Stamford-based pet retailer Choice Pet has closed a deal to provide the company with funding for its next phase of expansion. The $2.7 million funding comes from Petros Connecticut Fund I, an $18 million investment fund focused on supporting the growth of businesses in the state.
The funding will allow the 17-store chain to lower its cost of capital, add stores and remodel existing ones, expand marketing efforts and continue to develop its online offerings.
Petros operates under the state”™s Insurance Reinvestment Tax Credit Program, designed to encourage and assist in the creation, development and expansion of Connecticut businesses by providing them access to both capital and operational expertise.
Petros”™ parent company is Austin-based Petros Partners, an investment and advisory firm that specializes in raising capital by structuring and monetizing tax credits and deploys those funds in structured investments nationwide.
“Identifying and financing companies like Choice Pet is rarely straightforward,” said Jim Stanislaus, Petros Partners managing partner. “We work hard to make sure the managers of good companies like Choice Pet have the capital and flexibility they need to run the business in the way that is most conducive to their growth and potential.”
Founded in Norwalk in 1979, Choice Pet has several Fairfield County locations, including in Westport, Stamford, Greenwich, Monroe, Danbury, Fairfield and two in Norwalk. In New York’s Westchester and Putnam counties, it has stores in Carmel, Hartsdale, Scarsdale and Baldwin Place.
