Backer Christmas Show Breaks All Attendance Records
More than 9,500 buyers from 3,025 retail and wholesale outlets attended H.H. Backer Associates’ 39th Annual Pet Industry Christmas Trade Show and Educational Conference, held Oct. 7-9 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Ill...

Buyer Attendance Up at WWPIA's SuperZoo
More than 6,620 buyers representing 2,464 companies attended SuperZoo, held Sept. 21-22 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas...

Exhibitor Count Up at PIJAC Canada National Show
Canadian retailers turned out in force for the most recent trade shows sponsored by the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council of Canada (Ottawa, Ontario)...

International Attendance Jumps at GLEE
A total of 25,157 buyers attended GLEE and GLEE Petindex, held Sept. 18-20 at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, England. The visitor count was up 2 percent from last year, when 24,761 people attended the international garden/leisure/pet products exhibition...

Leady Takes Top Prizes in Backer's Celebration of Style
More than 2,600 groomers from across the country attended the sixth annual Celebration of Style grooming competition, held Oct. 7-9 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Ill., and 38 groomers entered 73 dogs to try to win nearly $17,000 in cash, trophies and gifts during the three-day event sanctioned by GroomTeam USA (Claremont, Calif.)...

Las Vegas Hosts Super ProGroom
More than 300 groomers attended the Super ProGroom tournament, held Sept. 21-22 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas in conjunction with SuperZoo (see “Buyer Attendance Up at WWPIA’s SuperZoo”)...

Groom Expo Draws 3,100 Pet-Care Professionals
A total of 3,117 buyers from 2,062 firms attended Groom Expo, held Sept. 15-18 at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center in Hershey, Pa...

Pet Industry Trends for 2006
While trends such as humanizing and pampering pets have helped propel pet-related spending to an anticipated $35.9 billion this year, they aren’t the only trends that will play key roles in the industry’s growth in the coming year, according to a new report by the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.)...

Hurricane Aid Continues
Pet industry manufacturers, retailers and animal welfare organizations continue to support animal rescue and relief efforts in areas affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita...

FDA Proposes Stricter BSE-Prevention Regulations
Spinal cords and brains from cows 30 months of age or older and other high-risk material from cattle would not be allowed in pet foods under amendments to feed rules proposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in October...

U.K. Bill Sets Precedent
Pet stores in England and Wales would no longer be allowed to sell animals to children under 16 under the Animal Welfare Bill, published in October by the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs...

Just Pets Catalog Debuts
Retailers looking for a unique assortment of high-quality pet products at reasonable prices need look no further than Just Pets, a new business-to-business wholesale catalog spearheaded by executives at LittleGifts Inc. (Massapequa, N.Y.)...

APPMA Awards Jules Schwimmer Scholarships
The American Pet Products Manufacturers Association (Greenwich, Conn.) awarded $1,000 Jules Schwimmer Scholarships to eight college students with family ties to APPMA member firms: Charles Almiron, Naturvet/Garmon Corp. (Temecula, Calif.); Joel Cullen, Kaytee Products Inc. (Chilton, Wis.); Benjamin Dewey, American Colloid Co. (Arlington Heights, Ill.); Kyla Kohagen, Planetwise Products Inc. (Pine Bluff, Ariz.); Minh-Bao Le, Nestlé Purina PetCare Co. (St. Louis); Erin Long, Grizzly Pet Products L.L.C. (Redmond, Wash.); Brian Timm, Kaytee Products; and Halley Vora, who is affiliated with Cat Care Co. (Laguna Hills, Calif.)...

Job Gains May Drive Healthy Holiday Sales
Despite the economic side effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, 2005 holiday sales should be relatively healthy, according to Retail Forward Inc. (Columbus)...