For my senior project, I will research pet shops across New York City to compare how chain stores perform against locally owned stores. I will use research, online resources, and interview businesses. Pacific Aquarium & Plant, a store that I frequent, will be my on-site remote placement. In addition to that store, I plan to interview leaders at local PetSmart, Petco, and Brooklyn Pet Supply. My goal is to interview/research one every 1-2 weeks over the coming weeks and summarize the information I gather on each before comparing the resulting data.
I aim to review the store's annual revenue, available goods & services, tax and bill costs, and consumer satisfaction. Extra details that I plan to consider include whether the business is local or part of a chain, how long it has been open, and whether the space is owned or rented. My ultimate goal with this project is to determine whether it is viable to own a locally owned business in an environment with chain stores, and to understand the work involved in owning a store.