Ashley Kirch grooms a dog Monday at the Ark Pet Spa & Hotel on East Brainerd Road.Name: The Ark Pet Spa & Hotel
Location: The Ark opened a new location at 7760 East Brainerd Road. The company's original location is at 1100 Dayton Blvd.
Contact information: 423-521-8888 for the East Brainerd Road location, 423-634-0466 for the Dayton Boulevard site, www.thearkspa.com
Products/services: Boarding, grooming, day care and training for dogs, cats and exotic pets. A night of boarding costs $14.50 for a cat, $25 for a small dog and $30 for a large dog. Day care costs $20 a day.
Age: The new Ark location fully opened this month after the completion of its training facility. The East Brainerd Road site had a soft opening in October. The Ark first opened in Chattanooga in 2006.
Franchising: The Ark's founder, Jay Floyd, had future franchising in mind when he started the business. Now that he and co-founder Jimmy Adams have had success with their pet spa concept, they hope to open and sell franchises in the region. "I branded it in a very corporate, commercial way so we could go in that direction," Floyd said. They hope to launch their franchising effort by the end of the year.
Design: The facility's design is a key to the Ark's success. Floyd prides himself on the cleanliness of his facilities, a quality aided by flood drains which make pet play areas easy to clean. "We're constantly cleaning. As soon as those dogs go up for feeding, we have to clean those floors," he said. "Now that we've built our second one, we feel like we're the experts in building."
Biggest reward: Interacting with customers. Both owners are passionate about their pets, and sharing that passion with their clients makes running the business fun. "We have made more connections and friends through taking care of their pets than anything," Floyd said. "They just love, love, love talking about their pets."