genre pet store founded 1965 ; 51 years ago 1965 headquarters san diego california number of locations 1 400 1 products pet supplies live animals owner cvc capital partners cpp investment board website http about.petco.com petco headquarters in san diego petco animal supplies is a privately held pet retailer in the united states with corporate offices in san diego and san antonio . it sells pet products and services as well as certain types of pets . petco sells or holds for adoption fish reptiles small birds hamsters guinea pigs and mice . pet services include grooming and dog training . the company also owns the naming rights to the petco park baseball stadium home of the san diego padres . as of 2014 the company operates more than 1 300 locations 2 across the united states mexico and puerto rico including more than 100 unleashed by petco locations a smaller format neighborhood brand launched in 2009 ; nine pooch hotel locations for pet daycare boarding and spa services ; and an online shopping destination at petco.com . think adoption first is a company philosophy and program which encourages pet adoption rather than the purchase of companion animals whenever possible . petco was criticized when they were selling large exotic birds in their shops . in 2005 they signed an agreement with peta to end the sale of large birds . 3 petco has never sold dogs or cats and in 2008 the company stopped selling rabbits as well . contents 1 history 2 legal issues 3 petco foundation 4 references 5 external links history edit the company was founded in 1965 as a mail order business selling veterinary supplies . the company was acquired in 2000 by leonard green & partners and tpg capital . 4 in november 2015 cvc capital partners and the canada pension plan investment board agreed to acquire petco in a deal worth 4.6 billion . the move followed failed talks between petco and petsmart over a merger . 5 in 2004 petco bought the naming rights to san diego s then new downtown baseball stadium making it petco park . the company agreed to pay the padres about 60 million over a period of 22 years . at the time it was one of the highest prices paid for naming rights to a baseball park . 6 jim myers has been the chairman and ceo of the company since 2004 . he has been with petco since 1990 . in 2016 he announced he will retire on february 1 2017 . his successor will be company president and chief merchant brad weston . 7 sign on an unleashed store that opened in oregon in 2013 legal issues edit in june 2010 prosecutors from marin los angeles san diego san mateo and santa barbara counties announced that petco had agreed to settle a 1.75 million consumer protection lawsuit without admitting liability . the settlement stems from a lawsuit filed in san diego superior court that alleges petco overcharged its customers and improperly cared for some animals following inspections of petco stores throughout california from 2005 through 2008 . petco paid more than 850 000 to resolve a similar case in 2004 . 8 in september 2011 a petco location in johnson city new york came under fire when during a severe flood of the surrounding area caused by tropical storm lee nearly 100 animals drowned when staff failed to move them to safety . 9 despite severe weather warnings and flood advisories for the nearby river in the days leading to the flood petco had initially claimed it didn t receive warnings . petco had also claimed that the casualties were caused by a backup in the store s drain sewage line and not by the flooding that had submerged the store with four feet of water . johnson city mayor dennis hannon has called petco s initial claims absurd and stated that with all the flood warnings and evacuation orders that were issued for them not to go down there is just absolutely disgusting further commenting that the flooding was caused by the weather and river flooding and that the sewer drain line backup was only a small part of the problem . johnson city police have also stated that flood warnings were issued by the national weather service and they should have been taken more seriously . 9 10 11 on september 12 2011 petco issued a statement accepting full responsibility for the event saying that they misjudged the risk of a flood . peta has called for a criminal investigation against petco . 12 13 soon after petco offered to donate 25 000 towards animal welfare centers in the area and to give area residents a rebate on their website offering free shipping for orders over 25 . 14 petco foundation edit the petco foundation an independent nonprofit organization has raised more than 125 million since it was created in 1999 to help promote and improve the welfare of companion animals and currently spends about 11 million a year on this cause . 15 petco and the petco foundation work with and support thousands of local animal welfare groups across the country to host in store adoption events and help find homes for adoptable dogs cats and other companion animals . the foundation also supports spay and neuter efforts animal assistant therapy programs and education about the humane treatment of animals . references edit san diego portal companies portal about petco . petco.com . retrieved 2016 01 25 . about petco pdf . petco.com . retrieved 2015 02 19 . petco agreement . peta.org . retrieved 2012 11 02 . company history . petco.com . retrieved 28 september 2016 . cvc canada s cppib to buy petco for about 4.6 billion . reuters . 23 november 2015 . harvey katherine p. may 5 2014 . 0 years in were petco naming rights worth it . san diego union tribune . retrieved 28 september 2016 . de crescenzo sarah september 27 2016 . petco ceo jim myers announces retirement ; president brad weston named successor . san diego business journal . retrieved 28 september 2016 . petco to pay 1.75 million settlement after allegedly overcharging customers improperly caring for animals . contracostatimes.com . retrieved 2012 11 02 . a b petco discovery close to 100 animals lost in flood . pressconnects.com . retrieved 2012 11 02 . petco pets die in flood wbng tv news sports and weather binghamton new york local . wbng.com . 2011 09 10 . retrieved 2012 11 02 . johnson city update from petco ceo jim myers the petco scoop blog . petcoscoop.com . 2011 09 11 . retrieved 2012 11 02 . petco accepts full responsibility for animals deaths in binghamton flood . pressconnects.com . retrieved 2012 11 02 . johnson city update from petco ceo jim myers the petco scoop blog . petcoscoop.com . 2011 09 11 . retrieved 2012 11 02 . petco makes 25k donation to local animal groups . pressconnects.com . retrieved 2012 11 02 . petco foundation . charity navigator . retrieved 28 september 2016 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to petco . official website v t e leonard green & partners healthcare aspen dental ims health retail bj s wholesale club the container store david s bridal del taco equinox fitness j.crew jo ann stores neiman marcus petco rite aid sports authority tourneau whole foods market retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title petco & oldid 743675069 categories retail companies of the united statescompanies based in san diegoretail companies established in 1965private equity portfolio companiesonline retailers of the united statespet stores1965 establishments in californiapets in the united stateshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameterscommons category with page title same as on wikidataofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version in other projects wikimedia commons languages add links this page was last modified on 10 october 2016 at 17 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view