Shoprite’s premium banner, Checkers, has opened its first standalone pet shop. The new brand, called Petshop Science, will be located near to the Checkers Hyper store at Fairbridge Mall in Cape Town’s Brackenfell suburb.

The new store comes at a time when pet ownership in many countries has soared as consumers have sought comfort from loneliness during lockdowns and the increase in working from home has enabled more people to take on a dog or cat.

Its pilot store represents a continuation of Shoprite’s strategy to build more specialised store sections under the Checkers banner. In 2020, Shoprite began rolling out a new upmarket Checkers store format called FreshX. It plans to convert at least one third of its Checkers stores to the new concept in the medium term.

Designed to take on Woolworths, the FreshX stores feature wider aisles, artisanal and market-style store environments, large cheese counters, bakeries and fresh meat sections. They also feature wine sections offering wine tasting areas and designed to feel like wine cellars. In December 2020, Checkers rolled out a new partnership with Starbucks, featuring in-house cafes in certain outlets.

Checkers already sells private label pet food under the Petshop Science brand. Shoprite has not provided more detail on plans to roll out the Petshop Science retail brand. At the moment, the Brackenfell store looks like a pilot, with other locations yet to be confirmed.