Until 2022, ZooRoyal, REWE Group's pet supplies retailer, was primarily known as an online shop and as a private label and shop-in-shop format at REWE, PENNY and toom Baumarkt DIY stores. Since April 2022, the REWE Group company has opened four brick-and-mortar speciality stores in the REWE North region in the Hamburg area - with animal success!
ZooRoyal has now announced the national rollout. From 2026, the bricks-and-mortar speciality stores will be successively rolled out across Germany - a real milestone for animal lovers. ZooRoyal will then not only be available online, but also at REWE, PENNY, toom and specialist retailers across the country.

Ivica Pobric was the first independent retailer to open a bricks-and-mortar ZooRoyal store in 2022. Pioneering work, because just three years later REWE and ZooRoyal announced that they would be rolling out the bricks-and-mortar concept nationally from 2026. In this interview, he talks about the highs, lows and differences between the food and pet industries.

Businessman Ivica Pobric and Jochen Vogel, Chairman of the Northern Region Management, at the opening of the first ZooRoyal store in Norderstedt.

one: Mr Pobric, you have made company history as the first ZooRoyal retailer. How did this come about?

Ivica Pobric : One day, Jochen Vogel, Chairman of the Management, REWE Nord, called me out of the blue. He told me about the crazy idea of opening a ZooRoyal store in a former Sky location near my REWE store in Norderstedt. I didn't think about it for more than ten minutes before I said yes - that's how brilliant I thought the idea was!

one: Have you regretted the decision since then?

Ivica Pobric: Not at all. Although it was a rocky road at the beginning. We had to set up a completely new infrastructure. Three days before opening, for example, 30 per cent of the product range was not yet maintained in the checkout system. But it is precisely these efforts that make our success today all the more fulfilling.

one: What milestones do you look back on fondly?

Ivica Pobric : The first three days we were overwhelmed by customers. I knew immediately that the effort had paid off. Another highlight for me is our annual summer party, where we work closely together as a team from the store and head office.

one: Looking back, what were the biggest challenges?

Ivica Pobric : For example, it was challenging to find the right product range for our customers. We only had the experience of e-commerce. But what works online is not always what customers want to buy in-store. So we have learnt and adapted a lot during ongoing operations.

one: You have been a food and pet supplies retailer for three years now. What are the biggest differences?

Ivica Pobric : At ZooRoyal, I experience a completely different, much more emotional retail world. We are a specialist retailer and are responsible for the well-being of our customers' pets. 8 out of 10 customers need advice, sometimes also on health issues. This means that we need really good specialists and have to give them more time for advice than my REWE team, for example. The customer contact itself is also much more personal, because we get to know the customer's life situation through dialogue. That's great fun.

Ivica Pobric : The ZooRoyal own brand has always done very well in my REWE store, but of course only a limited range can be offered there. In the specialist stores, customers can not only find everything their pet's heart desires with a larger range than in the online shop - they can also immerse themselves completely in the ZooRoyal brand world. They can touch cat beds, test dog crates directly in the car, recreate their aquarium with aquascaping and try out decorations and give their dog a shower at the washing station. We offer an all-round successful shopping experience. From a company perspective, the speciality stores help us to get to know our customers and what moves them. The online shop and shop-in-shop systems also benefit from this valuable feedback.

one: Why is it right to build on the cooperative at ZooRoyal?

Ivica Pobric : Pet supplies are a regular customer business. That's why it's important to get involved locally. For example, we regularly organise summer parties and workshops. We once even organised the qualifying tournament for the European Dog Diving Championships. We always gain a new customer base with events like this. The idea that a ZooRoyal store should always be located near a neighbouring REWE store is also great - the stores bring customers to each other. As with REWE, the same applies to ZooRoyal: customers want increasingly personalised shopping experiences. As retailers, we are closer to them and can react quickly to trends and customise product ranges.