Petsmart

In an effort to increase the number of pet adoptions in the West Valley Animal Shelter, the City Council's Public Safety Committee gave initial approval Monday to a partnership with a retail store to help in the adoption of dogs and cats. PetSmart, a nationwide pet supply store, does not carry animals bred for sale in any of its 300 stores, but most have animals from shelters and rescue groups available for adoption through its Luv-A-Pet program.

In an effort to increase the number of animal adoptions, the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services has teamed up with a Reseda pet supply store to open a seven-day-a-week shelter. As part of PetsMart's Luv-a-Pet program, the animal services department will operate the adoption center daily at the Reseda store, said Dan Knapp, general manager of the animal services department. Dogs and cats will be available for adoption from 3 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Three months ago, staring at a big vacancy in the city's major shopping center and with a national pet supplies chain talking about coming to town, Lancaster officials decided to offer a public-money subsidy to close the deal--and it worked. After the city offered the Phoenix-based PetsMart chain a redevelopment subsidy of up to $187,500 spread over 7 1/2 years, the company picked Lancaster for its new outlet. So the city gets a new business, new jobs and a big new sales tax generator.

Retailer Petco Animal Supplies Inc. on Thursday posted a profit in the third quarter, boosted by higher sales at stores open at least a year, contrasted with a loss a year ago when it had expenses related to its initial public offering and debt. Petco, the No. 2 U.S. pet supply specialty retailer after Petsmart Inc., posted net income of $12 million, or 21 cents a share, contrasted with a loss of $17.7 million, or 46 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, earnings per share rose 75%.

Automation ? long a force in agriculture and manufacturing ? is accelerating in the retail sector, a trend that could hamper efforts to bring down the nation's stubbornly high jobless rate. In an industry that employs nearly 1 in 10 Americans and has long been a reliable job generator, companies increasingly are looking to peddle more products with fewer employees. Shipping and warehousing workers are being replaced by robots that can process packages more efficiently than humans.

"The Kriegers have not been able to successfully implement Cesar's technique." There it is in black and white for all to see, on page 299 of the Dog Whisperer's "Ultimate Episode Guide." The sad truth. Our episode (titled "Raw Cotton") first aired more than two years ago. To this day, whenever I see a rerun, I cringe at the closing scene: me, boasting about Cesar Millan's method being "idiot simple." Apparently, not simple enough for this idiot.

Pasadena-based Petsmart.com withdrew its planned initial public stock offering Thursday, citing unfavorable market conditions. The online retailer originally filed for the $115-million stock sale in February when there was stronger demand for Internet stocks. Investors have been shunning Internet companies since April. Phoenix-based Petsmart (ticker symbol: PETM), a retail chain that owns 48% of Petsmart.com, said last month it would increase its stake to 81% in exchange for $30 million.

Petsmart Inc. said second-quarter earnings rose more than sevenfold. The biggest U.S. retailer of pet supplies also increased its full-year profit forecast as demand for services such as grooming climbed. Net income surged to $21.5 million, or 15 cents a share, from $2.8 million, or 2 cents, a year earlier. Sales rose 12% to $651.5 million in the three months ended Aug. 4. Petsmart shares rose 39 cents to $16.25 on Nasdaq.

* Petsmart.com, a Pasadena-based online pet supply site, has appointed Gary Marcotte chief financial officer. Marcotte comes from Walt Disney Co., where he served as chief financial officer and vice president of Disney Regional Entertainment. Petsmart.com is a privately held company that has a strategic alliance with pet store retailer Petsmart Inc. * Michael Peevey, founder and chairman of NewEnergy, has resigned from the company. Los Angeles-based NewEnergy, a division of AES Corp.

WASHINGTON - The man who shot Ronald Reagan and three other men in 1981 has been behaving normally when he leaves the mental hospital in Washington, D.C., where he is being treated, according to Secret Service observations in newly released court documents. John Hinckley Jr., 57, shops at Wal-Mart, Target and PetSmart during visits to his mother's home in Williamsburg, Va. One of his first stops is often a Wendy's. At home with his mother, he performs lots of chores, plays guitar and makes art. He shows few of the symptoms that led to the 1982 finding that he was insane, and therefore not guilty of attempted murder and other charges in the assassination attempt.