Santa Paws: 2012 retail forecast

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Whether we like it or not, it is officially the holiday season.  Thank goodness I love to shop.  Stony Point Fashion Park is brilliant and I will make every effort to patronize businesses there rather than the non-doggy enthused alternatives.

The 2012 holiday season is gearing up to be “one of the busiest in years,” according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).  The NRF projects a four percent increase in spending on holiday loot—gifts, cards, trees and décor—to $586.1 billion, with greatest attention to gift picks.  This is where the dog economy can chime in.

Young professionals are staying single longer, and with this rising trend many take the starter family plunge via furry child.  If (factually) more Americans have dogs than kids, and more dog owners treat their dogs like family members, it is a safe bet to drive investment in canine gift giving.  An added bonus, stagnant household incomes have shown less affect on the pet product purchases than on people.  I.e., dog lovers are fanatical and will sacrifice their own indulgences before their pet’s.

Experts say more than half of the holiday shoppers will purchase online.  Web-based businesses in RVA, like Best Bully Sticks and Wag-in-the-Box, will see amplified traffic.

Exclusive offer for RVA Muttropolis readers:

Receive $5 off any Wag-in-the-Box purchase this fall!  Promo code: (case sensitive!) 5Wags4RVAMuttropolis

You’ve likely heard the buzz around Birch Box for people; well, this is Fido’s local-to-RVA edition.  Sample the best boutique shop treats, chews, and toys—all natural and health conscious ingredients.  It makes for the perfect gift for the dog-lover, especially those who have it all!  Wag-in-the-Box will also make a donation to a charity of your choosing, like Fetch a Cure.

Gift a friend a few months subscription and they’ll thank you over and over again.  Here’s to waggy tails.

THE DOG ECONOMY:  
It’s bigger than the beauty product industry.  Wrap your paws around that for a minute.

American Pet Products Association (APPA) reports that its 2011-2012 National Pet Owners survey found 62 percent of United States households own a pet; that’s roughly 72.9 million homes.  It also reports that in 2011, $50.96 billion—yes, with a B—was spent on pets in the United States.

How to make money in the $50 billion pet industry.

We love this: Wine Dogs

Richmond Times-Dispatch reports: At Veritas Vineyards and Winery, wine dogs play important role.  Although it is near Crozet, just west of Charlottesville, we love this vineyard.  We do need to work on bringing back their dog-friendly Starry Nights summertime events, however.

Hank, a brown and white hound, lounged in the shade of the grapevines at Veritas Vineyards and Winery in Afton recently.

He rose from his spot in the grass and padded off through the lines of grapes, patrolling the vineyard for unwanted critters.

Hank is one of five wine dogs Veritas keeps in the vineyard. Their jobs are to keep deer and small animals, like groundhogs, away from the fruit by chasing them away and barking. Their scent also deters bears from coming to the vineyard, said Ruth Terry, who takes care of the winery’s animals.

“They try to keep more grapes on the vine,” Terry said.  Continue reading at RTD.

Howl-O-Ween in RVA

Within a neighborhood crowd of hundreds, I took the blue ribbon for a costume contest.  At five years old, I was Little Bo Peep and my Yorkshire Terrier, Duchess, was the sheep.  My mom helped me glue about 100 cotton balls onto a baby costume.  Duchess surprisingly loved it.  Maybe it was warm or maybe she just basked in the attention.  In the end, the judges revoked my “best costume of the year” after public backlash—Duchess was oozing so much cuteness that they disqualified us as unfair competition.  Sour grapes?

For the love of blogging, I will share this photo. Circa 1980’s.

Luckily, canine costume contests are now all the rage.  I like to think that I played some small part in the trendsetting.  Duchess is posthumously a trailblazer.

Here are three costume contests for Fido in the RVA area this month:

Costumes for a Cure: October 30, 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. happy yappy hour, followed by pet costume contest at Station 2.  Sponsored by Fetch a Cure, Wag-in-the-Box, CVVA, inLieu, and Station 2.

Stony Point Fashion Park: Costume Contest for dogs October 21 from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.  Prizes sponsored by Three Dog Bakery.  Refreshments and trick-or-treats for pups. 

Chesterfield County: Calling all costumed canines! The Ruff House Dog Park is hosting its annual Howl-A-Woof event at Rockwood Park, Saturday, Oct. 20, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Dogs big and small can compete in a costume contest to see which is the best dressed, while humans can enjoy food and drinks, and browse the merchandise available for sale. A musical sit competition will challenge both two and four-legged competitors. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Friends of Ruff House Dog Park, a not-for-profit volunteer organization sanctioned by the Chesterfield County Department of Parks and Recreation to maintain and improve the park and enforce rules. 

You barked: Dog run in Shockoe Bottom

RVA dog lovers, and the not-so-inclined, have pinged back with questions in response to Make a pit stop in the Muttropolis.  Mainly, they want visuals of what I’m talking about in terms of a place for your pooch.  While the surrounding development plan—a tourist hub and minor league ballpark potentially—in Shockoe Bottom is yet to be formally rendered in the latest visionary forecasts, I can offer an example of what I believe is a top-notch dog run.

This takes us north to the District of Columbia; DuPont Circle specifically. 

I realize not everyone will share this enthusiasm for what may be perceived as the crème de la crème of dog parks.  These spaces can offer a two-for-one deal by creating a dual green space: an area designated for a dog run, and then an adjacent park for people.

HOW DO WE GET THERE?

• Capital funding/budgets
• Private investment from the dog owner community
• Grants

Before making the case for a dog park politically, we need a community of believers and wanters behind it.  Are you in? 

In full disclosure, a friend of mine made a good point: We don’t want to designate RVA as the place for “crottes de chien”—translation: dog poop (he didn’t say it as lovely as that but I’ll spare you).  This is about attracting people, the thousands of tourists among the millions who own a dog in America, to take a pit stop off the interstate and check us out and ultimately (hopefully) contribute to the tax base while they’re at it. 

Dog parks should not stop at Shockoe Bottom; they should be detailed in the City’s river park system plan and peppered throughout our quaint neighborhoods.  But more on that to come. 

@GoSquirrels

Men’s Health: “Best Cities for Dogs”

Photo Courtesy: Susan Lazear

Richmond didn’t make the cut.  In fact, on a list of 100 cities, ranging from best (1) to worst (100), Richmond wasn’t anywhere on the radar.  Yet, I’ve got a ticket for me and my maltipoo to the Flying Squirrels’ Bark in the Park Night this evening.  Baseball and man’s best friend—it might not get any better than that.  Maybe Men’s Health should add “things to do with your dog” to their rating index.

Here’s their formula:

Crunch the per capita numbers of dog parks, dog-friendly apartments, vets, animal shelters, and pet stores and services, along with the percentage of dog owners. Finally, we factored in state laws against animal cruelty, dog fighting, and puppy mills.

Virginia cities that did make the list: Chesapeake got a B-, Virginia Beach was rated C+.  Ouch.

Number one ranked: Portland, Oregon.  That’s an interesting find as Portland prides itself on a highly-regarded pro-cycling community and healthy lifestyles.  With Richmond’s rising grassroots and grasstops for cycling distinction, rallied behind the anticipated Richmond 2015 World Road Cycling Championships, I believe we share similar healthy habit characteristics to Portland.  And “Men’s Health” clearly cares about the healthy lifestyle aspects.

Captain Obvious: Dogs encourage a healthy lifestyle.  For economic development purposes from the business standpoint, a community that supports a healthy lifestyle is a draw for companies looking to relocate.  Businesses like to invest in wellness.  So while we invest in cycling as a healthy habit, we should continue to promote the health qualities of a dog-friendly community like Portland.

The concept of Richmond landing in ratings like this one actually has legs.  We just need to amp-up action and perception.

To Do:

• Repair my beach cruiser’s wicker basket so Jack (the maltipoo) can ride shotgun.
• Email Men’s Health to make sure they know about the RVA dog edge.

I’ll let you know if I hear back.

See: Best Cities for Dogs, Men’s Health – September 2012 issue

Citron pour le chien

I make it a point to hunt down authentic chocolate croissants on my travels, and made no omission during my British West Indies trip last week.  I managed to find Lemon, a European coffee shop (Turks and Caicos has a little French flair – love it!), in the Regent Village on Grace Bay.  While I was ooo-ing and ahh-ing at the combination of pastries and fresh cut flowers, I noticed through the window what looked to be a golden retriever catching a water break by the front door.  What is more, there were paw prints in the sidewalk.  Charming!  I went back the next day.

News Flash: Bark about baseball

The morning after I posted “Make a pit stop in Muttropolis,” on the front fold of the Richmond Times-Dispatch was the headline: Shockoe Bottom back in ballpark conversation.  Hello opportunity!

You may be aware of the Flying Squirrels’ Bark in the Park Night—a blend of baseball and man’s best friend, what more could you want?

Bark in the park is not exclusive to the RVA, but maybe we can make something that is; the ideas are inexhaustible.

 

Make a pit stop in the MUTTROPOLIS

Pee Pee Dance
Image source:
Sammy Vicious – WordPress

A few weeks ago, some hoopla over a supposedly controversial “Get Off in Richmond” billboard sign along I-95 went trending (something about sexual innuendo).  According to the sign sponsors, the piece was intended to be a local tourism draw for passersby.  My take:  Whoever smelt it, dealt it.

I propose another sign along I-95 that encourages travelers to get off, and yes, make some smelly things. When you’re traveling with your furry family, they need to hit the rest stop here and there, too.  In the spirit of trip efficiency, you try to take care of your business and your dog’s at the same time—but that doesn’t mean you want to mosey around the dumpsters of a McDonald’s.

Consider this:  A designated “Pet Pit Stop” with lush grass and neighboring parking in Shockoe Bottom near the rising train shed which is a shovel ready project for a central tourist hub in the city.  While we can promote the leisurely incentives to hopping off I-95 into the heart of Richmond, the imperative—i.e., having to pee—is usually a no-brainer.

So your pooch might not do the pee pee dance from the passenger’s seat, but who wouldn’t want to take that pit stop at an attractive destination where they can simultaneously sample our downtown?

At a recent charrette workshop for Shockoe Bottom revitalization I suggested we literally stand up a giant faux pineapple to signify the gateway of southern hospitality.  I think my idea was pretty cool (toot-toot) and the pineapple can welcome both our two-legged and four-legged tourists in chorus.  Plus, economic data reveals the money people spend on their dogs is astonishing.  Think of the potential payback if the train shed housed a Three Dog Bakery in company with a pet pit stop.  On the other hand you don’t need a dog-industry specific storefront; you just need retail that welcomes dogs so families with Fido in tow can patronize businesses.

It’s legitimate to worry about the residual—the poop.  I assume this topic would be one of much debate.  Let’s not miss the point that this dog-welcoming entrée to Richmond could very well pay dividends, economically and for quality of life, in a place where we’re trying to reinvigorate what has in recent history been plagued by blighted property and vagabonds.  We can find ways to mitigate the potential problem with proper disposal stations.

Travelers can stick with the traditional Rest Area dog walks that require them to stay back a gazillion feet from public restrooms where you might feel like you’ll be carjacked and no one will hear the screams because you’re parked in desolate real estate in Intercourse, PA (now that is a sexual reference—ok, so it’s not exactly near I-95 but you get the point) OR; they could stroll around a first-rate puppy pit stop in the heart of charming Virginia.  For many dog parents, your pooch is your kid, and no mama bear wants to hang around some nasty gas station restroom.  So slap on a snazzy (or not so snazzy) sign along I-95 and let the Bottom boom.