With a goal of developing six to eight locations a year, Jacksonville-based Pet Paradise intends to fetch more customers with a new prototype that should open next spring in the Bartram area.
Features were added as Pet Paradise reviewed surveys and comments from the owners of the dogs and cats cared for at the boarding, grooming and day-camp provider.
“It’s a huge market and we’re trying to provide these high levels of experience,” said Brian Franco, vice president of real estate.
New to the design are more shade structures, trees, covered porches and misting stations in the outside play yard; a redesigned lobby with the registration desk to the side and a dominating view of the dog-bone-shaped pool and the yard; a splash area for small dogs; and a tour area that shows pet owners the functions of the property.
Other features include a layout that encourages staff efficiency and more interior VIP rooms for dogs that add special care such as plush beds, ice cream and a webcam so that owners can monitor their pets remotely.
Those rooms also can be used by multiple pets in the same family.
The day-camp business has increased and gets more attention in the new prototype.
Lisa Tarr, vice president of marketing and communications, said customers not only use the day camp for convenience but to socialize their pets.
Tarr said five years ago, dog day camp was considered a luxury. Now, she said, it’s becoming part of some household budgets.
Pet Paradise Resort submitted plans for the Bartram prototype on 1.7 acres at northwest Race Track Road and Walden Springs Way. Franco said the location is on the Duval-St. Johns county line, but Duval will handle most of the permitting.
Franco anticipates construction will start in July and be completed by April or May.
Goodson Nevin and Associates is the consulting engineer for the project. Kasper Architects and Associates is the architect.
Plans show an administration building, kennels with indoor and outdoor space, a dog pool and other amenities. It will offer 185 dog suites along with a cattery for about 10 felines.
Plans also show an apartment. Tarr said most Pet Paradise resorts provide an apartment for a manager, which is a security function and provides peace of mind for pet owners.
The centers average 20-30 full- and part-time employees.
The Bartram location would be the fourth Pet Paradise in the area, with one in St. Augustine, one along University Boulevard West next to the headquarters and another near Jacksonville International Airport.
The 15-year-old company, whose corporate name is American Pet Resort LLC, operates in seven states — Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, New Mexico and Texas.
It began when founder Fred Goldsmith led a group of investors who bought the first Pet Paradise resort and soon expanded to two locations. In 2005 they built the first airport prototype location in Jacksonville.
Pet Paradise employs more than 850 people, including corporate staff, and operates 27 locations throughout the Southern U.S. and three underway.
The company said that in June it entered a partnership with Crane Group, a family-owned holding and management company based in Columbus, Ohio.
Crane now has majority interest in Pet Paradise, which it said will allow “innovation, growth and new opportunities for the company.”
The deal provides the ability to invest in improvements throughout the system.
“We’re putting the infrastructure in place to grow,” Franco said.
Franco and Tarr said there are three primary avenues for growth: New ground-up development, such as in Bartram; acquisition and re-branding of existing pet centers; and offering additional services.
The Bartram location will be the first newly built center since 2009, Franco said.
Most of the anticipated centers also will be new construction.
Franco said sites will be 1.7-2 acres.
Pet Paradise targets the Southeast and Southwest U.S. for expansion, specifically North and South Carolina, Florida, Alabama and Texas.
Franco expects to start construction on five locations this year. The subsequent development will depend on the market.
In addition to the Wesley Chapel resort, Pet Paradise will open a new location in Mooresville, N.C. Those two resemble the current prototype but will include elements of the new one.
Franco and Tarr said Pet Paradise also is designing a prototype for an all-indoor resort, which sometimes is necessary because of zoning regulations.
Pet Paradise has developed eight airport-area locations in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina and Texas.
Franco and Tarr said the customer base is increasing among two groups: millennials who acquire a dog before they settle down and empty nesters who might add a pet.
Both groups like to travel, they said, which increases the need for boarding.
Rates vary by location, but the center near its corporate headquarters starts at $42 a day for dog boarding and $30 for a full day of camp. Cats start at $24 a day for boarding.
And the day camp comes into play because, Tarr said, some owners don’t want their dog “home all day by himself.”
In the petparadiseresort.com FAQ section, under “What does my pet do all day,” it says your dog “will relax in a private and spacious suite, go out for playtimes, swim in the pool, or lounge on the outdoor patio.”
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