If you have been to Belle View Searching Center recently you may perhaps have recognized a new tenant at 1612 Belle View Blvd. Karencita Echeverri quietly opened Pampered Pet Boutique and Barkery in Oct 2021 and held a grand opening celebration and ribbon reducing in December.
Move inside of the shop and two matters will soar out at you. First, there is the substantial source of exciting, higher high quality and exceptional toys, treats, food and other pet add-ons lining the shelves. Next, you will quickly truly feel a warm and dwelling-like atmosphere. Frames with pics of community canine are interspersed with the drool deserving canine treats and on the checkout counter. Stroll to the back again of the retail store and you will see an antique wooden mantel, couches and puppy beds arranged to come to feel like your grandmother’s living place.
Building this environment was important to Echeverri, who greets consumers like they are relatives, with an enthusiasm for animals and the products she carries that is clearly evident.
“I required a area that pet dogs could arrive to, and pet dad and mom, that would experience welcoming, it doesn’t come to feel like a sterile pet retailer, and you can give them good, excellent food stuff devoid of the markup. Our motto right here is we pamper your pet just like our own,” she claimed.
Initially from Very long Island, New York, Echeverri has been in Northern Virginia for quite a few many years. She lived in Del Ray for a whilst and managed a pet retailer in Old Town for 5 yrs, just before launching out on her personal (with a very little economical support from mom and sweat fairness from her fiancé, Daniel).
“This is essentially my enthusiasm. I have worked in the corporate world for above 20 a long time. I’ve experienced genuinely higher-profile work opportunities/tense careers and I recognized at the conclude of the day, you have to do some thing that helps make you pleased,” Echeverri defined.
Echeverri credits her now 12-calendar year-previous pit bull, Zeus, for inspiring the trajectory her lifetime has taken, which incorporates opening her possess business enterprise. His experience is on the logo of the shop and his portrait hangs previously mentioned the wall of toys.
Alexandria is broadly acknowledged for staying pet-helpful. The City was declared a accredited “Better Town for Pets” by Mars Petcare in January. For Echeverri it just created perception to open up her business in this space. “I observed that this was my area of interest, it’s something that I’m made use of to, I’m applied to the demographics about here. They [Alexandrians] truly have a passion for their animals. It is not just a pet, it is truly a member of their household,” she spelled out.
Pampered Pet carries 8 traces of dry foodstuff together with Dr. Marty, Dr. Gary, Fromm, Stella and Chewy’s, Vital Essentials, Grandma Lucy’s dehydrated and the superior protein Acaina for quite active or performing canine.
Echeverri is a big proponent of uncooked meals and she carries six unique lines of it in industrial sized freezers. She was 1st launched to raw foods by Terri Increase, a pet nutritionist who ran the pet food stuff retail store PetSage in Alexandria, ahead of she just lately transitioned to supplying products and services as a result of her website and partnering with pet dad and mom, veterinarians and other pet-similar gurus like Echeverri.
“The a person matter I like about uncooked is that it delivers the canines and cats back to their primal intuition. Persons have this false impression of uncooked foods that you are just throwing a rooster down and the canines are tackling it. No – these are comprehensive, balanced meals. The normally have the bones, organs – it is a comprehensive food. Sure, it is higher in protein but you do not feed the dog as a lot,” Echeverri defined. Uncooked food is notably handy for animals with allergies, like Zeus who is allergic to anything at all with feathers, and for total pet overall health.
For Echeverri it’s all about educating pet mother and father and building them relaxed with the items they are obtaining, not about the provide. She is effective with distinct spending budget and not only gives two week samples, but if a products doesn’t get the job done, prospects can convey again meals that is at minimum 50 percent full and she will donate or discard it.
In addition to canine and cat food items, Pampered Pet carries large good quality toys, collars, treats, attire and other pet merchandise. Many of the merchandise that Echeverri carries are from women of all ages-owned, minority-owned, and community corporations.
Echeverri is in particular energized about her “barkery” which carries human quality doggie baked merchandise sourced from four various bakeries. Goods contain puppy donuts, doggy candy, birthday cakes and seasonal cookies. There is also a raw bar which carries healthful chews like bully sticks, beef cheeks and even, dehydrated duck heads which are really one of the shop’s major sellers. “Parents buy it as a gimmick and they arrive again and they are like my doggy ate that entire thing, they love it!” Echeverri explained with a giggle.
Echeverri is dedicated to using her small business to give back to the neighborhood and leads to she is passionate about. She has hosted adoption events and charity fundraisers to assist rescues like Undertaking 2nd Probability and Stand Up For Pits. She strategies to provide occasions and routines like portray with your puppy, coffee and donut with your pet dog, CPR for your pet courses and talk to the coach.
She is partnering with other retailers in the purchasing center to make it additional of a vacation spot. EMMAvet, an emergency vet is found only a several doorways down from Pampered Pet. EMMAvet recently expanded and begun giving principal treatment products and services late last calendar year. The store presents a enjoyable spot where by pet parents can wait around while their pet is staying examined or invest in a special deal with to shock their pet when they are concluded. That, blended with Westgrove pet park which is positioned much less than a mile from the browsing center are earning the shopping heart a hub for animals and their mom and dad.
Echeverri suggests the reception she has been given from the community has been extraordinary. Lots of of her shoppers uncover her through word of mouth and she has some buyers that drive 45 minutes to shop with her.
In direction of the conclude of our interview, a guy entered the store with his little canine who right away started working around the store and coming up for affection. They evidently visit the shop every day, and that is precisely the type of group that Echeverri is hoping to develop at Pampered Pet. She has an off-leash coverage in the store, exactly where she needs canines to have the independence to be by themselves. She understands that not all puppies are comfortable around a whole lot of men and women or dogs so she delivers VIP hrs just one hour right before opening or soon after closing for buyers who operate late, have COVID fears or have pet dogs with social stress and anxiety.
Cease by Pampered Pet Boutique and Barkery at 1612 Belle Perspective Blvd. Monday via Saturday 10 a.m.-7 p.m. or Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.