GERMANY. Dogs need owners, cats need staff and people need accessories for their beloved four-legged friends.
That’s the pet-friendly proposition behind the opening of a MyFamily store at Düsseldorf Airport.
The store, Italian company MyFamily’s first in Germany, offers a wide array of pet accessories, including identification tags that can be instantly personalised by engraving, as well as exclusive collars, leashes and harnesses.
MyFamily, launched by Alessandro Borgese in Valenza, Piedmont in 2010, creates individual fashion for pets designed to fit into the lifestyle of their human co-habitants.
Around 160 specialised craftsmen and designers work for MyFamily at the Valenza production centre, carrying out every detail by hand.
Personalised pooches
In the early days of the company, the animal accessories proved popular but consumer reaction to the concept of design ID tags was muted due to the need to wait several days for the engraving, according to Store manager Giorgia Michel Censoni.
That hindrance was solved when Borgese chose to create a made in Italy, user-friendly automatic engraving machine for on-site personalisation in less than two minutes, done by the consumer.
The machine, called Techla, provides an immediate sense of achievement and a unique shopping experience, MyFamily says. Around 700 ID tag designs are available.
These, including the transparent packaging sleeve, are inserted into the engraving machine. Consumers can enter several lines of text, including name, phone number and more.
Another feature is MyFamily-memopet, a system whereby a collar, leash or harness provides a digital daily diary with a pet’s habits through the dedicated app via NFC (near-field communication).
Italian style and quality craftsmanship abounds in the premium line of accessories for everyday walks, created in different materials and textures.
The MyFamily shop at Düsseldorf Airport is open daily from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. in front of the boarding pass control to Pier B {look out for our follow-up story coming soon). ✈
Pawnote: The Moodie Davitt Report publishes the Pet-sonality Profile column, in association with Tito’s Handmade Vodka. In this regular fun feature, we discover more about travel retail pet-sonalities, their back stories, traits and habits, as well as offering some insights into their owners. Each pet-sonality is also painted digitally by pets and equine artist Sami Moodie.
