Petco (NASDAQ: WOOF) is leaning into value and in-store experience for the 2026 holiday season, launching a campaign called "Never Naughty, Always Nice" that centers on accessible price points and traffic-driving events across its more than 1,500 locations in the U.S., Mexico, and Chile. Seventy percent of the new holiday collection is priced at $10 or less — a deliberate move by a specialty retailer competing against mass and e-commerce channels for seasonal pet spend.
The campaign arrives against a favorable macro backdrop. A 2026 Harris Poll found 95% of American pet parents consider their pets family members, and 83% say pets feel like their own children. The American Pet Products Association projects U.S. pet industry spending to reach approximately $173 billion in 2027, up from $165 billion in 2026 and $158 billion in 2025 — a trajectory that has lifted spending on pet food, treats, and accessories across all retail channels.
In-Store Events as Traffic Drivers
Petco is treating in-store programming as a key differentiator this season, scheduling a series of complimentary events designed to convert casual shoppers into repeat visitors. On November 21–22, select stores nationwide will host "Petsgiving" sampling stations featuring fresh-frozen and freeze-dried raw nutrition from brands including Hill's, Ollie, and Badlands Ranch, complete with take-home recipe cards. Free photos with Santa return to select locations on December 12, accompanied by a "Naughty vs. Nice Meter" photo backdrop engineered for social sharing. The events follow a format foodservice and specialty retail operators alike have adopted to defend physical locations against online competition — turning the store into an experience rather than a transaction point.
For the culinary crossover angle, Petco partnered with celebrity chef and television personality Ronnie Woo on an exclusive cookbook, Better for You, Better for Your Dog, launching in mid-November. The title pairs human holiday recipes with vet-reviewed, dog-safe equivalents featuring human-grade ingredients — a concept that mirrors the premium, ingredient-transparent positioning that has reshaped the better-for-you food and beverage segment. The partnership adds earned-media horsepower to the campaign while underscoring the humanization trend that continues to drive premiumization in pet nutrition.
Loyalty, Grooming, and Seasonal SKUs
Beyond gifting, Petco is activating its Perks and Perks Premier loyalty architecture throughout the season. New Perks Premier members receive $10 in Petco Cash upon enrolling a dog or cat, and $5 for a small companion animal — an enrollment incentive structure familiar to multi-unit foodservice operators running loyalty programs. Weekly "Nice List" promotional rotations run from November 21 through December 25, spanning toys, apparel, accessories, and treats, supported by BOGO offers across Black Friday and Cyber Week.
The grooming services division gets its own seasonal LTO in the form of a Disney Mickey Mouse and Minnie Grooming Package launching in November, complete with a festive bandana and holiday cookie treat. On the services side, Petco is also promoting in-store dog training sessions positioned around holiday behavioral challenges — door-greeting, counter-surfing, and crate comfort — a daypart-specific upsell that adds service revenue to a store visit already anchored by product purchase.
The campaign closes with a charitable component tied to Petco Love, the retailer's nonprofit arm: a $3 or $5 checkout donation option to fund food for shelter animals, plus sales of Petco Love's Plush Mystery Charm Adoptable Pet blind boxes, with proceeds directed to pet adoption efforts. For a specialty retailer working to sharpen its community relevance against mass-channel pet competitors, the shelter tie-in gives the holiday push an institutional dimension that extends beyond the sales floor and into consumer loyalty programs built for long-term retention.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
