Michael and Andrea Harris, pictured with dog Marco, lead Pet Passages and are working to expand the brand via franchising.
This article is part of “Where Are They Now?”—an ongoing series in which Franchise Times reporters Megan Glenn and Emilee Wentland catch up with emerging brands.
Any pet owner can tell you their animal is never just a pet; they’re family. Just ask Andrea Harris and her husband, Michael.
“My husband is definitely an over-the-top pet parent,” said Harris, vice president of Pet Passages. “I say to him all the time, jokingly, one day you’ll love me as much as the dog.”
A franchise dedicated to end-of-life pet care, Pet Passages signed a handful of new franchisees since Franchise Times last spoke to Harris.
Growth didn’t go how Harris initially expected in the early years. Considering Pet Passages is a brand that most don’t think about until the end of an animal’s life, marketing is a bit of a challenge. So the first idea was the simplest: Work with veterinarians.
“I probably visited about 120 vet offices in my area for the first three months,” said Harris. “I was devastated that out of that 120, only four would even speak to me, so I wasn’t prepared for that.”
Thankfully for Harris, client need mitigated the lack of early vet partnerships. The brand’s growth source was its internet presence. Organic growth began to snowball as more units opened and franchisees came on board.
Michael Harris created the brand in 2009 after his dogs passed and he was in search of a way to bring peace to himself and others who are saying goodbye to their furry friends. A funeral director, Harris was familiar with what memorials offered, but he couldn’t find a similar concept when it came to his dogs. So, he made a concept to bring closure not just to himself, but to others like him.
During research, he found there was little to no regulation for pet cremation, which led to problems for clients in more ways than one. Pets were cremated with others and ashes were mixed, for example. He wanted to provide a guaranteed environment and experience for grieving owners, just like a funeral home for humans would.
At 21 units across 12 states, the brand began its franchising efforts in 2016 and sold its first franchise the following year. Units feature rainbow bridge rooms for families to say goodbye in a comfortable environment. Pet Passages offers cremation services and bereavement support to help clients through grief.
Opening a unit requires $45,500 to $418,000 and, while the franchise disclosure document didn’t list unit volume, Andrea Harris said franchisees see a return on investment within 18 months on average.
Pet Passages signed a contract with Vertical Vets, an organization that networks with more than 2,200 independent vets across the country. Pet Passages is slated to be the exclusive provider of cremation services. Traveling vets in the network will be able to euthanize on-site to reduce pet and family stress.
“Honestly, most pets don’t like to go to the vet office,” said Harris. “This gives them an alternative that’s just much warmer, more peaceful, comfortable.”
This is a huge boon for the brand, even if it presents its own set of challenges.
For one, Pet Passages doesn’t have the capacity to service 2,200 vets yet, so the focus now is getting into the markets where those vets are. The added bonus is almost immediate business in any of those markets.
Current franchise growth is mostly organic, Harris said. She’s noticed two common stories among franchisees: Either they experienced the loss of a pet and had a bad experience with postmortem care, or they were looking for a way out of their corporate jobs and seeking something with more purpose. Franchisees take a two-week training program to prepare them for owning a Pet Passages and learn how to care for grieving clients.
“It’s the worst situation to see them suffer, to have to say goodbye and they can’t communicate,” said Harris. “You want to just make sure that, wherever you’re bringing your pet, they’re going to be treated with respect and dignity.”