Four-Legged Friends Welcome

As a lifelong animal lover, Maureen Gendron knew that owning a pet store would be a natural fit — and her intentions recently became a reality as she opened at 1500 Atwood Ave. on Aug. 13.

The owner of three pets herself, Gendron purchased Pawstry Gourmutt, a dog bakery shop, from its former Susan Dziubaniuk in late July, and incorporated Dziubaniuk’s business into her new store.

Gendron said that making the move from the former location at 239A Greenville Ave. was a good decision.

“[Susan] was happy, but understood I was looking to find a location with some bigger traffic," Gendron said. “Her primary issue was finding a buyer who was going to keep the overall feel. She started this business in 2005 and put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into it, and wanted someone who would keep the same values, service and similar personality to her to know it would continue on the way she had built the business and the same way her customers would be taken care of."

Coming up with the title for the store was something that took a few months to consider, Gendron explained, adding the new name is a way to capture the store's goal.

“I was trying to find something that incorporated [the store’s overall meaning],” Gendron said. “I liked [Pawstry Gourmutt] but it was a little too specific to dog bakery. So I wanted something that would incorporate dogs and cats and then just be a little more general — not just bakery. The name was kicked around when we started the organization [2 Hands 4 Paws], and it fit perfectly. After having it in my head for awhile, I decided to use it since it fit the best.”

In the store, the dog bakery has four different types of flavored biscuits including cranberry, cheese, peanut butter and bacon in addition to dog cookies. Each cookie has a unique design to them — some look like hamburgers, while others are made in the shapes of flip flops and dolphins.

There is a section called the Kitty Korner, even a few horse items, such as shirts and picture farms.

“I am still looking to add more cat items,” she said.  “In general, I am looking to get surveys from people to get their input on things they would like to see.”

When choosing this location, Gendron explained that she wanted to have her customers bring their pets into the store, like larger pet stores allow. And since her toy fox terrier, Milko, loves to travel with her everywhere, Gendron said getting approval for pets in the shop was a key condition of her move.

In addition to running the new store, Gendron is the founder of 2 Hands 4 Paws, a non-profit organization started in 2009 that provides short-term foster care for pets when people lose their homes. Her organization takes in the pets for approximately three months while they try to find a new home.

In terms of her new business, Gendron said she hopes that potential new customers will shop in a place that is worth visiting.

"I am a pet lover — a frugal pet lover — and I am basing my store on what I would want in a store," Gendron said. “I am trying to keep products that are reasonably priced, quality products. I am committed to buying as much made in U.S.A. [items] as possible."

Gendron also explained how she decided on the description of her store as a "specialty shop," rather than a boutique shop.

“I was trying to find a good way to describe it,” she said. “I don’t like using the word 'boutique,' because that gives an expensive thought to people’s mind. I’ll probably have some boutique items that might be higher priced in some parts of the store, but I wanted this to be for average people. It’s just a specialty shop with specialty items.”