Shurepets Review and History

Shurepets no longer appears to be active as a direct sales company.

Original Npros business profile for Shurepets, preserved below for archival purposes:

Shure Pets was a Chicago-based direct-selling company founded by Andrew Shure in 2002 and officially launched in September 2003. The company specialized exclusively in pet products and built its sales organization around independent representatives called Pet Consultants. Rather than competing primarily through pet stores, Shure Pets used home parties, catalogs, consultant websites, and person-to-person sales to reach pet owners. The surepets.com domain was also used in connection with the business and redirected visitors to the company's primary shurepets.com website.

Shure Pets was one of the early companies to apply the home-party model specifically to the pet industry. Its events were commonly described as Pet Parties or "Pupperware" parties, with customers gathering in homes to see and purchase products for their animals. The concept received national media attention during the mid-2000s as spending on pets increased and specialty pet products became a larger consumer category.

The company offered products for dogs, cats, birds, rabbits, ferrets, horses, and their owners. Its catalog grew from just 27 products at launch to more than 200 products by 2005 and eventually approached 300 items. The assortment included grooming and health products, treats, toys, pet beds, apparel, car seats, strollers, pet fragrances, accessories, and gifts for pet owners. Some of its grooming, health, and beauty products were proprietary to the company.

Shure Pets expanded quickly during its early years. The company reported nearly 900 consultants nationwide in 2005. By 2006 it had more than 1,300 Pet Consultants, and by 2010 company promotional materials stated that more than 2,000 consultants were operating across all 50 states. Entrepreneur reported that Shure projected approximately $1 million in company sales for 2006.

Pet Consultants earned a retail margin on products they personally sold and could also earn commissions from consultants they recruited, making Shure Pets a multilevel direct-selling program rather than simply a single-level home-party business. Historical compensation materials listed a retail profit of approximately 25% to 27%. Consultants could earn roughly 3% to 5% on commissionable sales generated by personally recruited consultants, 2% to 4% from second-generation consultants, and approximately 2% to 3% from third- and fourth-generation sales.

The company promoted a relatively low-cost entry into the business. One commonly advertised "New Puppy on the Block" starter kit sold for $99 and contained sample products, sales literature, training materials, and other supplies needed to begin holding parties. Consultants were not assigned exclusive territories or quotas and could conduct home parties, catalog parties, online parties, fundraisers, and direct customer sales.

Shure Pets also formed partnerships with other pet-service companies. In 2006, for example, it entered into an arrangement with Pets Best Insurance that allowed its consultant network and customers to obtain pet-insurance benefits through the Shure Pets organization. At the time, Pets Best reported that Shure Pets had more than 1,300 independent Pet Consultants.

A significant legal matter involving Shure Pets occurred in 2010. Reshare Commerce LLC sued Shure Pets and several other direct-selling companies in federal court for alleged infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,594,641, which covered an internet purchasing and profit-sharing system. Shure Pets did not respond to the litigation, and the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota entered a default judgment against the company on December 21, 2010. The court awarded Reshare $98,000 in damages, plus prejudgment and post-judgment interest, imposed a 2.5% royalty on future infringing sales, and entered an injunction prohibiting further infringement. The case concerned patent rights rather than the legality of Shure Pets' MLM compensation plan.