--- title: "Tennessee Based Pet Franchise Gears Up For Massive Expansion" url: https://burnaze.com/article/7a62dd33-e40c-4221-a890-9e4f2114c61e source: "Franchising.com" original_url: https://www.franchising.com/news/20200915_tennessee_based_pet_franchise_gears_up_for_massive_expansion.html category: "Pets" industry: "Pets" topics: ["Development & multi-unit"] published: 2020-09-15T12:00:00.000Z modified: 2026-11-01T02:32:02.585Z image: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1524749292158-7540c2494485?w=1600&q=80&auto=format&fit=crop --- # Tennessee Based Pet Franchise Gears Up For Massive Expansion **TL;DR:** PetWellClinic, a Tennessee-based pet franchise, is gearing up for massive expansion fueled by the booming pet industry and the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has acquired funding and partnered with Oakscale as its exclusive franchise development partner to develop franchises in new locations, including New Jersey. *originally published in Franchising.com on 2020-09-15. [Read the original](https://www.franchising.com/news/20200915_tennessee_based_pet_franchise_gears_up_for_massive_expansion.html).* ## Story The 2019-2020 APPA National Pet Owners Survey reports that 67% of households have at least one pet, and that number is expected to increase as months of Covid-19 quarantine drove people seeking companionship to adopt, or otherwise acquire, pets. Veterinary care was deemed essential throughout the economic shutdown and thus showed how resilient the industry is in times of crisis. The actual annual spend on pets in 2019 was $95. 7 Billion with more than 30% categorized as “Vet Care and Products Sales.” That total is estimated to increase to $99 Billion in 2020 with over $30 Billion spent on Vet Care. Westside Franchise Brands CEO, Robert Huntington, who organized the capital raise, sees a bright future for PetWellClinic. “The pet care industry is steadily growing and the services have not caught up to the demand. People want convenient, affordable care for their pets on-demand. Nobody wants to make an appointment several days out or head to a full-blown animal hospital when all they need is a vaccine or a simple treatment for non-serious ailments. When I met Dr. Sam and the PetWellClinic team, I knew they had something special on their hands.” PetWellClinic was founded in 2010 by Dr. Sam Meisler, a licensed veterinarian and self-taught programmer. He grew the number of company locations to 3 before deciding to franchise in 2019. Now, he has his 4th PetWellClinic open and a franchisee planning to open this year. That will be the 5th location in Knoxville, TN. He credits his success to his decades of studying the veterinary world and his determination to create simple systems, including proprietary veterinary business management technology for streamlined operations, that could be easily trained and replicated. “Creating systems allowed the veterinarian and staff to focus their time and energy on what’s really important, the health of the dogs and cats that come to see us. We have a proprietary software system that allows us to track things like wait-times and efficiency of visits so we can always be improving. But our vets and staff are usually there because they care deeply for animals, not invoices. Our systems allow for them to focus on what’s most important to them while giving the owner the insights needed to run the business effectively. We anticipate that most of our franchisees will not be veterinarians themselves, and we think they’ll be impressed with what we’ve built.” As part of the transaction, Westside Franchise Brands acquired the area development rights to develop franchises in the state of New Jersey. They’ve begun searching for real estate and are hopeful for the first location to open in 2020 with plans to open many more over the next 5 to 7 years. In addition to the funding round, PetWellClinic has chosen Oakscale as their exclusive franchise development partner. Oakscale CEO, Joshua Kovacs, is excited about the opportunity. “When I first walked into a PetWell and saw the operations, I knew Dr. Sam was light-years ahead of what is currently in the market. When potential franchisees see what PetWellClinic is all about, they are going to be blown away. I’ll put this franchise up against any other pet franchise opportunity out there. If you’re looking at franchises that not only survived but excelled under the special circumstances in 2020, PetWellClinic should be top of your list.” ## Entities - Franchising.com (publication) - unit expansion (topic) - franchise development (topic) - partnership (topic) - Pets (sector) - new jersey (location) - pet industry (topic) - PetWellClinic (company) - funding round (topic) - Joshua Kovacs (person) --- Originally reported by Franchising.com (https://www.franchising.com/news/20200915_tennessee_based_pet_franchise_gears_up_for_massive_expansion.html). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/7a62dd33-e40c-4221-a890-9e4f2114c61e).