Pets At Home Riverside
Most pet owners will be familiar with the pet superstore chain called Pets At Home. Here is Northampton we actually have two branches of this well known store. The focus of this article is Pets At Home Riverside but as is the case with large chain stores, much of what I say could apply equally to other branches of Pets At Home. The other Northampton branch is known as Pets At Home Nene Valley.
Location & Opening Hours
There are a number of reasons branches of Pets At Home tend to be popular with customers. A few of these reasons include:
- Located on large retail parks with free parking.
- Long opening hours.
- Large store with wide product range.
- Additional online option with click and collect.
Pets At Home Riverside certainly meets these criteria. The address of this branch is:
Pets At Home
Riverside Retail Park
Fairground Way
Northampton
NN3 9HU
The listed opening hours are:
Monday 09:00 – 20:00
Tuesday 09:00 – 20:00
Wednesday 09:00 – 20:00
Thursday 09:00 – 20:00
Friday 09:00 – 20:00
Saturday 09:00 – 19:00
Sunday 10:30 – 16:30
These relatively long opening hours appeal to busy people. Even those who work full time will be able to visit outside of working hours. Please note that these opening hours are often changed for bank holidays and for the lead up to Christmas. Indeed with only days to go until Christmas they are showing slightly extended opening hours on Google, opening at 08:00 and closing at 21:00.
Items Stocked
As mentioned before large stores like this are able to stock a wide range of products. They don’t only appeal to cat and dog owners. They have sections of the store set aside with products for small animals (rabbits, hamsters and the like), fish (including tropical fish) and reptiles. Whether it’s food, treats, cages and bedding, leads and harnesses or medications there is pretty much every pet product most owners could want. As an example regarding dog and cat food there are a wide variety of brands stocked to suit different budgets. They even have a small selection of raw dog food but most fans of raw dog food are likely to shop at a specialist who offers an even greater selection.
Vets4Pets & The Groom Room
Another thing that Pets At Home Riverside has in common with many other Pets At Home branches is the fact that the store also contains a branch of Vets4Pets as well as a Groom Room.
Vets4Pets Riverside
Whilst this Vets4Pets is located within the Pets At Home store it should be noted that they actually list slightly different opening hours. The hours are actually the same in the week between Monday and Friday but differ at weekends. They list their hours as follows:
Monday 09:00 – 20:00
Tuesday 09:00 – 20:00
Wednesday 09:00 – 20:00
Thursday 09:00 – 20:00
Friday 09:00 – 20:00
Saturday 09:00 – 14:00
Sunday Closed
For out of hours consultations and emergencies they list the details of the Vets4Pets Hospital branch at Beckett Retail Park NN5 5JW. Ironically this is the vet I’m registered with. They moved a short distance from St James earlier in 2022.
In terms of the Vets4Pets Riverside branch they seem to offer fairly comprehensive care. Their website states that they have an operating theatre, X-Ray and laboratory where they can run blood tests. In terms of the cost of pet care they do offer a Vac4Life Health Plan where for a one time fee of £99.00 all annual booster vaccinations are included for the life of your pet. It should be noted however that you cannot transfer this plan to another Vets4Pets branch so if you plan to move house it may not look like such great value.
The Groom Room
Also contained within Pets At Home Riverside is a branch of The Groom Room. They too are likely to have slightly different opening hours, though they are likely to follow the Pets At Home more closely than the Vets4Pets. This being Christmas week I did not want to list the stated opening hours as I feel they do not represent the opening hours you can expect for the majority of the year. The opening hours however are likely to be longer than most dog groomers in Northampton and it appears that they are open 7 days a week for much of the year.
In terms of the quality of the grooming, reviews seem varied but largely positive. With larger operations like this that employ a number of groomers it may not always be possible to book the same person. I know some owners who like to have the same person they trust to groom their dog. For this reason small independent dog groomers probably do not feel as threatened by a huge chain like this as small independent pet shops do by the Pets At Home stores.
Pets At Home Riverside – Summary
Without doubt Pets At Home is the most well known pet shop chain we have in the UK. The pet industry is huge in this country and Pets At Home has targeted this market very well by offering products and services in a large number of locations across the UK, as well as offering an online option too. Having a VIP card that operates much like a store discount card is just another way of trying to keep customers loyal to using them.
There is still a place for the small independent who can specialise or offer a more personal service. However at a time when more and more transactions take place online and high streets are struggling, it can’t be easy for a small pet shop to compete when you have a Pets At Home branch in the same town. Feel free to leave a comment with your experience of Pets At Home Riverside. Alternatively if you are looking for alternative pet shops in Northampton you might like to read some of our other blog posts as follows:
