Walmart clinic

Walmart photo

PetIQ is closing its wellness centers inside Walmart stores apart from this pilot practice near Atlanta, which opened last year with a new Walmart-branded format.

Pet medication distributor PetIQ has all but ended a brief foray into veterinary practice with the closure of 133 clinics that will see scores of veterinarians and support staff lose their jobs.

The decision was made just before the company accepted a $1.5 billion takeover bid from a private equity firm, Bansk.

PetIQ's practices, which it calls wellness centers, provide vaccinations, diagnostic services, physical exams and minor surgery inside the stores of partners that include Walmart, Meijer and Tractor Supply Co.

The company had already closed 149 of the practices last year, citing a tight labor market for veterinarians. Another 133 will close later this month, leaving a single pilot practice outside Atlanta with a new Walmart-branded format that will remain open.

"PetIQ has determined that the ongoing challenges within the labor market and increasing costs create a lack of profitability that have made the wellness center model unsustainable for us ..." PetIQ spokesperson Kara Schafer told the VIN News Service by email.

Schafer said that "fewer than 100 veterinarians were impacted" and that "some" have accepted new positions within the company. The figure doesn't include veterinarians employed as contractors, Schafer added. She didn't say how many support staff are affected. All departing employees have been offered a severance package.

PetIQ will continue to run pop-up "community clinics" inside partner stores at designated times — such as between noon and 2 p.m. on Saturdays — that don't provide physical exams or surgery.

Affected staff learned their fate during a group video call on Aug. 6, according to a veterinarian on the call who asked not to be named. The affected centers each employ a veterinarian and a clinic supervisor, many of whom are registered veterinary technicians, the person said.

The bad news was delivered from a prepared statement that took about seven minutes to read out, the veterinarian recalled, adding that no questions or discussion followed.

"We were all just sitting there, stunned," the doctor said.

The next day, staff received a letter confirming the takeover by Bansk, which is expected to be completed later this year pending customary approvals. The company has not informed clients of the looming practice closures, the person said.

"We are having to tell them as they come in that we won't exist in less than two weeks, and trying to help them find resources for continuation of care," they said. "It's heartbreaking and a mess — trying to see pets while informing clients of closures while trying financially to line up interviews for new jobs."

The veterinarian said their practice has been busy all summer, seeing an average of 16 to 20 clients per day, many with limited incomes, including retirees, minimum-wage workers, people with disabilities and young adults. "We have puppies and kittens midway through their primary immunization series, allergic pets we see regularly for skin support and older pets being supported for painful arthritis, among many other patients in our limited scope of practice," they said.

Bansk, based in New York City and founded in 2019, invests in consumer products. Its website displays, among other things, an array of soaps and shampoos, household cleaning goods, packets of beef jerky and a frozen burrito. PetIQ, based in Eagle, Idaho, markets pet products like dewormers, dog shampoos and treats that include "Minties" canine breath fresheners.

PetIQ was founded in 2010, but its foray into running veterinary practices has been fairly short-lived. It started offering care in 2018, when it acquired VIP Petcare, which partners with retailers such as Petsense and Pet Food Express. It since established VetIQ, with practices in Walmart and Meijer stores, and PetVet, with practices in Tractor Supply Co. stores.

The demise of those wellness centers marks a further sign that companies that have rapidly built veterinary practices inside retail stores are having trouble finding veterinarians. Rival company Petco, for instance, confirmed in May that it has slowed the rate at which it builds veterinary practices in its pet stores to between five and 10 this year, down from dozens in previous years.

The online retailer, Chewy, however, is moving in the opposite direction. It said in May that it has opened four clinics — one near its company headquarters in Plantation, Florida, one in Denver, Colorado, and two in Greater Atlanta — and plans to open another two by year's end.