Sydney siblings behind Dog Friendly Co accuse Kmart of ‘un-Australian’ pet harness rip-off
Sans Souci dog owner Sandra Abade and her brother Luka Maric became a homegrown success story with their small business selling personalised pet harnesses, but the pair say Kmart is now profiting off their hard work.
NSW
Don't miss out on the headlines from NSW. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Retail giant Kmart has been accused of undercutting another homegrown Australian small business after launching a ‘dupe’ of pet products sold by a Sydney-based start-up.
Sans Souci dog lover and entrepreneur Sandra Abade and her brother Luka Maric started Dog Friendly Co to sell personalised dog harnesses as a side hustle back in 2019, with the businesses quickly growing into a million-dollar enterprise with more than 300,000 customers.
The pair were devastated when they learned on Wednesday that Kmart now stocks similar custom harnesses, and say the retailer is “ripping off an Australian brand” with its product.
The Kmart version allows owners to adhere the letters of their dog’s name to the harness and costs between $12 and $15, compared to the Dog Friendly Co product which can cost up to five times the price.
Mrs Abade said Kmart is “taking the easy way out” and profiting off the hard work done by others.
“As a small business, especially in early stages, you’re working day and night, you’re … doing the grind, and then just when it gets to a point where you start getting noticed, a bigger company comes in and copies you,” she said.
Mr Maric said the Kmart harness also copies the shape of the Dog Friendly Co harness, which straps underneath the dog’s chest rather than around their legs.
The ‘duping’, he said, is “un-Australian”.
“Australian culture is very much about supporting small local businesses, homegrown things,” he said.
“When you have this kind of ongoing strategy where a family business puts in a lot of work over the years to develop a product … and then you consistently wait around then do a cheaper version, it’s just a bit sad.”
The siblings said their biggest concern now is that would-be customers will confuse the “lower quality” Kmart dupe for their own product.
“We’re not just talking about visually lower quality, we’re actually talking about safety, because there aren’t as (many) restrictions around what you can and can’t do when it comes to products like pet harnesses,” Mrs Abade said.
It’s the second time this month Kmart has come under fire from an Australian small business owner for selling a cheap replica of their product, after Brisbane-based design company Dreamfarm accused the retailer of creating a knock-off version of his ‘Fluicer’ foldable handheld fruit juicer.
Dreamfarm founder Alex Gransbury also described the act as “un-Australian” and told News Corp it was “a real kick in the teeth” from another Australian company.
Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) CEO Luke Achterstraat said small businesses like Dog Friendly Co shouldn’t be expected to have an army of lawyers and copyright experts in their corner to be able to protect themselves from “predatory behaviour by a manufacturer”.
“This episode really reminds people how for small businesses, when they try and be innovative, it is such a complex environment for them … and shines a light on how imbalanced the system is at the moment,” he said.
“Competition is really important in the economy, but it can’t be at the expense of forging or plaigiaring somebody else’s work.
“We’re walking a dangerous road if we don’t have adequate protections for small businesses ... there’ll be no incentive for innovation.”
A Kmart spokeswoman said the company conducts “thorough checks” when developing new products “to ensure we are not infringing the rights of others”.
“Our merchandise team is focused on creating curated ranges that align back to global trends that we are seeing, enabling us to provide our customers with great products at the lowest possible price,” she said.
“This is particularly important with current cost of living pressures - everyday Australians deserve to be able to access great products that they need at great prices.”
‘Thrilled’: Supermarket to open after western Sydney Woolies’ exit
A Woolworths that shut in western Sydney will be replaced following a petition and community outrage. Find out which supermarket is set to take its place.
Thousands isolated, flood warnings: Alf’s trail of destruction laid bare
Rain continues to batter Queensland and parts of Northern NSW in the aftermath of ex-tropical cyclone Alfred, leading to warnings of major flooding as the SES says thousands of people are trapped.