Inflation is hitting Chewy on several fronts Unlike Starbucks, online pet retailer Chewy (NYSE: CHWY) thrived at the pandemic onset. The age-old relationship everyone learned in their first economics class is holding: with supply decreasing and demand increasing, prices are going up. The company is finding it difficult to hire enough staff to operate stores, since fewer people are willing to work at the prevailing wages with a potentially deadly virus in circulation.