Jim and Janice Dougherty conceived the idea of a chain of discount pet-food warehouses, and, with the initial financial backing of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation, incorporated under the name Pacific Coast Distributing in 1986.

[7][8][9] In 1987 they opened their first two superstores, in the Phoenix, Arizona area, under the name PetFood Warehouse, offering pet food in large quantities for low prices, a new concept at the time.

[9] Parker also redesigned stores to be more inviting, covering cement floors with tiles, widening and brightening aisles, and adding pet accessories and supplies.

[17][15] The infusion of capital allowed CEO Parker to expand aggressively across the country, and also to acquire regional and competing companies, in an effort to become the national leader in pet stores in an increasingly competitive market.

[13][29][18] Years of rapid expansion eventually exacerbated the company's lack of an adequate inventory infrastructure, resulting in heavy losses being reported in early in 1997.

[29][18][9] New CEO Francis, a supermarket-chain veteran,[30] emphasized employee training and customer service,[13] and smaller stores with improved and more attractive design.

[16] Under Francis's direction, in 1999 the company launched an ad campaign promoting PETsMART as a one-stop shop for pet products and services.

[49][16][9][50] In an attempt to bolster growth, the company adopted a new vision statement, "to provide Total Lifetime Care for every pet, every parent, every time.

[55][54][50][16] A new store format, including revamped signage and displays, easier navigation, and in-store pet training centers, accompanied the change in focus.

[56][64][65] The company's direct competitor is Petco, a nationwide big-box pet supplies retailer that was sold to private equity owners in 2006.

[63][66] In June 2009, Bob Moran, President and Chief Operating Officer of PetSmart, became CEO, succeeding Francis, who became executive chairman of the board until 2012.

[72] In a planned management succession, after four years at the helm of the company, Moran retired as CEO in June 2013 and was replaced by then President and COO David K.

[73][74] Although it continued to differentiate itself by stressing and broadening its in-store services such as boarding, grooming, dog training, and veterinary care,[59][11] by 2014, with the increasing competition from online e-tailers PetSmart's profits began to slide, prompting activist investors to call for a buy-out of the company beginning in mid 2014.

[75][76][77] The winner in the bidding war was a consortium of private equity investors led by BC Partners,[78][79][80] which completed a leveraged buyout of PetSmart for $8.7 billion in March 2015.

[81][83][84][85] Massey and BC Partners replaced seven senior PetSmart managers and a significant portion of VP-level employees, and reorganized the company for quick decision-making.

[80] Massey strategically shifted pricing, recalculated inventory shipping, reduced expenses, improved profit margins, and created a 30-person sourcing team in Asia for PetSmart's hard goods.

[80] This overhaul led to an initial increase in profitability,[80] followed by declining sales in PetSmart's brick-and-mortar stores due to online competition.

[86][87] To combat this PetSmart purchased the still-unprofitable yet popular pet e-commerce site Chewy as a largely independent subsidiary in May 2017 for $3.35 billion.

[104] At its startup in 1986, founders Jim and Janice Dougherty (there were no co-founders of PetSmart, aka Petfood Warehouse) led the company and its financial backers to success as a pet retail superstore.

Since 1989 the CEOs of the company have been: In January 2016, PETA released details of an investigation of Holmes Farm, a major supplier of live animals to Petsmart, Petco and Pet Supplies Plus, which highlighted abusive conditions at what is described as a complex of "filthy, windowless warehouses."

Over the span of roughly three months, PETA’s investigator found hundreds of dead animals at the complex, often in habitats which contained no drinking water.

[111][112] In February 2016, another PETA investigation discovered rampant abuse and neglect at Mack, an Ohio reptile mill and a supplier for Petsmart, including, among other things, frogs, lizards, turtles and other animals being "crammed into filthy, crowded plastic bins stacked into shelving units like old bank statements.

[117][118] Six sick or injured small animals – a guinea pig, mice, and hamsters[119] – were confiscated from the store and sent to a veterinary hospital after video and photos were presented by the PETA operative.

[120] In June 2018 PetSmart filed suit against the undercover employee, on the grounds that she failed to disclose on her job application that she was a paid PETA operative, took secret surveillance videos and photos, and withheld medical care from the animals in question, instead filming them to produce an exposé.

[121][122][123] In May 2019 PetSmart added PETA to the lawsuit as a defendant, describing it as a "militant, activist organization" that has "a long history of conducting unlawful, covert operations and infiltrations to eradicate pet ownership".

[121][needs update] In September 2018 NJ Advance Media published the results of a nine-month investigation documenting 47 cases across 14 states since 2008 in which families said their dog had died during or shortly after a grooming visit to PetSmart.

[124] In PetSmart's response it said "We reviewed the list of pet names that NJ Advance Media provided, and any assertion that there is a systemic problem is false and fabricated.