What products sell best in your grooming shop?

We are thinking about starting a small shop in our dog grooming shop and are wondering what products are the 'hot sellers' in other people's shops. We would definately sell the most commonly asked things: brushes of various kids to work with different coat and skin types, combs, and cologne. We have tried to sell stuffed toys, tennis balls, rawhide bones and bandanna's with absolutely no success after two years. We are located in a very small town so we need to be able to accomidate the middle class rank. Nothing too frilly or expensive would ever sell. (costumes, custom photography, dog furniture, ect.)Any recommendations?

shampoo. conditioner or anything that you can convince a customer that its better then what they sell at petsmart.

Unfortunatlly you will find that there are very few products that have enough margine that you can afford to have them in stock. One of the upper level dog foods (that doesn't sell to Wall Mart) is about the only thing that we have found that shows a consistant profit.

any of the products that you use yourself in the shop...shampoo, cologne, brushes, etc. i find most of my customers asking my advice on the tools they need at home too. when i explain to them that 90% of the grooming is on them, they get it. if they dont have the right tools, how can they be blamed for the dog being matted so frequently? i also "sell" them a few minutes of time to show them how to properly brush/comb their dogs ans then the next time it is matted badly, they are much more forgiving about saying "go ahead and shave her, i didn't do my homework well." this has worked for me for 16 yrs.

The point is, most pet stores do not do that great financially. All of the pet stores I have been too, end up going bankrupt, no matter how much variety they have. Anyway, I would leave it to the big sellers like Wal-mart to sell pet products and stuff, because they are able to buy in bulk and save money. Not many people buy pet supplies from small business, that's all I know.

Best thing to do is go into Petco,Petsmart and see what they carry. Search the Internet and see what people sell there. Take an Inventory of all the items and don't sell them. Watch the crowd and go the other direction. Find unique hard to find, cheaper, useful, high quality products that Pet owners find so beneficial and so cool that their pets would love them. I took a friends Pekingese to a Kids Carnival fund raiser(Involved with a youth group) I was in charge of photographing kids and getting their finger prints scanned. It was a free service for the parents. It produced a print out of a current picture, finger prints, vital stats of the child including unique physical marks like birth marks, scars etc. Done from a laptop and a color printer. The parent can keep it as a record or put it on the refrigerator. Well I got carried away and did the dog, paw prints and all. Do you know how many friends of my friend came over with their dogs(1 cat)that weekend after seeing that printout, just to get it done(16)Think in benefits to the owner, the safety and enjoyment of the dog.

You want sale to much shampoo/cond. b/c they bring their pets to you for baths. I sold more-cologne & collars than anything. A few TEE SHIRTS & sweaters.Pig ears sold really well for my shop. Slicker brushes are a mover on those whom will brush. What really did good for me was-PEOPLE's DOGGY POCKETBOOKs.GOOD LUCKretired in 97

Price-wise, you simply can't compete with the big box stores on most items. Therefore stick with the basics or the unique. Basic grooming supplies - brushes, combs, etc. do well because we recommend them. Same with dental care items and ear care products. Various flea & tick products did well because owners wanted to take care of the problem in one stop rather than go to a big box, too. We sold extra and holiday themed bows and bandanas, and fancy treats, too, mostly as impulse items. We tried to carry items that the big box stores didn't such as breed stationary and notepads, breed magnets, trivets and other gift items. Want to move those toys and rawhides you've had sitting around a while? Try repackaging! For the holidays we'd buy fancy boxes and put together an assortment of treats and toys and sell it as a gift box!