When it comes to counting the winners of the Covid-19 economy, some contenders have more bark than bite. Those who specialize in home gym equipment or back porch furniture have difficult comparisons of years.
Last week, another company that experienced a business boom during the pandemic reported that it had added millions of new customers in the previous twelve months, most of whom it hopes to stay.
Petco, the pet supply retailer, benefited from a pet boom during the long months of home orders, when more than three million new pets were bought or adopted.
“They made the house richer and gave someone a hug,” Ron Coughlin, Petco’s chief executive, told me.
But the trends driving business at Petco tell us more than just how Americans handled the emotions of the past year. They reveal details about how months of living and working at home have created new business opportunities in unlikely places, even in retail stores where the best days were thought to be behind them. Pet ownership in the United States has become its own economic barometer, similar to the way RV sales famously predict the country’s economic security. The puppy boom is more than adorable. It is revealing in what it says about how we want to work and live in a post-pandemic world.