Restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic have given space for enterprise over the last two years. Online bakeries, caterers and delivery services have either emerged or enjoyed an uptick in patronage. Mobile pet grooming is another example of a business model that has seen higher visibility in the Augusta area.
“People that don’t know about mobile grooming think it’s amazing; they truly love the service,” said Alli Penland, who launched the Evans-based Puppers Pets in 2018 and serves primarily Evans and Grovetown. “But those that have had it for so long, they love the convenience.”
Penland had been in the hospitality business for many years before deciding she’d rather “play with puppies all day,” and got into dog grooming school. Ultimately aiming at starting her own pet grooming service, she worked in a brick-and-mortar shop for a time, but was pleasantly surprised to learn there is a whole industry dedicated to individual home pet services.
“This is perfect for me. I get to work on one dog at a time. I think that it’s better focused for the animal and the client,” said Penland. “The interaction is a little more personal because you’re not standing in line for someone’s attention to bring your dog in or pick your dog up.”
The expediency of the service seems to have made it ripe for people to take advantage during the peak of COVID restrictions. Based on her own experience, Penland feels that the mobile dog grooming industry flourished at the height of the pandemic.
“COVID has actually helped the business, since we only deal with one client at a time,” said Matthew Widener, manager of Grateful Paws Mobile Dog Grooming, which serves Richmond and Columbia Counties and parts of North Augusta. “Taking the correct precautions, we were allowed to continue working when most other businesses had to shut down.”
Widener started Grateful Paws about eight years ago, selling it to current owner Blair Hudgens in late March. It was always a mobile dog grooming business, but Hudgens’ plans for expansion include opening a physical location and even a grooming instruction course to widen the pool of new hires.
“I want to expand the number of mobile vehicles in the business and include retail locations,” said Hudgens. “Therefore, I want to find as many groomers as possible.”
Penland, who believes that standing out as a mobile dog groomer is “90% marketing,” says the popularity of the service and those like it hearkens back to the 40s, 50s and 60s, where home delivery services of all sorts were more common.
“I love this model for two reasons,” she said. “One, my dog never has to stay with a stranger outside the home; they never have to leave their own environment. And the other aspect is we want the owners of the dogs to know that they’re being cared for and that they’re loved, above anything else.”
For more information on either Grateful Paws or Puppers Pets, visit their respective websites at https://www.gratefulpawsaugusta.com/ and https://www.pupperspets.com/.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering education in Columbia County and business-related topics for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
