The Island’s oldest pet shop is seeking a new keeper after 25 years under the ownership of the same family.
The current owners of Shanklin Pet Stores, which originally opened in 1965, have decided to market the store after experiencing poor health, with the added stress of the coronavirus lockdown. Despite this, Aaron and Andy – who run the store – say that an upturn in visitors has been noted as people stay away from larger stores and shop local.
Shanklin Pet Stores’ listing described the shop as coming with everything needed to continue a busy animal business, including £35,000 in stock, all the shelving and fixtures and even trigger’s broom!
On the shop’s website, a statement said:
“After 25 years in the family its time to say goodbye, due to poor health we can no longer carry on running the shop.
“The pet shop was first opened in 1965 and has been a thriving business ever since, last year was a tough year due to covid but the shop stayed open the whole lockdown and carried on as normal, we even saw a rise in customers as more people shopped locally to avoid the bigger shops.”
For those interested in a new career in pet shop ownership, the current team are offering to stay on to provide the new management with all the support they need to get up and running.
The store is listed online and the full details of everything included in the sale can be found on a dedicated page on its website.
That is such a shame, lovely people, I hope it stays open, have they still Got that Gray parrot in the window,I used to spend hours talking to it whilst awaiting a haircut next door,he was a real gent, but was so slow and laid back I used to fall asleep in there,bless him, happy days,
We still have ollie but he is retired and lives at home now , Lets hope the next owners had as much fun as we have had and enjoy 25 years like us
Aaron and Andy, thank you for all your kind customer service over the years. So sad to see you go. Wishing you well. The penultimate sentence of this news-article just shows what kindly people you are.
Thank you , We are going to miss the shop but time moves on
I remember Timothy the parrot
I still remember Timothy, I’m 37 now and I still talk about him, he used to say ” look at me” amazing place! all the best, and thank you for the memory’s