{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"How I Tested That","title":"Courtney Honda and Slava Borisov | How I Tested Pet Retail","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2485,"description":"Summary\n\nIn this episode I’m joined by Courtney Honda and Slava Borisov co-founders of Puptqe. What started as a deeply personal response to a health scare involving their dog Champ has grown into a unique retail experience built around community and creating memorable moments for dogs and their owners.\nWe explore how they tested their way through one of the most competitive retail categories imaginable, discovering that success wasn’t about competing with big-box stores on price or selection. Instead, they focused on creating experiences that customers couldn’t get anywhere else, from dog-friendly events and memberships to immersive in-store moments designed to turn visitors into loyal advocates.\n\nWe also get into the realities of building a brick-and-mortar business, including lessons around site selection, customer retention, community-driven marketing, and the surprising acquisition channels they tested to help them grow. Courtney and Slava share how they learned to stop trying to serve every pet owner, focus on their ideal customer, and transform retail from a transaction into an ongoing relationship.\nIf you’ve ever wondered how to test a physical retail store in a crowded market, this episode is for you.\n\nTakeaways\n\nDifferentiate by owning a niche, not by competing on price - Puptqe succeeded by becoming a destination for dog experiences and hospitality instead of trying to out-discount larger pet retailers.\nMake the experience the product; sales will follow - Customers come for the events, community, and memories, which naturally drives purchases and loyalty.\nStop marketing to everyone and focus on your ideal customer - Growth accelerated once they identified who their best customers were and tailored their offerings around them.\nRetention matters more than acquisition - Long-term success came from creating reasons for customers to return again and again, not just making the first sale.\nCommunity and word-of-mouth outperform paid advertising - Loyal...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/hRAQ0Cvexq2Nhl7H1KPLfxWZ14skSKkH4xG8JMRnoOM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzUwMDU0LzE3MDg3/MTI0NTQtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}