this brand provided its community (and its pets) some welcome relief.  

Hollywood Feed also solidified itself as a retailer that cares with the launch of the Hollywood Feed Emergency Relief Fund. Inspired to take action during the Texas floods earlier this year, Hollywood Feed has since implemented several new programs and policies that will enable the brand to support local animal shelters during future natural disasters. This is becoming a heartwarming pattern: many small pet brands also helped their communities during the LA fires early this year and Hurricane Helene in 2024.  

While this is great news for the communities these local brands serve, it does raise some questions. Why aren’t larger brands, who have more money, employees, and resources, doing the same thing? In cases like the shutdown and the Texas floods, small brands actually have an advantage. They’re usually more nimble and can act more quickly than big brands. Small brands are also much closer to their client base and often live in the communities that are impacted by natural disasters and other crises, meaning that they have a better understanding of what their neighborhoods need. Even though they don’t have as many resources as major corporations, small businesses are often better equipped to help their communities in times of need. 

Pets Aren’t People, But They Are Family  

Some might see programs like these as misplaced empathy. It can be hard to justify pet expenses when you’re already pulling out your calculator in the grocery store, and pet ownership is only getting more costly. Add in economic uncertainty and unpredictable expenses like natural disasters and pet and family emergencies, and you can start to see where the critics are coming from. But according to the Human Animal Bond Research Institute (HABRI), pets are crucial to improved quality of life, and pet owners have “higher life satisfaction than non-owners.”  

Pets are particularly beneficial to children and the elderly, two groups that are often hit the hardest in difficult times. In times of need especially, pets are often an anchor for their owners’ well-being. Pets are so much more than a luxury, and a fluffy little friend can make all the difference when their families are struggling.  

Good Hearts, Smart Business  

In the middle of this uncertain and stressful season, it’s heartwarming to see small pet brands demonstrating how much they truly care about pets. These brands are putting their money where their mouths are and investing in genuine goodwill for their local communities, further solidifying their positive impact on their own neighborhoods. This is big for modern consumers, 50% of which are willing to spend more on brands that pay attention to their needs. Gen Z is also especially aware of which brands are socially and environmentally responsible. In cases like these, empathy is the best business strategy a brand can employ, and big brands could take a page out of the little guy’s book.   

At BSM Partners, we believe in making decisions that benefit real pets and their owners, not just ones that line pockets. Investing in charity and giving back to communities builds consumer loyalty, trust, and goodwill—things that are increasingly hard to earn. For the small brands stepping up, you inspire us. Caring is good business, and business is good. 

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About the Author

Cady Wolf is an Analyst at BSM Partners. She graduated magna cum laude with a degree in English from Brigham Young University-Idaho, and she currently lives in Rexburg, Idaho with her husband, their two cats, and pet tortoise. She loves animals and learning about how to help pet brands and pet parents alike.