That escalated quickly - Analyst PetSmart Employee Review

1.0
Mar 29, 2017
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

can bring pets to work

Cons

Another review said it this is no longer the same old PetSmart. That in and of itself is not a bad thing. Prior to going private, the management team was clearly making short term decisions as most public companies with quarterly earnings calls are wont to do. When the PE people took over, it was honestly fine that they riffed a bunch of dead weight to make the company more efficient. Unfortunately, this was about the limit of their leadership prowess. I have not before encountered a management team with such an undeserved sense of self worth. Despite coming in and talking good game about building and sustaining a highly performing company, their have made some head scratching decisions. If their goal truly is to position this company for the long term, I have to say they simply are not good at their jobs. On the other hand, despite the whopping nigh $9B price tag they paid for the company, the LPs only actually coughed up around $2B in equity for an asset with something like $1B in annual ebitda....so barring the company going under quickly it is clear the equity partners will get their return, bondholders might get waxed, and perhaps this has been management's true goal all along. In that case, I guess they are good at what they do. Worth adding PetSmart debt is trading at around $93 on secondary markets. (all this is publicly available information).

Explore other reviews about PetSmart

5.0
Jun 5, 2026
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very good relationship with colleague

Cons

Not very flexible on work times

avatar
PetSmart Response
4d
We're happy to hear you enjoyed working with us, thanks for taking the time!
1.0
Jun 2, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

The company pushes for more and more from the bottom level employees without better pay. I worked there before the restructuring and; not much can make me cry, but working here sure did, even back then. I can’t imagine how anxiety inducing it must be to work there now. Animal welfare is a complete non-concern. The only thing that’s pushed is sell, sell, sell. It’s borderline dystopian. Bad management seems to be a common issue, not only from my experience, but many others’ as well. I worked until I was an exhausted sweaty mess to make sure everything in pet care or, when I groomed, the salon, was cleaned to perfection as expected of me (and I reiterate: “me,” because these standards were not expected of my co-workers, just me) and overall felt very unseen. The only times I did feel “seen,” was when mistakes were made. Work was treated like boot camp. A co-worker that was subtley targeting/bullying me, and even started rumors accusing me of racist remarks(!!!), was promoted and anything I reported was downplayed because they were friends with the assistant manager. Working here was an overall traumatizing experience.

Cons

Employees are expected to be work-robots

avatar
PetSmart Response
4d
We’re disappointed to hear that your experience didn’t reflect what we aim to create for our associates, and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback. We invite you to contact the CareSmart line at 1-800-738-4693 so we can learn more and see how we can support you. Thank you.
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