Some may find it surprising the Kahoots Feed & Pet Stores Founder Mike Bittinger was raised as an urbanite in San Diego. Yet his hankering for country life was the driving force behind his venture into selling hay, then bag feed, and ultimately a long line of pet care and animal food products.
Armed with an agriculture business degree from Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Bittinger has grown his stores to 22 outlets across Southern California with the help of co-owner Ethan Tunnell. Together, their success in retailing and of local animal rescue shelters have earned them the prestigious Small Business istration’s Small Businesspersons of the Year Award in San Diego for 2020.
Bittinger said he and Tunnell, who were notified of the honor a couple of weeks ago, were not expecting to be recognized. The accolade is another feather in their cap after they won the “Best Pet Store in San Diego Award” in the San Diego Reader’s Best of San Diego 2020 Poll.
“It was a pleasant surprise,” Bittinger said of the SBA award. “That’s been nice that we’ve received some recognition.”
Bittinger and Tunnell, who live nearby in the countryside between Ramona and Julian, decided to locate their headquarters in the 20,000-square-foot Ramona Kahoots Feet & Pet store at 2020 Main St. The original store opened in town 20 years ago near the corner of Main Street and state Route 78. The new store, with an upstairs office headquarters and adjacent hay loft, was built in 2018.
The SBA award was given, in part, to recognize the partners’ interest in ing animal welfare outside the retail space.
Locally, Kahoots helped provide food and toys for pets owned by homeless veterans as part of a North County Veterans Stand Down event held in Vista in February 2020. Bittinger said they have also donated products to Ramona Food & Clothes Closet for distribution to people in need.
“At every one of our stores we’ve encouraged managers and corporate staff to get involved locally,” he said. “We try to be a part of the solution so they can succeed at what they do.”
Small Business istration financing nurtured Kahoots’ growth, SBA officials said. The SBA provided the company with three 7a program loans through Wells Fargo Bank. Earlier this year, Kahoots used a $3.1 million SBA 504 loan via a partnership between Wells Fargo and CDC Small Business Finance, a nonprofit dedicated to economic development, community development and small-business finance, to fund the construction of a new, 22,000-square-foot store in Hesperia.
So how did a Bittinger turn his yearning for the backcountry into a prosperous business in the animal retail sector? It all started when he was working for an agriculture company in Texas after leaving college when he was about 19 years old. His job was to manage citrus and avocado groves for absentee landowners. As luck would have it, a freeze that year killed the crops, and without fruit to tend to, Bittinger was laid off.
He went to Ventura, spotted a trend in equestrian sports and an enthusiasm for horses, and realized there was a big demand for feed. Bittinger said he borrowed $1,000 for a truck from his dad and called a hay farmer and said, “If you bring me hay, I’ll sell it.” His first load of hay was delivered on July 4, 1987.
“I peddled hay by day and worked as a waiter at Denny’s by night,” he said.
After a year-and-a-half of selling hay, his venture became lucrative to the point he could quit Denny’s and still have just enough money to pay his rent and put food on the table.
“It was a slow, hard start,” Bittinger said of his nascent business. “I was young, single and I had no debt or responsibilities so I could just keep on going.”
He brought his childhood friend, Ethan Tunnell, aboard in 1989 just after Tunnell graduated from high school and was looking for a job. Tunnell also grew up in San Diego but he had been involved in Future Farmers of America as a youth. After a decade of overseeing a business that included an expansion into selling both hay and bag feed, the duo branched into selling pet food. By then the partners had opened their first Kahoots store in Moorpark, which is still a thriving enterprise.
Bittinger said he got the name of their stores from a diner he frequented while working on Texas ranches in his youth. The Cahoots diner had a Western flavor, with hardwood floors and homey decor.
“A lot of these things become a part of your experience and you fold it into life,” he said. “That was my inspiration. I changed the C to a K to be different and be unique. It’s a good name and people it because it’s unique.”
Bittinger and Tunnell initially sold familiar pet food brands out of their stores. But after listening to their customers, Bittinger said, they got motivated to produce their own brand that reflected their desire for quality ingredients. They enlisted the help of manufacturers who would make products to their specifications.
Kahoots packaged the products and introduced them in their stores. Their first line of Kahoots’ brand dog food was so well-received, Bittinger said, they extended their own brands of food for cats, birds and other sundry critters.
The food complements a wide assortment of pet toys and pet care items in addition to hay. About 80 percent of the stores also offer services such as animal vaccinations, teeth cleaning, wellness checkups and dog training.
When the coronavirus began to spread, the Kahoots stores suffered a downturn for a couple months, Bittinger said. But there’s been a resurgence in growth as people have been spending more time at home and with their pets.
The partners say they are proud to run a thriving business and plan to continue their growth trajectory.
“We’re a stable company and we do our best to be socially responsible,” Bittinger said. “We’re constantly working on looking for new locations. We’re a growth-minded company and we’re always looking for opportunities to find new stores.”
