Store of the Month – September 2025

Uncle Bill’s Pet Centers

Website: unclebills.com
Facebook: facebook.com/unclebillspets/
Instagram: instagram.com/unclebillspets/

Store Founder Bob Wilson

40 years ago, Marine Corps Veteran and retired FBI Agent Bob Wilson started Uncle Bill’s Pet Centers. The name was a homage to his uncle Bill, a farmer who enjoyed playing cards with his peers. Fellow farmers would use their animals as collateral during games, and Bill wound up with a menagerie as a consequence. People often joked that he should open a pet store with his winnings.

Uncle Bill with a monkey.

Bob originally went into business as a distributor under the name Wilson Pet Supply, but he found a lack of outlets in Indiana to sell his goods to and opted to open his own pet store (while maintaining his distributor business).

40 years later, Uncle Bill’s is three generations deep in family ownership. Bob passed the venture on to his son, who has since retired and passed the business on to his two children, Lori and Scott Wilson. Lori notes that her immediate family wasn’t much of a pet family before Grandpa passed the store on to them, but they quickly invested in educating themselves, and found themselves breeding hamsters, hedgehogs and sugar gliders as well as rearing birds for the store. Under the family’s leadership, they have grown into a six-store chain that covers the Indianapolis metro area as well as Fort Wayne, IN.

When it comes to cold-blooded pets, Scott Wilson has long been a fan of reptiles and fish, having started with a green iguana he got when his dad took over the store. These days he favors boas, while also maintaining his personal 150 gal saltwater aquarium.

Scott appreciates that their store emphasizes educating their customers on animal care and not just placing animals in homes. One of their current projects is expanding their offering of bio-active options, including picking out high-quality plants from a local nursery and their staff raising their own line of isopods for resale.

One of the main drivers behind growth and service for Uncle Bill’s Pet Centers has been service to the community. They have proudly sponsored, supported and partnered with numerous local and national groups including A Kid Again, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Indy Healthplex, Make-A-Wish, and New Hope Indiana. Their focus to the local community as well as the pet community has lead to Uncle Bills being recognized with the Town Post Townies Top Local Award for best pet store, as well as Lori Wilson being recognized in 2024 by the Pet Advocacy Network as a Pet Advocate of the year for her tireless commitment to responsible pet care, animal health and wellbeing, and advocacy on behalf of pets.

As part of their dedication to the members of their community, they are recognizing their 40^th anniversary by having an in-store celebration at one location each month this summer and fall, giving each store their own chance to celebrate with their customers and vendors, but also allowing them options to take advantage of give back promotions multiple times in 6 months.