SAN DIEGO—Petco Holdings on Monday filed paperwork with the SEC to once again become a publicly traded company, nine years after being taken private for the second time by a partnership of TPG Capital Partners and Leonard Green & Partners in 2006. The partnership, which first took the pet products retailer private in 2000, would continue to hold majority ownership following an initial public offering.

In its SEC filing, Petco cites “a well positioned store base and flexible real estate staretgy” among its attributes. “We have developed two store formats that enable us to appeal to a broad range of customers in different markets and locations,” according to the filing. As of August 1, the company operated 1,279 Petco stores ranging from 6,000 to 15,000 square feet, and 130 Unleashed stores averaging 5,000 square feet.

The planned IPO comes at a time when the customer base for pet food and other products continues to rise, with pet ownership among millennials rising from 50% in 2010 to 59% last year. “Spending on pets has consistently increased, even during the last recession, and is projected to reach $76.6 billion in 2015, up from $62.7 billion in 2010 and $47.2 billion in 2005, with average household spending of approximately $1,150 per year at the end of 2014,” according to Petco's filing.

Longer term, the company sees pet humanization and ownership trends continuing to drive “outsized growth” in the pet services and premium offerings market segments compared to other portions of the pet industry. “We plan to continue to invest in our business to maintain our leading position in the fastest-growing segments of the pet food, supplies and services industry,” Petco says in its filing. “As a leading pet specialty retailer of natural and organic pet food brands, we believe we are well positioned to capitalize on these favorable industry trends and take additional market share from grocery and discount stores.”

The S-1 filing also comes shortly after the company moved to beef up its senior management team. CEO Jim Myers now serves as chairman, while EVP Brad Weston has been promoted to president.