2008 Small Business of the Year Finalist: All Pet Supplies & Equine Center

Employees: 10–12

All Pet Supplies & Equine Center, opened in 1990 under the leadership of President Larry G. Wilcox, but since then, the business has grown from its roots at 614 Washington Ave.

All Pet is a distributor of pet supplies and food, including Diamond, Nutro and Science Diet brands.

“We were shuffling semitrailers of dog food in and out and just really outgrew it,” said General Manager Jan Guin.

All Pet opened its 1611 W. Republic Road location six years ago, and a north-side location opened just more than a year ago at 2845 W. Kearney Street.

Guin, who began working for Wilcox roughly since the first store opened, said that both stores are experiencing about 15 percent growth, though she declined to disclose revenues.

Based on population, the south side does more business now, but Guin expects that the north location will eventually catch up, citing development near the Springfield-Branson National Airport and the employee base at T-Mobile.

“I think we’re going to begin to see some big growth over here on the north side,“ she said.

The company’s customer demographic is varied, but Guin does see some concentration.

“A lot of times, young people have dogs, (but) older people probably have the most pampered dogs because their kids are grown and gone,” Guin said.