Ideas for a grooming shop?

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Riven

Riven

Bad Chin
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
3,584
Location
Central Nebraska
Anyone have any ideas for items to sell in a grooming shop? Not mine, but still helping out!

Something with a decent turn around time, don't want stuff just living there ya know.

We currently have someone contracted to make collar charms ( that would be my daughter ) and she wants me to make some gourmet biscuits to sell.

What would you buy? If you work in a shop or groomers etc, what sells for you?

She was also thinking about becoming a Hills dealer ( not my first choice... ) because a lot of her clients feed it.
 
I used to work in a grooming/boarding facility.

We sold... stuffed toys, collars, leashes, treats and a small selection of rawhides.

I think for us the treats, toys and collars sold the most.
 
My groomer sells dog beds, collars, leashes and harnesses, a few toys/chews, and also has a case for doggie and people jewelry and a case for dog cookies. She also stocks Eagle Pack dog food.
 
Encourage her to get *good* food. Blue Buffalo comes to mind, though Wellness is pretty awesome too. Natures Variety is also high on my list of "I'd prefer to feed" brands. If/when I pay a professional for pet care, I have no problem paying for quality and their expertise. But if I see what I know to be a less than ideal choice recommended to me, I question the education of the 'expert' I'm talking to. (Yes, prescription diets are sometimes necessary, but people are finding that feeding quality food before a health problem shows up negates the need for the corn-filled overpriced prescription crap in the first place.)

As for other stock: good quality stuff to help with keeping the grooming jobs nice. Good nail clippers/grinders, the kind of combs double coated and hair coated dogs need to work out mats *before* the dog needs shaved down completely, good shampoos and coat conditioners for at home baths, a small supply of protective outerwear (rain gear, dog boots, crate covers) and dental supplies.
 
a small supply of protective outerwear (rain gear, dog boots, crate covers)
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I don't know about NY, but in NE... LMAO, those would be a no go for sure, lol.

I wanted her to carry Chicken Soup... and I might get my way eventually, I'm going to try to convince her to carry more than one brand and try to get her clients to switch over. She has a large clientelle, but is just starting her own shop instead of working out of the vet office ( thus the Hills customers ) Even when my cat had crystals I refused to use Hills, I put him back on Chicken Soup ( he was on another brand when he got the crystals ) pees fine, no additional crystal issues thus far.

I was thinking about felidae and canidae as well because it's near impossible to find around here. I've heard mixed reviews on BB, never tried or thought of wellness.
 
All the dog clothing stuff I mentioned are things my grandfather put on his or used for gun dogs when he went out for pheasant, grouse, etc. in cold weather. Laughable to some, I'm sure, but they've been around a looooong time. :) I'm definitely not the kind of person that would dress an animal up in a ball gown or something utterly ridiculous, but for temperature control (and coat care), it seems to be a growing change in the way people keep their animals.

Chicken Soup is a good lower priced brand. I tried feeding it to my foster kittens, though one had tummy troubles on it. Canidae and Felidae are also really good. I've never had a problem with any of my animals on Blue Buffalo, except this foster cat that can't seem to eat anything but the chicken-flavored corn nuggets Walmart calls Special Kitty Cat food. :(
 
they like perfumes here... and toothbrushes.. as feb is national pet dental month we have sold a LOT already this week.
we also have these REALLY neat beds.. our price is 25 so we sell for 56 i think??
cloths sell some.. but really just take up space, because u never have the right size.
we have this tape worm med (pill) bc it they have fleas they probably have worms
and we use Capstar instead of a flea bath... SAVES SOOO MUCH TIME and kills them all verses only the ones you catch.
shampoos sell some... mostly oatmeal
and all natural treats, like real meat/bone type stuff
o and always the brushes/combs that we use ourselves
 
I'm definitely not the kind of person that would dress an animal up in a ball gown or something utterly ridiculous
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Hey... my dog LOVES being dressed up... she gets all excited when she sees it. As for anyone who hunts or would want ( which is not a big thing here, even for hunters ) any protective gear we have a Cabellas in town.

When I groomed at home I sold a lot of Frontline, etc.

I'm not sure where you're shopping, but CS here is not a lower priced brand, I don't know what like Wellness etc. run per bag or what not, and I think one problem in prices is location, and over all prices. I'm really not trying to beat ya up for helping! LOL ( and I really did laugh out loud ).

Thanks everyone for the ideas and such.

There is a girl who makes some dog treats that sell good at the clinic, they're basically a bone shaped dog treat dipped in a white substance, I believe it's almond bark.

Does anyone know what this might be?
 
I was thinking carob too. I really like to buy cute collars so maybe some made with cute ribbons? I also like to deck the pups out with our favorite teams so maybe local team gear? I also tend to pick up cards for hard to find occasions (like pet sitting) there. I also find that cute dog bowls are kind of hard to find too.

On the dog food, I feed Nutro and really like it - Blue buffalo is nice but I mean I have to buy the big bags (35lb every two weeks) and I just cant justify $50 for 30-35lbs when im paying 26$. With the economy, just something to consider.
 
What about having someone make some of those collar covers to sell? Make different ones for each holiday, any local sports teams, etc.
 
She sends home dogs with bandanas, but I'll toss out the collar cover idea. I've made them for her before and could do it easily.

I'm not sure about local "team" stuff, as we're not sports people, maybe Husker stuff or something? Anyone know what the copyright laws on that would be?



$50 for 30-35lbs
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My dogs are 125#'s, 65-ish #'s then the two little ones are 6 and 8 lbs, but yea, I agree. I'm not saying good dog food isn't worth it, but I have availability issues ( one of the reasons I stopped feeding the Chicken Soup ) as we live in the middle on nowhere, and when I'm going through so much a month with being a full time student with two kids living on one income. It's amazing how much more money you spend going to school than not, driving to and from classes ( 30 miles each way, sometimes 80 each way if I have to go to classes in Grand Island ) etc. I'm feeding Diamond's Naturals, it runs $27 for 50 #'s, the chicken soup was running about $40 for I think 35 lbs? Cami also has nearly no gas on the Chicken and Rice, the chicken soup helped, but the chicken and rice is the best so far, and it has small chunks so the little dogs can eat easily! I think in a lot of cases it's what works good for you and your dogs.
 
Im not sure, but I would think that if you are using licensed fabric or accessories you can use them...I mean they sell team fleece in bulk and they can't exactly expect you not to make something with it lol. someone at a craft store might know...although, now that i think about it, my friend tried to get a tennessee "t" grooms cake and the store wouldnt make it because they said they'd get in copyright troubles -rolls eyes- its a cake but whatever.
 
Riven said:
I was thinking about felidae and canidae as well because it's near impossible to find around here. I've heard mixed reviews on BB, never tried or thought of wellness.
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My dogs used to eat Canidae and did great, until they changed the formula and they both got the squirts and Jade got a rash on her stomach. They both got upset tummies on Wellness too. Nothing like crate poop from a 100# dog to make you change food. ;)


VolunteerChin22 said:
Im not sure, but I would think that if you are using licensed fabric or accessories you can use them...I mean they sell team fleece in bulk and they can't exactly expect you not to make something with it lol. someone at a craft store might know...although, now that i think about it, my friend tried to get a tennessee "t" grooms cake and the store wouldnt make it because they said they'd get in copyright troubles -rolls eyes- its a cake but whatever.
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Most of the licensed print fabrics have rules printed on the salvage saying you are not allowed to use the fabric to make items that are sold for profit.
 
Taste of the Wild seems like a decent priced mid range dog food. We were feeding Wellness and our dogs ended up getting sick on it - nothing like 2 70 lbs dogs having it come out both ends when you get home from work in your living room... They had been on it for a while to, so it wasn't switch related.

We now feed Taste of the Wild since that is what we can get local and it is in the same row as the higher end foods vs. the "other row" at the store. Our Tru- Value can order anything that their supplier can get. Hence why they now carry Oxbow brand foods. They only carried crap, and I asked if they could order Oxbow, they have now been selling the whole line for 2 years!

From a groomer I would expect some toys/maybe bowls - does she have larger dog breed clientele? If she does maybe instead of stocking some of the stuff in the store some nice colored pictures available of what she can special order. Things like crates, dog bowls - with those stools. We don't have them because we can't find bowls in stools that hold enough food for our mongrels. Especially because of the boxers head shape - those 8" round metal bowls make it hard for him to eat. He needs like a nice 12" squarish bowl to actually lick the food out of. Anything on stool that is too small with our dogs makes a bigger mess because it gets knocked over. Oh and a large waterbowl with a nice catch mat type thing - nothing like a large breed drooly dog to make a mess of your floor! I would pay decent money for something that worked well to keep the mess mostly contained.

Large breed dog beds and interchangeable covers to keep them clean. She might even order some of the this stuff in the smaller sizes so that people can see quality but tag it with available in other sizes up to XXL! Or something like that.

We just broke down and bought a coat for our boxer - Maine winters are tough on him, not sure about your state and rain, with his heart condition and his age even rain is a lot for him to deal with now. It took a long time to find a XXL coat, and I had to go through E-bay so now I am buying sight unseen and hoping that I measured correctly.
 
I missed the edit timeline, I just searched Taste of the Wild, when we first put our dogs on the food the dog food review site was down. They have rated the food a 5 and a 6 depending on the version. They are basically saying that it is above a 5, but not quite a 6 due to some of the ingrediants. The big one being the fish meal.
 
If she is using good quality shampoos, they are an easy profit margin, more so than dog food by the time she factors in shipping costs, unless she is buying it wholesale at $500 min order.
My shampoos sell, my colognes sell, and the other thing that I sell is my ear cleaner. I use Espree, and it smell so good that the owners love to pick them up and sniff those clean ears. I buy for $4, sell for $8.99 plus tax. When I spend $200 at Espree, I get free shipping. I also sell a lot of Spa Lavish, it practically sells itself when I say this is what I use on my dog. I really love the smell of it! I sell Chris C stuff by order only- for a few clients that the shampoo is really good for. Most clients want a fragrance though, so I buy the other stuff.
Zoom grooms sell themselves, as do good brushes. I sell the CC brushes for $29.99, but when they touch, use and see the quality, they buy. Also, Les Pooch brushes are a good upscale retail items, along with their colognes.
 
Good comments thanks tons! Feel free to keep 'em coming if you have more!

She was really surprised to hear the cologne market was good. And we talking about her bottling and selling the shampoo and conditioner she uses, then people can have the groomer smell at home if they want.

I think the pictures of things she could order is great idea!

She worked with my dad who was a photographer for years and years and I think that she's actually a better photographer... lol but I suggested she do some pet photos, just set up a little area with one or two backgrounds and after they're groomed try to get a couple shots of them, she has a good digital ( not professional quality but it's pretty nice ) and I think she could make some good side money on spur of the moment buys on photos of their pets.

Like I told her, even if it's someone who keeps their pet on a chain outside... that day they love it, that day they feel like such a good groomer, they're happy, their pet is clean and smells good and looks cute and is happy to see them. I think those emotions alone could sell photos if they're pretty good.

I'll look up some of those products as well!

I appreciate all the comments so much, thank you, thank you!
 
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