Pet Place Market (PPM) is expanding and celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. The owner – Christopher Creighton– couldn’t be more excited to offer new products and services to the downtown North Bend location.
The store, located at 213 Bendigo Blvd N., specializes in providing pets and their owners with nutritional and well-researched pet food choices. They carry more than 25 different ranges of high-quality dog and cat food and numerous lines for small animals, birds, fish, and reptiles. Their expert staff is on hand seven days a week to help answer questions and ensure your pet is provided the best options.
Creighton took over the market in 2016 and gradually expanded operations adding new product lines and freezers and upgrading the self-wash before taking its first step towards expansion in 2018.
The store was in desperate need of additional storage space, so he expanded into the adjacent medical offices and repurposed those with racks to accommodate bulk deliveries, additional freezer capacity and eventually a staging area for local deliveries and customer will calls.
As the business continued to expand gradually, in line with North Bend’s organic growth and the community’s love of animals, Creighton’s partner, Amy Hawkins, and he considered what other communities might fit Pet Place Market.
Mountains and water are the couple’s passions, and the two cities have both. The pair chose Anacortes, where Amy’s family lived for 25 years, early in 2019. They knew the community incredibly well, and the fit for PPM seemed to feel like it had real potential.
A new Pet Place Market opened in a historic old town building in June of 2019, and then along came COVID. PPM was designated as ‘essential’ during the initial Covid outbreaks. Creighton and Hawkins felt fortunate to be essential but, at the same time, wanted to do what was right for their employee’s and communities’ safety.
They elected to close their Self Wash facilities and, for a time, relied almost solely on their recently launched online order platform to provide free home deliveries, curbside pickup and will call hand-delivered to the back parking lot.
Eventually, the store partially re-opened both self-wash facilities on a reduced capacity and reservation-only basis.
Says Creighton, “in spite of the numerous operational challenges that the last two years have presented, the communities in which PPM operates within have been incredibly supportive and understanding. Largely due to the diligence and expertise of our management, we have been able to keep most products on the shelf despite an exhaustive list of supply-based bottlenecks and logistics realities. The good news is people continued to acquire and love on their pets throughout this time.”
So, when Chiropractor Dr. Kaasa decided to vacate the space on the other side of PPM, it came at a time when they virtually had no retail space left to be able to add new product lines or stay current with new product developments.
The crew at PPM felt strongly about being able to provide the community with these new products. For instance, PPM knew of a veterinarian formulated range of products that were particularly well suited to older and aging family pets, both dogs and cats. Sadly, they could not fit these new lines within their existing retail footprint.
This reality made the decision to expand again a straightforward one. Despite the delays in getting the project started, contractor availability, and trying to manage and facilitate this next-door build-out, during Covid, they were finally ready to move in late December. Says Creighton, “It’s always scary to take these leaps as a small business owner, but we hope it is worth it in the long run.”
They’ve finally begun to appreciate that the hard work was worth it and have proceeded with plans to bring in several nutritionally specialized food lines for both dogs and cats, some notably leading-edge supplements AND a brand new, self-service Tag Kiosk with a fantastic range of ID tag options for all pets and people.
PPM will also be offering nail trimming services in a separate and quiet environment adjacent to their current Self Wash area. Notably, this new area has its own access door, so nail trim only customers do not necessarily have to enter through the retail space. They will be taking nail trimming appointments starting May 16.
So, after a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the SnoValley Chamber on Wednesday, Pet Place Market will celebrate their 15th anniversary and grand re-opening this weekend. They’ll have fantastic deals, free samples, demos, consultations with some of our leading brands, giveaways and a raffle. Don’t miss your chance to win six months of free food, a handmade cat tree, and more!
