Megaworld partners with Vets in Practice

TOWNSHIP giant Megaworld Corp. is tying up with one of the country’s biggest veterinary groups to set up pet clinics across its townships.

Megaworld senior vice-president for commercial division Kevin Tan said the company is partnering with Vets in Practice PH for the rollout of more pet clinics.

“We are trying to see how we can work with them or … roll out pet clinics all over our townships,” Tan said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting on Friday.

“All of our townships do have a mix of grooming services and other pet- related retail services as well, and we have been pet-friendly for the last 20 years already, so this pretty much is a trademark of our lifestyle malls in our various townships,” he added.

Vets in Practice PH offers vaccinations, pet wellness programs, parasite control and prevention, pet nutrition, pet management, dental care, and pet therapy, among others.

It currently has six branches located in Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Muntinlupa, Pasig City, and Pasay and has recently set up a new branch in McKinley West in Taguig City.

Asked to comment on the recent foray of the Gokongwei group into the pet grooming services business, Tan said: “I think it’s a good opportunity for us because we also work with those groups and they are also our retail partners. As you know we don’t have our own retail outlets. We are basically just developers, but we do work a lot with the SM Group and the Robinsons Group and we have a very strong partnership with them.”

Lat month, the Gokongwei group, through subsidiary Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. announced it was entering the pet care business through a partnership with Singaporean firm Pet Lovers Centre. The first branch will open at the Robinsons Galleria by the third quarter of the year.

The SM Group already operates pet care retailing through its brand Pet Express.