This Grooming Life

The New Salon...Making Progress!

Well, my brain is on fire and I am wondering if I am doing the right thing. There are moments of jubilation and vision, but mostly just second guessing myself. It is amazingly difficult to decide such things as…which way the door should swing into the bathing area; how many more circuits we will need in the drying area; should we go with built in stations or those great cabinets on rollers we found at Lowe's; do we go with a fabric or vinyl awning?…and OMG! Paint…my soon to be salon manager, Pam, and I have attempted to pick out paint that will coordinate with this great rug we found for the sitting area on three occasions now. Forget about it! How can choosing paint colors be so difficult? Did you know there are 860 shades of seafoam green?  Honestly, after 5 pm and hours of staring at paint chips it becomes overwhelming and we decide to go for a cocktail instead.

But some progress has been made. The Coming Soon signs are in the windows and we have a phone number. We have an EIN and are registered with the state as KAS & Company, the permits for the signs and awning are in hand, the checking account has been opened (not that there is much in it), we are set up with credit card processing, picked the software program, ordered the tubs, cages, and tables. After multiple visits to the different home improvements stores, we were able to take advantage of the 12 months same as cash deal at Lowe's, where we purchased the 80 gallon water heater, the water softener, the cabinets for the bathing room and the water proof panels for the walls. All the boxes are lined up like soldiers waiting for their contents to be assembled. Pam’s brother is providing us a gently used washer and dryer for FREE and he is even delivering them.  

We want to create an upscale, warm environment and really struggled with colors. We needed an inspiration piece and we found it at…Garden Ridge. Really. It is a beautiful, plush rug, not really expensive because…well, we all know why you would not want to put a lot of money into a rug (albeit in the pet parent sitting area) that will lie on the floor of a grooming salon. But, it is nice. We also found a rich looking brown leather (OK, it’s Pleather) loveseat that is comfortable, but not too comfortable, less we have the neighborhood locals spending 8 to 6 Tuesday through Friday; 9 to 5 on Saturday; and 12- 5 on Sunday, napping. My friend Bev’s sister, owns a top hair salon chain here in the Cincinnati area and I was able to get a beautiful marble table and a few decorative items from one of the salons, so things are starting to come together. Oh, did I mention the chandelier? Yep, chandelier!

I have spent a great deal of time designing and writing our brochures, thank you cards, post cards, pet report cards…etc…you know, all that paper stuff that is so important and so necessary for building a brand.

Things to do in this week…decide on the counters and fixtures (AGH), purchase a computer, order the software, pick out the paint (UGH), order the towels, submit ads to the local papers…???...I know I am forgetting a few dozen things.

Below are a few photos of what the place looks like at the moment. View at your own risk, because it is scary! But, be kind. All things respond to love, and since the banks aren’t lending and we don’t have a lot of $$$ to do the grand plan, we are pouring a lot of love in to the place. We have all worked our grooming magic, making the silk purse out of the proverbial sow’s ear. This is kind of the same thing! Enjoy, but keep the lights on...as I mentioned. It is scary!

 
We will add black window shutters, black door awning, and 3- 2' x 6' banner signs that hang perpendicularly across the top of the building to fill in that wide open raspberry space. We have 3 large planter pots and 2 black rod iron benches to sit in front to add some interest to the building. The windows will be lettered.

 
This is what you see when you walk in the front door and look left. This will be the retail and reception area.

This is the view if standing where the reception desk will be. The faint lines on the tile floor is where a wall will be built to finish off the holding (or relaxation) room. The room will have a wall fountain across from the cage bank. We will use spa music and aromatherapy to help relax the pets (and groomers too).

 
Now you are looking into the Relaxation Area where pets will be in the ZEN ZONE waiting for their pet parents to arrive.

This will be the Hydrotherapy Room (Ok...this where the pets will be bathed). The drains were too high to allow for optimum drainage for our PetLift Tubs, so we had to build a raised false floor. OMG, that was a MAJOR decision...4", 6", 8"? What shall we do? Stay tuned to find out.  

 
This is a view towards the grooming room, from where the reception desk will be. The large window is mirrored. We are building a half wall with door to enclose all the routes to and from tables, tubs and cages to reduce the risk of escape. Not that any pooch in his right mind would run from the pampering we are going to provide!

 
This is the Grooming Room where the magic will happen. I LOVE the big windows and all of the natural sunlight. The counters have all been removed and I hope to have room for 4 stylists.

Well, that's all for show and tell. I'll update again next week. We appreciate all well wishes and prayers!

And Now 20 Years Later ~ The New Salon ~ I Must Be Nuts!

I must be nuts! At 50+ years of age I am opening a new salon. It seems like yesterday, but in fact it has been 20 years ago since I left the day-to-day grooming grind. At the time I owned and managed (well attempted to manage) three salons. My husband Craig and I were expecting our first baby dog groomer and I was absolutely burned out. The day to day grind came to an abrupt end when, at 6 months into the pregnancy, a very good customer (I had used her gorgeous chocolate mini poodle in competition many times) barged into the salon and accused me of being rude to her husband on the telephone. What? I stood with my mouth agape and wondered who was this monster in my customer’s body and why was she yelling at me? At any rate, after a moment of stunned silence on my part, I felt the trickle of blood running from my nostrils. It was time for me to hang up my clippers. This three salon, running myself ragged stuff for people like this was…well, just not worth it anymore. Besides, I was planning on breeding dog groomers in captivity and this kind of stress could have a negative impact on the prototype groomer still in the oven. 

It was a tough adjustment. I was quite sure the customers and their dogs would be devastated without me. How were my employees going to actually get themselves up and out of bed and drive to work without me? They would miss me and everyone one would wish they would have been nicer, tipped bigger, not complained about the yearly price increase, been on time for work and appointments…surely, this would show them. Accept, the truth is, that in a matter of a couple months, the consensus was, “Karla who?” The new salon owners had found their stride, rid themselves of some dead wood (lazy employees) and were well into building their own meaningful relationships with the customers and their dogs. Wow, talk about a has-been that never was! 

And so today, 20 years wiser, or maybe just older, I am opening a new salon; A Fortunate Dog Salon, Spa and Boutique. A year ago we moved our current business, PetSmith LLC (we do business on line as www.afortunatedog,com ) from our home to a warehouse. We had outgrown the space, and quite frankly my husband and I were pretty much driving each other crazy. There were days when I would roll out of bed, sit down at the computer, and at 6 that evening I would still be sitting at the computer in my pajamas, hair plastered to my head. This was not healthy. It was time to try to separate work and home life. Good luck with that! But, we agreed moving the business from the home would be a positive first step, atleast I would have to change out of my PJs to go to the office. Craig found the building. It is a 2000 square foot warehouse that sits behind a hair salon. As we pulled in to the driveway that very first time, the clouds parted and the angels sang, as I pointed to the beauty shop and said, “Wow! That would be a perfect location for a grooming salon.” We signed the lease for the back building warehouse and moved in over Labor Day weekend 2008. It felt like this was all meant to be. 

Since that day I have talked about how I would love to open a salon and mentioned to our landlord that we were definitely interested in the front building if it ever became available. As the editor of Pet Boutique & Spa magazine, I have been talking-the-talk for a couple years, sharing great ideas from talented writers, and successful business owners, as well as pulling from my own experience and dreams for the upscale salon and boutique. Well, that front building has been ours now for a week and my brain is on fire trying to plan, organize, source and coordinate all the things that go into opening a new business. And please do not remind me that we are in the jaws of a recession, that banks are not our friends, and that a salon grand opening in January is well, untimely at best and ill-advised at worse.

 So I hope you will check back from time to time to see how this new grooming venture is progressing. I plan on sharing the triumphs and tribulations, the laughter and temper tantrums, from dealing with plumbers to choosing wall colors, to developing our salon menu of services and setting prices. I hope you will remember me in your thoughts and prayers as I learn to walk-the-walk all over again! Oh, and the breeding groomers in captivity business was short lived. As soon as they learned to talk it was all over. But, geez…were they cute!