Lowe’s is teaming up with Petco to offer pet departments within its stores, betting that customers want cans of dog food along with their cans of paint.

What You Need To Know

  • Lowe's plans to roll out 15 stores with mini-Petco shops in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas

  • N.C.-based Lowe's said U.S. households added more than 11 million new pets during the coronavirus pandemic

  • The Petco mini-stores will offer services, such as vacccination clinics, as well as pet food

The first Lowe’s with a Petco is expected to open in February in Alamo Ranch, Texas. Fourteen additional Lowe’s locations in North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas will get Petco centers by the end of March, the company said.

The Petco mini-stores will offer food as well as pet services, including vaccination clinics. Mobile grooming services will also be offered.

This is the first store-within-a-store pairing for Mooresville, N.C.-based Lowe’s and San Diego-based Petco.

Petco operates more than 1,500 stores in the U.S., Mexico and Puerto Rico. Lowe’s has 2,200 stores in the U.S. and Canada.

Lowe’s noted that more than 11 million new pets entered U.S. homes since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago. The company said it makes sense to serve both.

“For many of our customers, their pets and their homes top the list of things that matter most, especially after two years spent mostly together within the same four walls,” said Bill Boltz, Lowe’s executive vice president of merchandising.

The move could set Lowe's apart from rival Home Depot, which doesn't sell pet food, and help it compete with stores such as Menards and Tractor Supply, which also sell pet food and home improvement products.