How a LinkedIn Post Landed AlchemyPet 60 Doors at Hollywood Feed

AlchemyPet is launching its microencapsulated liquid supplement line in 60 Hollywood Feed locations across the Southeast.

It's the LA-based brand's first major specialty retail placement, and it didn't come from a trade show booth or a cold email. It came from a LinkedIn post and the kind of introduction that only happens when you're willing to say what you want out loud.

What Happened

AlchemyPet, founded by Colin Topham, will place its five-SKU liquid supplement topper line (anxiety, immunity, joint support, vision, and longevity) in 60 of Hollywood Feed's top-performing stores.

The products use microencapsulation technology, Swiss-engineered and manufactured at an FDA-registered, GMP-certified facility in the US, that the company claims delivers up to 7x greater nutrient absorption than traditional chews, pills, or powders.

Hollywood Feed, the Memphis-based specialty retailer with 175+ stores across 19 states, is led by Shawn McGhee, a former AutoZone EVP who purchased the 1950s-era chain and built it into one of the most respected independent pet retail operations in the country.

The retailer is consistently ranked among the top pet specialty chains by consumers and has carved out a reputation as a trusted voice in premium nutrition.

"Hollywood Feed represents the kind of retail partner we envisioned when we built AlchemyPet," said Colin Topham, CEO and Founder.

"They have spent generations building a legacy of helping pet parents make informed nutritional decisions for their animals. Combining that legacy with our advanced ingredient delivery systems gives us a real opportunity to bring a new standard of effective supplements to more dogs and their owners."

"AlchemyPet stood out in their ability to enable greater nutrient absorption, and we're excited to offer their line in key Hollywood Feed locations," said McGhee.

Why It Matters

Sixty doors at Hollywood Feed is a real milestone for any emerging supplement brand. But how this deal came together is the part worth paying attention to.

Topham had his eye on Hollywood Feed as a retail partner for years. After attending a trade event and not making the connection, he did something simple but specific: he posted about it on LinkedIn. When a commenter asked what he wished he'd gotten done, Topham replied that he'd missed meeting his "dream retailer," and named Hollywood Feed directly.

That post reached Eleanor McGhee, who flagged it to Nikki Usher at Hollywood Feed. From there, the conversations started. Topham and Usher connected, introduced their dogs (and in Usher's case, her chickens and roosters), and over the months that followed, negotiated what became the 60-store launch.

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There's a lesson in that for anyone building a brand in this space. Topham didn't put out a vague "looking for retail partners" post. He named the specific company, said why he admired them, and let the network do its thing. It's the kind of move that feels risky in the moment but compounds over time.

If you're a founder trying to break into specialty retail, being visible and specific about who you want to work with can create opportunities that cold outreach and trade show badge scanning never will.

On the product side, the partnership points to growing retailer appetite for supplement format innovation. Microencapsulation has a track record in human nutraceuticals and skincare, but AlchemyPet is one of the first to bring it to pet ingestibles at a retail scale.

Hollywood Feed allocating 60 stores to a first-time brand suggests their buying team liked what they saw in the format and the science behind it.

What to Watch

Hollywood Feed's customer base is built on educated pet parents who already spend more on premium nutrition and wellness. That makes it a strong test market for a liquid supplement format that most consumers haven't encountered before.

The real question is whether those shoppers, who are already comfortable paying up for quality, are ready to shift from chews and powders to a topper format that requires a different routine.

If the format clicks with that audience, it tells the rest of the specialty retail world something important about where pet supplements are heading. Beyond this launch, watch whether microencapsulation starts showing up in other brands' product lines. If it does, that's the signal of a broader format shift in the supplement aisle, not just a single brand bet.

Source: Company press release, AlchemyPet

This news brief is based on a company-submitted announcement. The Underbite verifies claims where possible but cannot independently confirm all details.