Today we’d like to introduce you to James Meadows.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I was laid off during the recession and after a few years unable to find work other than part time minimum wage jobs, my sister was able to get me hired on as bather where she worked. At that location, I realized how much I enjoyed the job and I was eager to learn to groom. The groomers there took me under their wing and taught me the majority of what I needed to know. With that knowledge, I was able to find a job as a full groomer and worked for the next five years between 2 shops. In 2017, after working for others for many years, I decided that I wanted to open a shop myself and be my own boss, my father had been recently retired and we talked about it, after some consideration my sister decided to join us. My father’s girlfriend was also a groomer that my sister and I had worked with and came on board as well. A family friend also came on board to help out. With our father financing the business, the 5 of us began looking for a suitable location. We had a few prospects lined up when we lucked into finding our current location in July 2017. With the space secured, we began building it out and purchasing equipment. By October 2017, we were open for business and by November, I had left any other jobs and was concentrating full time at Meadows Pet Care. It has been just under two years and we have grown from a few dogs a week in the early days to service an average of a dozen per day. The original idea was just Meadows Pet Grooming, but we chose Meadows Pet Care because to us it isn’t just about grooming for the pets, it is about caring for them, each of us has a pet and we know that they are family, we treat every dog like it is our own.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest struggle has been finding a good employee, of the five owners 3 of us are groomers, but we aren’t all available every day. My sister still works another job and my father’s girlfriend Julie is a little older and can’t handle a full schedule, as it is I am the only one that grooms at the shop full time and occasionally come in on my days off to help. We have had a few employees and have had different problems with each. Currently we have one employee, a friend of mine, as a bather but he is only available one day a week to help us out. The main challenge is that we are still growing and cannot guarantee that we will have a full schedule every day, so experienced groomers and bathers do not want to work somewhere that cannot guarantee that. An inexperienced bather we would be able to teach but due to the inexperience they are inherently slower at completing the work, thus we cannot afford to pay them over minimum wage.
Please tell us about Meadows Pet Care.
We are a pet grooming business, primarily we groom dogs, but my sister is also an experienced cat groomer and Julie has experience with some other non traditional pets. We have an open shop concept, most groom shops have a small lobby and they take the pets into the back out of view for the grooming, here we are open to the public, you can stay and watch your pet get the groom if you are nervous, although for most pets this is a distraction that can cause anxiety, however, some pets have done better when the owner is around. We have several fenced off areas where the pets can wait without having to be in a kennel, some dogs prefer the kennel and some are very anti-kennel, we try to assess each dog and keep them where they are most comfortable when we are not actively working on them. We also have a self wash area where anyone can come and wash their pet for a fraction of the cost to have us do it in most cases. We are very proud of our excellent customer service, our reviews speak for themselves. Lastly, we are open seven days a week, most shops close on Sunday or even Monday, but we are available every day except for certain holidays.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I remember after our family dog passed away, my brother had been very attached to her and my parents decided to get him a new puppy, we all went to get the dog and while he was choosing his puppy, I was falling in love with another one that was available. My brother picked his dog and I was sad to leave the one I wanted. When I got home from school the next day, I walked in to find that my parents had gone and picked up the other dog for me. I had that dog for 15 years before he passed away.
Pricing:
- Self Wash $12
- Nail Trim $12
- Full Service dog grooming requires quote.
- Cat Bath $60
- Cat Haircut $70
- Cat Bath & Haircut $90
Contact Info:
- Address: 985 Woodland Pkwy St. 119
San Marcos, CA 92069 - Website: sanmarcosgrooming.com
- Phone: 7607477387
- Email: mpcgroom@gmail.com
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/meadows-pet-care-san-marcos
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