Focus on: Business Strategies Twenty years of steady growth and smart acquisitions have propelled Doctors Foster & Smith to the top spot among pet-supply catalogers.

By Reported Donna Loyle

Moreover, these two catalogers show no signs of slowing down, even in this difficult economy. If anything, business is booming for the Doctors Foster & Smith (DFS) catalog operation. One could even call this a lesson in survival of the fittest. This year, the company launched its own line of branded pet foods and unveiled the country’s first veterinarian-owned mail-order pet pharmacy — two ventures that took years to set up — and it’s expanding its Rhinelander, WI-based headquarters.