Buying an existing Pet Valu

Two kinds of resale in the filing

Pet Valu Holdings Ltd.’s Annual Information Form says applicants “may apply to an existing store opportunity – including a planned new store or a qualified resale of an existing corporate-owned store”. That is a store Pet Valu itself operates and sells to a franchisee. A second route is a franchisee selling to someone else, which the filing treats as a transfer. It says most owner-operator turnover, which it puts at approximately 3% a year between 2021 and 2025, was franchisee-to-franchisee transfers, and that existing franchisees accounted for approximately 70% of new or resale franchise store openings cumulatively from Fiscal 2023 to Fiscal 2025. Those are Pet Valu’s statements about its own network, not forecasts.

What a transfer involves

The filing says “the selling franchisee is charged a transfer fee equal to 25% of the Company’s then-current initial franchise fee”, which is the same percentage as the renewal fee, and that Pet Valu is “granted a right of first refusal under the franchise agreement in respect of any one or more bona fide written offers for a proposed transfer”. Because the amount of the initial franchise fee is not published, the dollar amount of the transfer fee cannot be worked out from the pages we read. See what a transfer fee is and ask whether the seller or the buyer bears it under the deal.

The buyer is screened and trained

The filing says that “prior to the completion of the transfer, the purchaser is subject to the same screening process as other franchise candidates and is required to successfully complete any training that may be required by the Company”. The screening it describes includes executive interviews, a credit check and a criminal background check, and a buyer must secure financing before entering the agreement. See who has to approve a franchise resale and does a resale require retraining? Ask how the right of first refusal would work on an offer you have accepted, and how long Pet Valu has to respond.

What the term and the lease mean for a buyer

The filing says that as of January 3, 2026 the average remaining franchise agreement term was approximately 4 years, on a typical 10-year term with two five-year successor terms available if conditions are met. A buyer should ask how many years remain on the specific store’s agreement and what renewal costs. It also says almost all Pet Valu, Bosley’s by Pet Valu and Paulmac’s Pets franchisees sublease their premises from Pet Valu or an affiliate and that a lease default is a default under the franchise agreement, so the sublease belongs in the diligence on any resale.

What Pet Valu’s franchise site says about “existing” stores

The “Costs & Criteria” text on Pet Valu’s franchise site says its price range varies with “whether it is brand new or existing location”, and does not break the range out by type. This page does not tell you whether a given location is new or existing: read the listing title, ask the advertiser, and note that Deavo’s card carries a badge when it is a franchisor’s new-location advertisement.

The listings on Deavo

All 16 are Pet Valu’s own advertisements for new locations, not stores that a franchisee is selling (listings on Nov 3, 2026, in Alberta (4), New Brunswick (4), British Columbia (3), Nova Scotia (2), Manitoba (1), Prince Edward Island (1) and Saskatchewan (1)). A price on such a card is not the asking price of a trading business; it is what the advertiser wrote, not a valuation. The franchisee you would buy from, if you buy a resale elsewhere, answers questions about the lease, the equipment and the sales history, not Deavo.

Disclosure on a resale

Whether a disclosure document is due on a resale depends on the province and on the exemptions in its statute; Ontario’s Arthur Wishart Act (Franchise Disclosure), 2000 has a section 5(7) exemption for a grant of a franchise by a franchisee that is not effected by or through the franchisor, and it has conditions. Because Pet Valu holds a right of first refusal and screens the purchaser, a franchise lawyer in the store’s province should say which applies before you sign. See what disclosure a resale buyer gets.