Pet groomers setting up shop on North Andover's Main Street

Drake Lucas

NORTH ANDOVER | Marissa Furnari considered having a baby at 40 years old, but she decided on a dog instead.

Amarone, her Coton de Tulear, gets her motherly love and all the toys she can buy, including Coach collars, a leather jacket and a harness strap so he can ride in his "aunt's" convertible.

"He's such a mommy's boy," said Furnari of Methuen. "People make fun of me and say I treat my dog like he's my child. You know what? He is my child."

Furnari and Amarone are not unique in the area, where dogs are the recipients of designer accessories and regular haircuts.

Nowhere is this more apparent than on North Andover's Main Street, where three dog-grooming shops are a short walk apart, and two of them have opened within the last nine months. A new Petco is also being built on Route 114, which would give North Andover the most grooming shops of any area town, surpassing the four listed for Andover, the two in Methuen and the one listed in Lawrence.

Lisa Medeiros is owner of the most recent shop, Groom Town Pet Boutique & Spa, which opened in February.

People called her daring for deciding to open a shop between two other grooming places on Main Street | Doggie Den, which opened in October, and Carol's Pet Care, which has been tucked next to the fire station for more than 25 years.

Medeiros has a following of regular customers and many walk-ins.

"I think there might be enough business to go around, there are so many dogs," she said.

North Andover's dog count is at 2,600.

Janet Eaton in the town clerk's office keeps track of all the dog licenses. She said German shepherds, Labradors and golden retrievers are popular, but designer breeds are the latest thing.

That's when main breeds are crossed to make up new dogs, often with cute-sounding names to match, such as golden doodles (golden retriever crossed with a poodle), cockapoos (cocker spaniel crossed with a poodle) and puggles (pugs crossed with beagles).

Carol Farrington, owner of Carol's Pet Care, recently had a dog in her shop that was a cross between a Labrador and a Rottweiler.

"Years ago, they were mongrels," she said. "Now they are designer. Everybody wants something different than their neighbor."

Farrington said the trick to staying on top of the business is being able to adapt to new breeds and groom them to look good when a standard has not yet been set and to continue to build relationships with the familiar breeds that will always be around.

Denise LeTourneau, owner of Doggie Den, said she plans to survive the growing dog business by catering to a special crowd, many of whom came with her when she moved her shop from Haverhill to North Andover in October.

She is unconcerned about Petco or the business up the street because she offers specialty food not found in many stores and she has made a name for herself by grooming soft-footed terriers, which her family used to breed.

She pointed to the dog on the table.

"I've been grooming him since he was the size of his head," she said.

Just as in any other business, she said, dog owners and the dogs themselves build a relationship with the groomer and the shop. She isn't surprised when her clients drive from other states to drop off the dog for a regular visit.

LeTourneau said those looking for an inexpensive haircut just to trim the fur may not care so much where they go, but people who know what they are looking for are going to go somewhere that caters to their specific needs.

Kelly Lacourse of North Andover said she definitely shopped around before settling on Carol's Pet Care, where she has been taking her Lhasa apso, Rosie, for a couple of years.

For someone Lacourse considers a member of the family, uneven haircuts were not an option, and she wanted to find a place where she and Rosie would be happy.

Lacourse said her dog deserves to look good.

"Rosie is quite a little princess around the home," she said.


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