If you had a pet anytime from the ‘80s to the 2010s, there’s a good chance you’ve seen Drs. Foster and Smith somewhere. You might have flipped through one of those thick catalogs or bought flea meds from their site. For decades, this company was a mainstay for people looking for anything from aquarium filters to prescription pet food.
But, as of February 2019, Drs. Foster and Smith officially went out of business. If that’s news to you, or you’re wondering what actually happened, here’s the full rundown.
The Early Days: From a Vet Clinic to a Mail-Order Giant
Drs. Foster and Smith was started way back in 1983 by three veterinarians: Drs. Race Foster, Marty Smith, and Rory Foster. The business began in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, which is a pretty quiet town about four hours north of Milwaukee. At the time, pet supplies were mostly bought at local stores or vet clinics, and the idea of mail-order pet products was unusual, maybe even a little risky.
In its first year, Drs. Foster and Smith had just two employees and barely $30,000 in sales. That’s not much, but the people running the show really knew pets, and they started sending out catalogs packed with practical advice written by actual vets—not marketing fluff.
The gamble paid off. The business expanded fast, thanks to an approach that mixed knowledgeable customer service with a surprisingly large product selection. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, you could find Drs. Foster and Smith catalogs in just about every mailbox of dedicated pet owners. In 2008, their annual sales topped $250 million, making them one of the largest pet supply retailers in the country.
Breaking New Ground: The Online Pet Supply Scene
As the internet started to change shopping habits, Drs. Foster and Smith adapted early. They were one of the first major pet retailers online, with a website that looked basic now but felt innovative back then.
They didn’t just sell dog food or fish filters, either. The company offered prescription medications, specialty diets, and even a huge range of aquarium supplies. That attention to niches built a loyal customer base, especially among pet owners who struggled to find certain products locally.
The Petco Takeover: What Changed?
By 2015, the retail pet space was looking a lot different. Online competitors like Chewy and Amazon were growing fast. That year, Petco Animal Supplies, Inc., a major chain, bought Drs. Foster and Smith. According to Petco, the plan at the time was to keep Drs. Foster and Smith running as a separate division, taking advantage of their loyal customers and deep expertise.
Petco said they’d use the Rhinelander facilities as a base for their veterinary and pharmacy services, hoping to boost their online business overall. From the outside, it looked like Petco wanted the know-how of Drs. Foster and Smith, plus their digital infrastructure, to keep up in a changing market.
The Shut Down: Announcement and Closure Details
Fast forward to January 2019, when Drs. Foster and Smith customers got an email nobody wanted to see. Petco announced that Drs. Foster and Smith would close up shop for good in just a few weeks.
The email said orders would be fulfilled up to February 12, 2019. After that, the main Rhinelander campus and warehouses—once a bustling hub for 250+ employees—would go quiet. Petco also said the pharmacy, warehouse, call center, and all related operations would shut their doors.
Depending on various reports, anywhere from 289 to nearly 500 people lost their jobs. For a mid-sized Wisconsin town, that’s a hard hit. Some folks had worked there for decades.
The Hit to the Rhinelander Community
Rhinelander is small. Drs. Foster and Smith was one of the area’s biggest employers outside the local paper mill and hospital. The shutdown was tough for a lot of families, and the local economy felt the loss right away.
Several employees said the company was more like a family. Many had been there since the ’80s and ‘90s. Local officials tried to help with job fairs and support, but it was a tough adjustment. The buildings that housed the warehouse, call center, and headquarters sat mostly empty by spring 2019.
Why Did Petco Shut Down Drs. Foster and Smith?
Petco’s public statement was pretty typical for situations like this. They said: “This was a difficult but necessary decision,” and pointed to a need to “streamline operations” and focus on their core business.
But there’s more to the story than just PR language. The retail market for pet supplies shifted fast—Chewy, Amazon, and other big online retailers were fierce competition. Petco had to look for ways to be more efficient.
There’s another angle too. By then, Petco had built a partnership with Express Scripts, the pharmacy benefit manager. Since Drs. Foster and Smith was best known for their pet pharmacy, some of those services were now redundant under Petco’s new set-up.
On top of that, pet owner habits were changing. More people wanted subscription shipping, easy mobile ordering, same-day delivery, or to walk into a Petco store on their way home. Running a separate, stand-alone e-commerce business was expensive and maybe didn’t fit Petco’s new strategies.
What Happened After Drs. Foster and Smith Closed?
Once the February 12, 2019, deadline passed, things moved quickly. The website for Drs. Foster and Smith redirected to Petco.com, and over the next few months, the Rhinelander campus and all facilities closed down.
Former customers could keep shopping at Petco’s website, but a lot of people missed the educational content and the personal touch they got from the old company. Some of those guides and care sheets, written by actual vets, quietly disappeared.
At the time, several online forums lit up with people sharing memories or looking for alternatives, especially for specialty items that were harder to find elsewhere. Eventually, the Rhinelander buildings emptied out, with some getting repurposed locally—but the era of the classic catalog business was over.
What About LiveAquaria.com?
If you shopped for exotic fish or coral, you probably know the name LiveAquaria.com. This division specialized in live aquatic animals, serving an audience that’s particular about what they buy and where it comes from.
Interestingly, while the main Drs. Foster and Smith operations shut down, LiveAquaria.com continued to operate. Petco decided to keep this brand alive—probably because LiveAquaria served a unique and passionate customer base that was tough to replicate elsewhere.
LiveAquaria kept running independently for a while, shipping out fish, plants, and aquarium supplies much like before. There were some changes in ownership and process, but fans of the brand didn’t lose access—at least, not right away.
The Big Picture: Changing Times for Pet Retailers
If you zoom out a bit, Drs. Foster and Smith’s closure is part of a broader story about how retail changed in the 21st century. For decades, catalog shopping and direct-to-customer brands were huge, but today it’s mostly about online giants and instant convenience.
Companies like Amazon and Chewy have changed what people expect from shopping online: fast shipping, huge inventories, and sophisticated, AI-powered customer service. Smaller, niche players—even those as successful as Drs. Foster and Smith—face an uphill battle keeping up.
It’s not just pet supplies; you can see similar patterns in bookstores, toy retailers, office supplies, and more. Brands anchored in personal expertise and customer loyalty face hard choices when scale and logistics become crucial.
There’s a good write-up about business transitions and closures like this one over at Business Republic Mag, if you want to see how these kinds of stories play out across different industries.
As retail keeps changing, maybe that’s the piece more companies will want to bring back, even if the catalog days are over for good.
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