Could the pet industry’s past success be responsible for putting many specialty retailers out of business over the past year? In a way, it is.

Just a few short years ago, the market for pet products was so robust that it seemed as if pet stores–particularly boutique-type situations–were popping up faster than Starbucks locations. A boom in pet ownership and Americans’ affinity for spoiling their four-legged loved ones made it relatively easy for anyone with a love of animals and an entrepreneurial spirit to set up shop and quickly earn a profit.

But running a successful pet store has gotten a lot tougher over the past year. Specialty retailers have not only had to deal with a decline in the disposable income that consumers can spend on their pets, they’ve had to contend with increasing competitive pressure from other retail segments. As a result, many businesses that were thriving not long ago have fallen off a proverbial cliff over the past 18 months.

That’s not to say that the entire pet specialty retail segment is in decline. Many industry observers see the thinning of the pet specialty retail herd as an evolutionary process, with business acumen largely separating the winners from the losers. In order to remain profitable today, pet store owners must have more than a passion for pets and an understanding of how to properly care for these animals; they have to understand the ins and outs of successfully operating a business. What’s more, they must continually look to improve and expand this understanding whenever and wherever they can.

With this in mind, as the economy (hopefully) transitions from recession to recovery over the next year, pet specialty retailers would be wise to take a close look at not only how their businesses fared during a tough 2009, but also how their neighbors have survived or failed in the face of adversity. As this month’s cover story explains, there are numerous lessons that pet retailers can glean by examining what businesses in other­–sometimes seemingly unrelated–industries did wrong or right during these rocky times. Such lessons can serve to strengthen a pet store, positioning it to take advantage of the impending economic rebound and weather potential economic turmoil down the road.