Trip Style

Cobasi, essential for your pet, home and garden

The market leader of pet shops and megastores for animals is our lovemark of this edition

By Sut-Mie Guibert

We already know that our pets are part of the family, but it has not always been so. This is a recent concept: today we have increasingly more services directed towards the growing pet market, including megastores, which can be larger than some of the “human” stores. Cobasi, a chain of stores for pets, is the leader in this market and a family brand that has everything to do with the Family Trip Magazine.

Cobasi was created by the Nassar family. Rame Nassar, who already worked in trade, opened the first Cobasi store for his sons João, Paulo and Ricardo, to work in the retail area. It all started with as a gift from a father to his children and today the brand is still run by the 3 brothers.

The 300m2 shed launched in October 1985 in Vila Leopoldina in São Paulo essentially sold agricultural items, agricultural products such as feed, seeds, fertilizers, fertilizers… But the financial crisis of the 80s with price freezes and currency exchanges forced family thinking about new horizons. That’s how, upon returning from a trip to the United States, where the pet market was already more developed, one of the brothers had the idea of developing the concept for pets here. Thus was born “Cobasi your animal’s shopping“, completely redirecting the offer of products for collars, beds, imported feed, veterinary pharmacy but also items for the home and garden. The name of the brand comes from the abbreviation of the company’s corporate name: Comercio de Produtos Basicos e Industriais.

The new turn worked very well, because, effectively, the wave that was already happening abroad also arrived in Brazil, bringing pets into the home and family, a care center as another beloved member. The market and concepts have developed and today we even have niche brands such as specific feed for different breeds.

Cobasi also survived the restrictions of the health crisis experienced during the pandemic. The stores in the shopping malls had to close, but the stores in the street remained open, because they were considered as an essential service. E-commerce, which had already been prodigiously developed, exploded in size and new initiatives were introduced. These included online shopping and in-store pick-up and the creation of partnerships with other chains such as SPet, veterinary clinics and hospitals and grooming services. The physical stores are now fully integrated with the online stores, creating a large ecosystem of services for pets.

Today the brand has over 130 stores, is present in over 11 states, and has revenues of R$ 2 billion. The first 300 m2 warehouse still exists, but it is now over 11,000 m2!

Cobasi is not limited to stores where you can buy and sell. Today, it really wants to be part of the family and to be an environment where the customer can walk with their pet, discover new items and know that they will be welcomed. The brand has also developed events for adoption, donations and races… everything to integrate the community of pet owners.

According to the concept of the company itself, the main business of Cobasi is its affections; a place that provides so many encounters of employees, customers and pets. “We are the ones who supply the fun part of the home. Because a true home has life, it has love, it has people who take care of it.” The brand wants to inspire people to reconnect with their best nature. Today, from the usual slogan of a “store for your pet,” it has moved on to “Cobasi, essential for life”!

Also, Cobasi has two mascots, the dog COB and the cat ASI. Who knows, maybe one day they will meet up with Nick, the mascot of our Way Family. Did I or did I not say that Cobasi has everything to do with the Family Trip Magazine?