Petco Animal Supplies Inc. (San Diego) honored dozens of its top vendors and outstanding stores and store managers during its annual trade show, held Aug. 13-17 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Winning vendors included:
•  Vendors of the year: Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. (Topeka, Kan.), for overall performance and cat consumables; Radio Systems Corp. (Knoxville, Tenn.), for services provided to Petco.com; All-Glass Aquarium/Central Aquatics (Franklin, Wis.), for companion animal supplies; WorldWise Inc. (San Rafael, Calif.), for cat supplies; JW Pet Co. Inc. (Teterboro, N.J.), for dog supplies; and Natural Balance Pet Foods Inc. (Pacoima, Calif.), for dog consumables. It was Natural Balance’s third consecutive award in this category.
•  Strategic alliance vendor of the year: Natural Balance.
•  Best new vendor partner: Castor & Pollux/Pet Appeal (Clackamas, Ore.).
•  Supply chain award: Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
•  Best in-store support: Nutro Products Inc. (City of Industry, Calif.). It was Nutro’s 16th award in this category.
•  Vendor representatives of the year: Chris Ortiz of United Pet Group (Cincinnati), in the companion animal category; Daniel Hereford of Natural Balance, in the cat category; and Craig Wetnight of Hill’s Pet Nutrition, in the dog category.
•  Petco Foundation award: BrownTrout Publishers Inc. (San Francisco).
•  Best product innovation: Kaytee/Super Pet chew-proof bottles by Central Avian & Small Animal (Elk Grove Village, Ill.), in the companion animal category; Petlinks Iscratch System by WorldWise, in the cat category; and Loofa Dog toys by Multipet International Inc. (Moonachie, N.J.), in the dog category.
Stores that won national awards included:
•  District manager of the year: Ellen Davignon of District 72 in Boston.
•  Store of the year: Bangor, Maine, managed by Wanda Potter.
•  Store of the year—animal care: Colorado Springs West, Colo., managed by Andrea McIntyre.
•  Store of the year—customer engagement: Grand Forks, North Dakota, managed by Mark Mayer.
•  Store of the year—community involvement: Cleveland, managed by Stephan Epperson.