Chewy, Inc.
Explore Chewy
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Chewy, Inc.
Explore Chewy
Core profile pages, annual revenue records, and related research hubs for this company.
Company History
Founded 2011 in Plantation, Florida
The Connect with a Vet telehealth service, launched in 2020, provides 24/7 virtual veterinary consultations for a fee, creating a recurring services revenue stream and driving prescription capture. The Chewy+ membership program, launched in 2024, offers free shipping, exclusive discounts, and priority customer service for an annual fee — similar to Amazon Prime but pet-specific. MrChewy.com launched in 2011 from Dania Beach, Florida, a working-class suburb of Fort Lauderdale with no venture capital ecosystem, no tech talent pipeline, and no e-commerce infrastructure. Ryan Cohen and Michael Day launched MrChewy.com from Dania Beach, Florida with a simple premise: sell pet food online the way Zappos sold shoes — obsessive customer service, easy returns, reliable fulfillment.
Ryan Cohen is a Canadian-American entrepreneur and investor who founded Chewy in 2011 at age 25. Growing up in South Florida, Cohen learned entrepreneurship from his father, a glassware importer who taught him that the best decisions come from intuition. Cohen dropped out of college to build websites and run affiliate marketing businesses, meeting his future co-founder Michael Day in an internet chat room focused on programming. In 2011, Cohen and Day initially pursued an online jewelry business but pivoted to pet supplies after Cohen realized his personal passion for the category, inspired by his poodle Tylee and a trusted local pet store owner. They launched MrChewy.com from Dania Beach, Florida, with minimal capital and no venture backing. Cohen's leadership was defined by a fanatical commitment to customer service — he insisted on 24/7 phone support with real humans, sent handwritten notes to customers, and personally intervened in customer complaints. This service culture, while expensive, created loyalty that enabled Chewy to outspend competitors on customer acquisition while maintaining industry-leading retention. Revenue grew from $26 million in 2012 to $901 million in 2016. In 2017, Cohen negotiated the $3.35 billion sale to PetSmart, the largest e-commerce acquisition in history at that time. He stepped down as CEO in March 2018 and later built a reputation as an activist investor, acquiring stakes in GameStop, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Nordstrom. In 2023, he was named CEO of GameStop. Forbes estimates his net worth at $3.2 billion.
Michael Day co-founded Chewy with Ryan Cohen in 2011 and served as the company's Chief Technology Officer. Day met Cohen in an internet chat room as a teenager, bonding over shared interests in website design and programming. While Cohen focused on customer service, brand, and investor relations, Day built the technical infrastructure that enabled Chewy's explosive growth. He architected the e-commerce platform from scratch, designed the inventory management system that supported the transition from third-party logistics to in-house fulfillment, and developed the data pipeline that powered Chewy's personalization and Autoship algorithms. Day's technical decisions — including the choice to build custom systems rather than rely on off-the-shelf e-commerce platforms — gave Chewy flexibility and scalability that competitors lacked. He remained with the company through the PetSmart acquisition and IPO, though he maintained a lower public profile than Cohen. Day's engineering culture emphasized reliability, speed, and data-driven decision-making — principles that continue to shape Chewy's technology organization.
Ryan Cohen and Michael Day founded Chewy as an online pet retailer.
PetSmart acquired Chewy, giving the company scale and retail backing.
Chewy became a public company.
Chewy opened and operated veterinary clinics, extending the brand into pet healthcare.
Chewy reported $12.6015 billion in fiscal 2025 net sales for the year ended February 1, 2026.
In April 2026, Chewy announced the acquisition of Modern Animal, a technology-forward veterinary platform with 29 owned clinics across the United States, primarily concentrated in California. The acquisition accelerates Chewy's evolution from a pet product retailer into a fully integrated pet healthcare ecosystem. Modern Animal brings a modern technology stack, a membership-based veterinary care model, and a customer base of premium pet owners who align with Chewy's demographic. The deal expands Chewy Vet Care from 18 to 47 locations and adds over $125 million in annualized run-rate revenue.
While technically an acquisition of Chewy by PetSmart rather than by Chewy, the $3.35 billion cash transaction in April 2017 was the defining corporate event in Chewy's history. PetSmart, owned by private equity firm BC Partners, acquired Chewy to secure a high-growth digital asset that could offset declining brick-and-mortar traffic. The deal provided Chewy with the capital to complete its national fulfillment network and fund customer acquisition at scale.
Chewy traces its origins to 2011, with Ryan Cohen and Michael Day tied to the founding story.
Autoship repeat ordering turned Chewy from a pet e-commerce store into a recurring-revenue retail habit.
Chewy expanded by building pet food, treats, toys, supplies, pharmacy, insurance, private brands, and autoship subscriptions, serving pet owners, pet parents, veterinarians, shelters, and online retail shoppers, and using autoship loyalty, pet health, private brands, advertising, fulfillment efficiency, and customer service.
This Chewy history page covers founding, growth milestones, leadership changes, and modern strategic context.