PetSmart® Stores, Along with Generous Shoppers, Collect More Than One Million Plush Toys to Make the Holidays Merry for People and Pets

Plush Toys Have the Power to Do Double Duty: 10 Percent of Sales
from Chance, Lucky and Stanley*, Totaling More Than $585,000, Supports
PetSmart Charities® to Help Pets in Need, While a Record-Breaking Number
of Toys Will Be Donated to Children and Families

PHOENIX–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The holidays are about to be a little more merry for millions of
children, families and pets across the U.S. and Canada thanks to the
support of PetSmart, its generous shoppers and the furry, friendly faces
of three plush toys named Chance, Lucky and Stanley*.


The plush toys retail for $5 each and are part of PetSmart’s holiday
philanthropic collection — an exclusive line of products for people and
pets. Since early October, PetSmart stores across North America have
been inviting customers to purchase a Chance, Lucky or Stanley* toy at
the check-out and donate it to an in-store toy drive supporting local
community organizations selected by each store. To date, a
record-breaking 1,174,791 toys have been donated, and stores will
continue to collect the items through Dec. 24, 2016, while supplies last.

In addition, as with PetSmart’s entire holiday philanthropic line, 10
percent of the sales from each plush toy will be donated to PetSmart
Charities to support its mission to end pet homelessness, help pets in
need and support programs that bring people and pets together. The plush
toy sales have already raised more than $585,000 to support the leading
animal welfare charity, which donates more money to pets in need than
any other nonprofit across North America.

“We’re immensely grateful to our generous shoppers, our associates and
our local toy drive partners for their support this holiday season,”
said Eran Cohen, chief customer experience officer, PetSmart. “For the
past five years, the Chance, Lucky and Stanley toy drives have been a
seasonal tradition for us, and we couldn’t be more proud of their
success – one million toys to make children’s holidays a bit more merry
and more than a half a million dollars to help pets in need.”

This year’s holiday toy drive resulted in the most toys collected since
PetSmart began its in-store toy drives in 2011. One million toys is a
significant number; in fact, if the 18-inch plush toys were lined up
end-to-end, they would span 304 miles—longer than the Grand Canyon!

Many of the plush toys are well on their way to children in need this
holiday season through celebratory toy drop-offs at children’s
hospitals, homeless shelters and Ronald McDonald Houses, as well as
through larger toy drive initiatives organized by local police, fire
departments and organizations dedicated to helping children. The plush
toys are even brightening the days of seniors, with donations at senior
care facilities in some communities.

From coast to coast, here are the Top 10 PetSmart locations with the
highest number of donated toys to date:

  1. PetSmart store on Broadway Street in Saugus, Mass. — 4,360 toys
  2. PetSmart store on River Street in Santa Cruz, Calif. — 4,093 toys
  3. PetSmart store on Chad Drive in Eugene, Ore. — 3,813 toys
  4. PetSmart store on Sawmill Road in Dublin, Ohio — 3,633 toys
  5. PetSmart store on Big Hollow Road in Peoria, Ill. — 3,551 toys
  6. PetSmart store on South Veterans Parkway in Springfield, Ill. – 3,536
    toys
  7. PetSmart store on South West Archer Road in Gainsville, Fla. — 3,486
    toys
  8. PetSmart store on Fairfield Road in Beaver Creek, Ohio – 3,435 toys
  9. PetSmart store on East 42nd Street in Odessa, Texas – 3,340
    toys
  10. PetSmart store on Worcester Providence Turnpike in Millbury, Mass. —
    3,125 toys

*Stanley plush toy is available online and in-store in Canada and online
only in the U.S.

About PetSmart®

PetSmart,
Inc.
is the largest specialty pet retailer of services and solutions
for the lifetime needs of pets. At PetSmart, we love pets, and we
believe pets make us better people. Every day with every connection,
PetSmart’s passionate associates help bring pet parents closer to their
pets so they can live more fulfilled lives. This vision impacts
everything we do for our customers, the way we support our associates
and how we give back to our communities. We employ approximately 55,000
associates, operate approximately 1,500 pet stores in the United States,
Canada and Puerto Rico and 204 in-store PetSmart® PetsHotel® dog and cat
boarding facilities. PetSmart provides a broad range of competitively
priced pet food and pet products and offers dog training, pet grooming,
pet boarding, PetSmart Doggie Day Camp day care services and pet
adoption services in-store. Our portfolio of digital resources for pet
parents – including PetSmart.com, PetFoodDirect.com, Pet360.com and
petMD.com – offers the most comprehensive online pet supplies and pet
care information in the U.S. Through our in-store pet adoption
partnership with independent nonprofit organizations, PetSmart
Charities® and PetSmart Charities™ of Canada have reached a significant
milestone – more than 7 million pets adopted since 1994! For every 30
seconds a PetSmart store is open a pet’s life is saved, totaling about
1,400 lives saved every day.

Follow PetSmart on Twitter and Instagram: @PetSmart
Find
PetSmart on Facebook: facebook.com/PetSmart
See
PetSmart on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmart

About PetSmart Charities®

PetSmart
Charities, Inc
. is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that
saves the lives of homeless pets. Each year nearly 500,000 dogs and cats
find homes through our adoption program in all PetSmart® stores across
the U.S. and sponsored adoption events. Each year millions of PetSmart
shoppers contribute to PetSmart Charities to help pets in need by making
donations on a pin pad at the register. PetSmart Charities efficiently
uses 90 cents of every dollar to support its mission of finding
lifelong, loving homes for all pets. PetSmart Charities grants more
money to directly help pets in need than any other animal welfare group
in North America, with a focus on funding adoption and spay/neuter
programs that help communities solve pet overpopulation. PetSmart
Charities is a 501(c)(3) organization, independent from PetSmart, Inc.
PetSmart Charities has received the Four Star Rating for the past 13
years from Charity Navigator, an independent nonprofit that reports on
the effectiveness, accountability and transparency of nonprofits,
placing it among the top one percent of charities rated by this
organization.

Follow PetSmart Charities on Twitter: @PetSmartChariTs
Find
PetSmart Charities on Facebook: Facebook.com/PetSmartCharities
See
PetSmart Charities on YouTube: YouTube.com/PetSmartCharitiesInc

About PetSmart Charities™ of Canada

PetSmart
Charities of Canada
is a nonprofit animal welfare organization that
saves the lives of homeless pets in Canada. Each year more than 20,000
pets find Canadian homes through our adoption program in nearly all
PetSmart stores across Canada and our sponsored adoption events. A
leading funder of animal welfare, PetSmart Charities of Canada has
granted more than $9.9 million to help pets in need with a funding focus
on adoption and spay/neuter programs that help communities solve pet
overpopulation. PetSmart Charities of Canada is a registered charity,
independent from PetSmart.

Contacts

Golin for PetSmart
Danielle Bickelmann, 469-680-2503
dbickelmann@golin.com
or
PetSmart
Media Line, 623-587-2177

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