Attendance Up at Backer's 40th Christmas Show
More than 9,670 buyers from 3,025 retail and wholesale outlets across the country helped celebrate the 40th edition of H.H. Backer Associates’ Pet Industry Christmas Trade Show and Educational Conference, held Oct. 6-8 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Ill ...

Attendance Jumps at SuperZoo 2006
More than 7,960 buyers from 3,042 companies attended SuperZoo 2006, held Sept. 20-22.at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas-up 20 percent from 6,620 buyers at last year's show.
The three-day show, produced by the World Wide Pet Industry Association (Arcadia, Calif.) and co-located with the California Association of Nurseries and Garden Centers' Garden Market Expo, featured 545 companies in 900 booths. ...

Market Is Buoyant at GLEE
Strong attendance by forward-looking buyers was evident at GLEE, Europe’s largest annual exhibition for the garden, pet and leisure industries, held Sept. 17-19 at the National Exhibition Center in Birmingham, England...

Hunte Conference Promotes Animal Welfare
A record-setting 2,200 professional pet breeders and pet industry leaders attended the seventh annual Breeders Educational Conference, held Oct. 13-14 in Joplin, Mo., by The Hunte Corp. (Goodman, Mo.)...

Central Aquatics’ Aqueon Brand Hits Stores
Central Aquatics (Franklin, Wis.) hopes to make a big splash this month when it begins shipping Aqueon aquarium products to retail pet stores across the country. The comprehensive aquatics line, designed specifically for beginning and intermediate hobbyists who shop in independent pet and pet superstores, includes fish foods, water care products, four-stage power filtration systems, tanks, kits, lighting and furniture...

Canadian Pet Market Is Strong
Premium and value-added products are driving retail sales of pet food and pet care products in Canada, just as they are in the United States, according to a report by Euromonitor International (Chicago)...

California Animal Care Bill Dies
A coalition of retailers, breeders and other industry members worked hand-in-hand with the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (Washington) to successfully craft a more palatable version of a bill designed to dictate pet store standards in California—and then saw the bill vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for funding reasons...

Illinois Proposes Animal Import Restrictions
New regulations proposed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture would amend the state Animal Welfare Act to establish a new health certificate requirement and entry permit requirements for animals imported into the state...

Consumer Shopping Behavior Changes
Whether they are influenced by personal factors or factors within retailers’ control, consumers are choosing to shop in fewer stores and are placing greater relative importance on speed and convenience, according to Retail Forward Inc. (Columbus, Ohio)...

Go Retail! With New Career and Training Initiatives
Three new initiatives launched this fall by the NRF Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Retail Federation (Washington), are promoting the diversity of retail career opportunities available to people of all ages...

Consumer Attitudes Were Healthy in September
Although consumer optimism surged in September as gas prices fell, that optimism abated somewhat in October, according to the Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household Index by RBC Financial Group (Washington)...