Pet World is still here?! Howwww?!
Again and again, for nearly four decades now, we've discussed the reciprocal link between dedication, loyalty, and success in thriving small businesses. The harder employees work, the more employers invest in them, and the more they improve. The better employees get, the happier they become, and the more success they achieve. And when employees succeed, companies succeed, and then find themselves in a position to invest even more back into employees. AND reciprocity includes customers. In fact, it can’t work without customers -- especially loyal customers. Like the kind of customers who shop with you FOR ALMOST FOUR DECADES! Successful companies last because we take time to improve customers’ lives long term and, in return, customers support us. Our company focuses on improving our customers’ lives by improving the lives of their children and their pets. To support our mission, our customers keep their business local. That investment extends to our community outreach which makes a positive difference in Lawrence. This strong, Kansas community supports us so we can then invest in our employees who then invest in our customers who are the very community that supports us.
Everyone wins! But at some point, we gotta face that Tim and I can't keep doing this forever.
July 12, 2026 marks Pet World's 38 year anniversary. Not long before the 2015 fire, after realizing Tim and I were answering more questions than asking, we thought it was time to step back and accept our roles as mentors in the spirit of reciprocity. Our small business had thrived in the face of corporate and online competition and maybe other small businesses could use our help. We had a great staff in place and had just started branching out, expanding our online presence, publicly blogging, etc. and created this ridiculously huge web site. Then that God forsaken fire destroyed everything -- or so it seemed at the time. We had been repeatedly asked to mass market our staff training program, sell our store, expand Pet World, franchise, hit the public speaking circuit, offer seminars…you name it. But we passed, even when we had the chance. Tim spent years coaching sports, he'll probably mentor other store owners until he dies anyways, and he runs a successful multi-store buying cooperative. Plus he has built a thriving wholesale business. I have our sister company, The Nature Objective, and our nature camps for kids sell out fast, year after year. I teach, write, backpack, we've both been in management our entire lives, so it's not like we need to keep Pet World going. It seemed logical to call it quits in 2015 but we weren't ready for retirement back then. Pet World was as successful as it had ever been and experiencing growth every year. Now, in 2026, we're 10 years out from the rebuild, we have survived a pandemic and yet another recession, our kids are grown and gone and the nest is empty, so it would make sense to retire now, wouldn't it? Sell the store, and "cash in" as they say, right? But here’s the thing -- for us, it’s not about what's easy. It's not about popularity or financial gain. It never was. It’s about responsible stewardship.
“From he whom much is given, much is expected.” Luke 12:48.
While retirement is tempting, we both enjoy working and we're not quite there yet. This website is loaded with info and no longer needed but we'll probably leave it up. Perhaps it’s financially unsound to offer up decades of free entrepreneurial wisdom to anyone with an internet connection. Maybe the info is safer in a book we can sell than a website someone can easily copy. But, frankly, we’re not concerned. It's already been done a time or two anyway. Since 1988 we’ve been trying to do what is right no matter what and this philosophy hasn’t failed us yet. I don’t think it will now.
We’ve learned that life isn’t just about money and getting ahead at all cost. It’s about slow and steady organic growth, hard work, and active participation. It’s about being part of a team, something bigger than yourself. It's about trying, failing, but not quitting. Our society doesn't consistently reinforce the importance of good work ethic and I'm as concerned as the next guy about young adults subscribing to the fallacy that life is fair and easy. A culture that reinforces a false sense of entitlement concerns me as much as it concerns other GenXers and I'm aware of all the bad influence out there. Our young employees see friends under achieving, taking shortcuts to get ahead, trading principles and life skills for short sighted advancement. Plenty of businesses lack ethics and fail to understand the essence and importance of hard work and reciprocity. Shortcuts and scams seem to be the norm now. I get all that. And after our 2015 decision to share freely to help others, our store burned down. So much for karma, one might say. We could have walked away and no one would have blamed us. All the negativity and loss can really turn people off to perseverence and helping others. But that's exactly why we choose the high road of reciprocity, again and again, to finish what we start, utilize our gifts, and keep mentorship in the mix. We hope young people will shape their life paths with big picture focus, risk failure, understanding that life is as much about the process as it is the end goal. If we help others win, others can help someone else win, and they can help more people win, and in the end, all who participated can win.
Reciprocity is about the trust, loyalty, hard work, and dedication of each person involved. It's about truly caring enough to improve each other's lives and our existence as a unit. Improve the parts; improve the whole. That’s how life works. It’s reciprocal. So maybe to some people keeping this giant, overloaded website and a free, public owners blog seems like giving away the farm. That’s okay. Reading our free advice and actually implementing our philosophies are two very different things. And if businesses want to copy our model, we encourage that! Maybe some people think we should have cashed that insurance check in 2015, cut our losses, and hung it up after the fire, instead of straining our marriage to the last possible fiber, stressing out our family, going into debt to rebuild bigger and better in record time, draining our savings to keep our staff employed, and bringing Pet World back to the community who loved and needed it. Maybe some think we should have bailed after the pandemic when consumer buying trends shifted so abruptly to online spending. Yet others who really know us might be thinking it's about dang time we downsize PW and at least prepare for retirement. That one is true. We should. And we will, soon enough. As for us, for now, we’re just being responsible stewards with what we have because that's all we know how to be.
This PetWorldLawrence.com web site is bloated and outdated, we know. It took a big ol' back seat to real life and we might never bring it back up to speed now that we have PetWorldLawrenceOnline.com and TheNatureObjective.com. Retirement is coming soon enough, but not just yet. There's still too much to do and so much more to come, especially with a new location opening in May of 2026. Who has time to retire? Our customer family has carried us this far so we're not stopping now. We'll continue to foster our reciprocal relationship with Lawrence, Kansas for as long as it will let us and we'll offer nothing but support in return. That’s been the Pet World way since day one. And, almost 40 years or not, fire or no fire, expansion or downsize, no matter. We’re not about to change now.
~Sherry Emerson
