It's almost inconceivable that a brand with as many stores as PetSmart could be on the brink of collapse, but it's close. Many of us think of PetSmart the moment we need to go out and buy anything pet related, so what's the problem? We'll answer that for you; it's debt. As with so many other firms, PetSmart's debt has slowly built up to the point where it's become an issue. It currently stands at $8bn.
Although many of the debts don't need to be repaid until 2022 at the earliest, PetSmart currently lacks ideas as to how they might meet those repayments. They've called in specialist advisers to assist with restructuring the company, and also stepped further into the online marketplace as a response. Deciding the quickest route to success was to buy an established brand and run it themselves, they acquired Chewy. We don't think the $3.35bn price tag will have helped much with their bottom line though; according to Reuters, it's the most anybody has paid for a website in history.