Wildside's new owner...please read

I was looking on CL to see what was out there and I stumbled on this. Please read.

Pet Enthusiast shop/Community Center
Email: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Phone: (253) 472-0193
Location: 5218 S Tacoma Way
Date: 2014-03-26 4:40pm

Hello Pet Keepers,

When I saw that the Wildside was going to go under, I felt compelled to do something. "No," I thought. I do not want to see another independent shop go under. I am not a fan of the nationwide chains, although they do what they can do, and do it fairly well. Wildside definitely had its issues. The concept, however, I was a fan of. So, I worked out a deal to save it.

A robbery (which the details are still very shady), having to relocate what was returned by the police and be out of the current building almost immediately, having to find a place to keep the critters and remaining inventory safe, then finding out that actually there was no way we could even keep the Name "Wildside" due to the issues that closed their doors, and finally having to completely start a new business from scratch (every detail) all on my own....... well, lets say I have had better 2 month periods in my life.

What was I trying to do anyways?
Well, I am a therapeutic foster parent and I parent 3 teenage young men who need a break in life and a safe and sound loving home. Great. I can honestly say I achieved my goals with them. But, something was missing. In 6 short months my 17 year old will be out of foster care. Where does that leave him? Well, at that point at the end of January he would be responsible for starting his life with no diploma or job experience at all. How would he possibly be able to survive, legally that is? So, everything started to come together in my mind. I owned and operated a group of old fashioned pet shops in the Midwest for about 10 years. I decided to leave the industry, Move home to my home state of Washington, and "do something new". I have watched what working with animals, and building a community of people had done for several other of my teenage employees from the old stores. I watched all of them bloom, and was always very proud of that contribution. And I had an "ah ha" moment, as Oprah would say. "What if these boys had a safe environment to learn basic customer service skills and cashier responsibilities, where they can make mistakes and learn without the frustration and setback of actually loosing the job"? And lets not forget the therapeutic value of working with animals.

So, I made it happen. I started talking to the head honchos in the agencies, which immediately became a fan of such a program. Even to the point that they were counting how many teenagers they were responsible for that they would like to get on board. Some from group homes, and others from foster homes. All of which need to gain these very basic work skills.

Now, we have a new home. Did we compromise? Absolutely. Our new home has been well loved and comes with quite a history! But, its a home for our business. Wildside Pets became "Companion Pets and Exotics, LLC". New owner, completely new business plan and mission, new guidelines and standards for cleanliness and customer relations, and a passion to help all of the customers in our city of Tacoma nurture the pets they love, as well as help a few new families find a companion to love! We have a long ways to go before the work on the building is complete! But, we made sure we opened as soon as possible so people could get what they need for their critters and furbabies. We are struggling with getting customers in the door. Some people think we are still Wildside. Others are just tired of the drama and moves, and have just become disinterested or moved on. WE GET IT! But, we have a plan to be so much more. I have no desire to draw a salary anytime soon. This LLC needs to be self supporting. I will give as much time as I can to it, but again the customers have to be present and supporting for the boys in the program to learn and have the experiences. We want to have clubs and Groups for different enthusiasts. Do you love Chinchillas? Great! Our chinchilla socialization group meets every other Wednesday. What about doing that Salt Water reef tank you have always dreamt of having? How about join our weekly group for 8 weeks and each week watch the process in store, then go home and do the same thing to your own tank. By the end of the 8th Week, Poof! You have a Reef in your home to enjoy!

And, of course, the benefit of giving these teens the tools it takes for them to succeed in life beyond 18 and being in foster care. Not just my 3 boys, but multiple young men and women throughout our county in different locations. Then maybe one step further.... and if I know animal people, they will develop relationships and contacts with the customers which will lead them to full time careers, or opportunities they never even dreamt of. Pretty cool, Right? We call this Community, People! Now, include some rescue work, and animal rehabilitation in our program and suddenly not only do we have community and futures, but now we have passion, compassion, bonds and relationships, work ethic and an extended family. I've watched it happen in my other stores. We called them Groupies. But, now I realize it was more like family. Suddenly, both the community and the kids end up with so much more than they even dreamed of.

So, that's what this new "Companion Pets" Place is all about! Please consider giving us a shot next time you need fish food, or a new chew toy for your furbaby. We are not yet fully stocked. Business has been slow, and as I said I need for this (after my initial investment for startup) to be self supporting. Tacoma needs a PET CENTER like this, or a place for hobbyists with similar interests to congregate and compare pictures of their ball python Morph, or the rare aquatic plant they worked to flourish. And, My boys need Tacoma!

Are you a Guru in one specific area such as fish keeping or House Birds? Maybe you have a cool side business and make bird toys and sell them at craft fairs. CONTACT US! We want to support all of you! Do you raise animals? We have a full line store and are working to build a whole community of breeders that can support our needs and the quality and health demands we must insist upon. Can we order little Timmys Corn snake from a laboratory like the National chains do? Certainly. I would much prefer however, to support the guy that raises corn snakes here in Tacoma and the snake was hatched in our environmental elements and water type, and did not get stressed out when it was shipped across the country. That is what a pet store should be all about ladies and Gents, Not ordering a Poodle puppy from a broker, who shipped it in from a Missouri Puppy mill!

In Summery, my little pipe dream needs a few supporters. We need the compassionate and loving animal keeping community to be present, and to be patient with us while we work to overcome all of these obstacles which have resulted. We need competent and passionate breeders, and the families that will give them amazing forever homes! We need our community!

My Very Best Wishes and Hopes in seeing you soon,

Jason

CommentsShow Original

I'd love to support this as I not only work with troubled youth daily, but also admire our independent pet shops..... I will have to go check it out! I wonder what kind of fish they will carry.

Thats awesome. Lloyd, let me know when you plan on visiting, I would love to meet you there

I didn't realize that the Wildside had closed. I never made it out to see their new location. I'll have to check this new place out -- see if they'd be interested in any African cichlids.   

I love how it's titled, pet enthusiast shop/community center. I hope that everything works out for them. definitely will be making a trip out there.

I would like to see a bunch of us visit around the same time and show that the local forum will help support them.

I loved having the Wildside close to my house when it was on 112th and Canyon. When they moved they just were not in my normal travels so I did not go. I hated how badly the old place smelled but it was convenient for weird things like buying crickets to feed to the fish and a place to donate fish that I did not want to wait to sell. I really like the sound of this new business plan, I want to go check the place out too.

I tried to call Jason today and inform him of my thoughts about posting his message on here, but no answer. I will try to call him again tomorrow and ask if he'll register in the box. Moreover, I agree that a show of support for all of us would be a great thing not only for us but for wildside and the community. It's rare to find someone that is selfless and in business for profit. Let's do this Boxers!!!

Jason seems to be a stand up guy for sure! I spent some time in there again today (second time going into the shop) and we brainstormed some ideas to really turn this into a "community" of pet lovers and breeders. I also dropped off a sponsor store application for him to fill out as he is very interested in becoming a sponsor store for the GSAS.

What we discussed is still up in the air but look for some really cool events happening at this shop once the shop is up to full force and rocking. I really like his openness to ideas and I think there will definitely be some cool and totally new things happening that other shops do not do.

Madness wrote:I would like to see a bunch of us visit around the same time and show that the local forum will help support them.

Would definitely be interested in a few of us on this forum making the short trip to his store to show our local support.

I'm down. Thursday or Fridays work best for me.