Concord Pet started in 1978 out of a trailer at Larry’s Mobile. Originally the Mutschler Family was looking for a way to feed the family horses. In 1981 Larry Mutschler opened his first retail location on Concord Pike in Wilmington. There was only one employee in a 1,000-square-foot building. Originally Larry had two partners — his brother and a good friend. The company grew to nine locations by 1998.

Today Larry solely owns the company and has grown to 30 locations from Princeton, New Jersey, to Salisbury, Maryland. He was born and raised in Wilmington, just like Concord Pet. Larry Sr. and Larry Jr. are in every store each week to mark sure the principles of family, the love of pets, and customer services are being followed. Most of its managers have
been with Concord for more than 10 years with the longest being a manager for 30 years.

Concord has allowed each store to be unique since Day 1. Managers and employees have the autonomy to make decisions in their store with customers as well as which products to carry. They attend monthly manager meetings where they are given clear goals and strategies for upcoming months and quarters.

All family members started working at the store level. They understand all the nuances of day-to-day operations at the store level. As major decisions need to be made, Larry Sr. (owner), Larry Jr. (chief operating officer), and Lindsay (chief financial officer) get together to decide the best course of action — and sometimes they request input from longtime managers.

Concord’s goal is to be seen as leaders in the pet community around each store, offering low-cost vaccination events, adoption events, and food drives for local shelters. Concord has long supported animal nonprofits of all sizes. It also feeds most of the police K9 units in Delaware including New Castle County, New Castle City, Wilmington and many more.

Headquarters:
Wilmington

Founded:
1981

Industry:
Retail

Full-time employees:
101-plus

Family members:
3

Website:
concordpetfoods.com

Fun fact:
Concord Pet’s first location was a 1,000-square-foot shed with no heat and no bathroom.