BY NICHOLAS BROWN

A longtime Hooksett pet store owner said he may no longer be able to compete when a chain pet store moves in two doors down from his.

Dennis Sullivan, owner of Family Pet & Aquarium of Hooksett, said the owners of the Hooksett Village Shops never informed him that they’d reached a deal with the franchise company, Pet Supplies Plus, that will plant the chain store yards away from his.

“I used to have a stipulation in my lease that they couldn’t rent to any other pet stores,” said Sullivan. Crosspoint Associates of Natick, Mass., took over the Route 3 plaza, formerly called the Granite State Marketplace, in April.

Sullivan said the group is the fourth landlord he’s had since he opened the store in the plaza in 1995.

“The latest landlord didn’t put that stipulation in my lease, and it got by me,” said Sullivan. Crosspoint Associates representatives couldn’t be reached by press time.

Sullivan, who said the business is his only significant source of income as he prepares to put two sons through college, said he’s lately spoken with lawyers who’ve suggested he may not have much authority to fight the move in court.

“I’ve talked to three lawyers now, and they all said I don’t have much of a chance,” said Sullivan.

The Hooksett Village Shops, anchored by a recently remodeled Shaw’s Supermarket and a Wal-Mart, has more than 250,000 square feet of retail space, according to a Crosspoint Associates brochure. The brochure says the new Pet Supplies Plus will fit in a 7,735-square-foot spot, while Family Pet takes up 1,790 square feet.

Pet Supplies Plus, which are owned as franchises, began in Michigan in 1988, and now has more than 180 retail locations in 21 states, according to the company’s Web site.

Sullivan said he’s familiar with pricing in other chain stores with pet products, like Petco, Petsmart, and his current neighbor Wal-Mart, and said it’s unlikely he’ll be able to compete with a chain store so close by.

“I don’t price gouge or anything like that,” said Sullivan. “I try to beat them with good service. That’s why I’ve been in business for 30 years.”

Sullivan said he doesn’t have ill will toward Pet Supplies Plus for moving in, but said he’s disappointed he wasn’t informed of their tenancy before he saw signs in the store’s location announcing the move.

“I don’t really blame Pet Supplies Plus,” he said. “I realize this is America, and this is what’s happening to ‘ma and pa’ stores.

At press time, a crew was working on the inside of the Pet Supplies Plus, and a sign outside the store announced that it was hiring.

According to the Crosspoint brochure, eight of the plaza’s 21 retail locations are available for lease.

Sullivan said he’s witnessed vacancies increase in the plaza over the last several years. “I can’t get to the bottom of it,” said Sullivan. “It just shocks the heck out of me that the one tenant they found was a pet store.”