This is the first article in the three part series Bad Economy!, an in-depth exposé on how the recession is impacting Chicagoland businesses.
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Economic woes in the Chicago area continue to threaten small businesses. Tricia Sachs, a Plainfield Township owner of Pet-o-Philia pet supply store was saddened with the realization that after six months, she will have to shut its doors. With her initial investors pulling out soon after the signs went up and now with almost zero cash flow, she has yet to find a reliable customer base.
“Sure we have pet food and supplies at great prices, but here at Pet-o-Philia, we hoped to really connect with pet lovers in Plainfield, especially the children,” Sachs said.
Sachs conceded that at first her shop got a great deal of attention, but mostly from trench coat wearing loaners who would wander into her shop. Sachs says they would poke their head into the store, look around for a moment, and with a disappointed shrug “they’d leave and drive off in their windowless van. It always seemed to be a van for some reason.”
And then came the protesters, with their signs saying they didn’t want the store in their neighborhood. “They didn’t even spell our store name right,” Sachs said. “Weird. It’s like they don’t love pets or something.”
Despite a vigorous campaign of print and radio ads with the tag line “Alert Your Friends and Family, Grab the Kids, Now There’s Pet-o-Philia in Your Neighborhood!”, business somehow remained slow.
Wondering if America has lost its love affair with its four-legged friends, Sachs found that she had a tough time making connections within the community.
“We had jerseys made and hoped to sponsor softball teams,” Sachs said. “I mean, what better way is there to advertise than to have men walking around the park with ‘I’m Into Pet-o-Philia!’ on their back? We thought it was a great idea, but no one was interested.”
Not only were the softball teams not willing to be known as Pet-o-Philes, Sachs says that she never got return calls from the local little league and kids soccer teams, which have been hurting for sponsorships due to the sagging economy.
“We’d take our van down to the county fair and local playgrounds and try to hand out candy and coupons to kids but parents would grab their children and walk away,” Sachs said. “They are very health conscious around here, apparently.”
Sachs said their other marketing efforts to distribute “My Grandpa’s a Pet-o-Phile” T-shirts and ”Pet-o-Phile On Board” bumper stickers also failed to generate any positive interest.
“I’m really sad for the children,” said Sachs, who attributes sagging sales to the economy and what appears to be an apparent lack of interest in pets. “What’s the world coming to when kids aren’t growing up surrounded by animals and the pet-o-philes that love them?”
JB Goodbody frequently has thoughts in his head that makes him smile. Were they made public at the moment they poofed into existence, without some form of structured outlet such as satire, these thoughts would cause significant distress among his friends, family and coworkers. This is why he is here. 
