Animal Kingdom will be opening in Delhi soon, with a vet clinic, parlour, library and more under one roof. Rajat Handa shares details with Shana Maria Verghis
Seven years ago, Chandigarh became the home to a large, one stop shop for pets called Animal Kingdom. It was the brainchild of software engineer Rajat Handa, who loves animals so much, that he created a place which would suit someone like him. “It was a normal pet shop. Except that for our USP, we had a library,” explained Handa.
Rajat intends to open a second shop in South Delhi by this Diwali. Meanwhile he is importing an Italian brand of dog biscuits, “without any animal extracts.” He told us that most of the cookies and biscuits available for mutts are, “crushed biscuits brands that humans consume, which are then sprinkled with chicken powder.” He will also be marketing toys, like “ropes, soft balls and claws in Delhi.”
He informed that the last is a “throw ball with a claw, that turns back like a boomerang. This is very good exercise for the dog.” Rajat told us he chose Chandigarh for the first shop, because he felt that if he maintained, “good service and products,” business would work. Adding, “Chandigarh is a hep place. But it has a town mentality. When you locate your store in a posh area, the presumption is that costs of products will be higher. I think what I had in my favour, was a well-trained staff.”
In Delhi he doesn’t want to shack up in a mall. So he hopes to find an area with good parking space. The Animal Kingdom, Chandigarh edition, eventually added a veterinary clinic and grooming parlour. Now the clinic has a space for “examination and surgery with two vets.”
Plus there is a lounge for a few people to sit while their animals are being groomed. But the staff does not encourage this, because, “animals tend to act oversmart when their owners are watching.
Besides, you’ll get a group of people accompanying one pet. It is like an event for them. So you need to do event management. Since owners get as excited as their dogs.”
They also sell puppies in the store. You don’t have to access a breeder via a middle-man and then get disappointed. You can see what you will get. And they expanded the library too. Asked what have been the differences in the pet scenario from the time he started the business, he replied, “There’s been an increase in pet owners. People asked me why I was in Chandigarh of all places. But we’ve done well enough to expand.”