Business View Magazine
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es, based on those results,” Pickett says. For 11 years
running, Wild Birds Unlimited has ranked in FBR’s Top
10 of all franchises, and, most recently, the company
ranked No. 8 overall and No. 1 in the Retail category
on FRB’s 2016 Franchisee Satisfaction Awards Top
200 Franchises list.
Maintaining the Wild Birds Unlimited brand is also
an important part of the company’s ethos. Pickett re-
ports that it works with vendors all across the U.S. and
Canada to develop products to provide to its franchi-
sees. “We are not in distribution; our franchisees work
directly with the vendors,” he states. “But we work
with the vendors to develop private-label, patented
products that are only available in Wild Bird Unlimited
stores. Our franchisees also order and sell products
that are not private-label and have the ability to have
a local supplier, as long as it meets our specifications.
We have very specific expectations and we have an
array of approved suppliers that is so comprehensive
that it is very rare that a sale would come from a non-
approved vendor. But we do allow it as long as it main-
tains the quality expectations and, of course, is appro-
priate for the brand.”
