FURminator sheds issues from fast growth
Fenton pet products firm projects $15 million in sales this year
St. Louis Business Journal - by Rick Desloge
Friday, May 25, 2007
Angie Porter has witnessed many dog and cat owners aggravated with their shedding pets.
"It's not something people talk about over the dinner table, but I saw it every day in my business," said Porter, the owner of Groomingdale's, an upscale pet salon in south St. Louis.Porter convinced her husband, David, then a marketing executive, that they should develop their own deshedding tool after she found other products on the market unsatisfactory. That was in 1997. After trying dozens of variations, the couple met with patent attorneys from Howell & Haferkamp, and in 2002, with a patent pending, they launched FURminator Inc.
Last year, sales at the Fenton-based company topped $10 million, up from about $700,000 in 2003. That translates to a growth rate of more than 1,300 percent over three years, making FURminator the fastest-growing privately held company in the St. Louis area, based on Business Journal research.