Owners and operators, Jim & April Pinkstaff
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About A Pampered Pooch:
We are Jim and April Pinkstaff, a husband and wife team who owns and operates A Pampered Pooch. We've been pampering pooches in the Daytona Beach area for 45 years now, and have loved getting to know our customers and their precious pets along the way! At A Pampered Pooch we represent many years of experience in grooming and caring for your pet. We offer dog grooming, baths, hair styles, flea dips, "pet-icures," as well as a full line of professional pest control products for flea and tick control for your pets, home, yard, and business. Check out our "Grooming" tab to see just how much we include in every pet grooming, so that your best pal is truly a pampered pooch! Please take a moment to look over all of the information we have to offer on our website. You can even submit a photo of your pet for us to display on our website and Facebook page! Also, below is a copy of the Daytona Beach News Journal article about A Pampered Pooch! |
Pet grooming business to celebrate 40 years
By Nancy Niles
[email protected]
Published: Monday, February 3, 2014 at 5:30 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 31, 2014 at 9:33 p.m.
ORMOND BEACH -- Jim Pinkstaff spent his entire adolescence being groomed by his father for a career grooming others.
Next Monday, Pinkstaff and his wife April will join friends, customers and chamber of commerce members in a ribbon-cutting event to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the family’s business, A Pampered Pooch & Day Spa in Ormond Beach.
Pet grooming “is something I grew up in. We can do anything you see anywhere and we can do it better. I can do it with my eyes closed, almost,” Pinkstaff said with a laugh. “I groom dogs in my sleep sometimes.”
Pinkstaff studied under his father, Gene Pinkstaff, since he was a child in Boston. The family moved to Ormond Beach in 1974 and opened up their first local shop on Granada Boulevard. They relocated to a then-Winn Dixie-anchored shopping center on Yonge Street some years later for more parking.
In 1991, Pinkstaff’s parents decided to retire and left him the business which he moved to its current location at 295 S. Yonge St. because it was a “larger, cleaner” space on a busy strip of highway, he said. He also began grooming larger breeds and changed the name from A Pampered Poodle to A Pampered Pooch to reflect the spa’s expanded services.
Pinkstaff said that while business climate along the city’s U.S. 1 corridor has slowed down considerably since then, his business been successful at its location for more than two decades because its clientele is 90 percent repeat business.
“When they bring their dog here they know it’s going to be done right and they know it’s going to be treated right,” Pinkstaff said. “We just love our customers and they love us.”
A Pampered Pooch & Day Spa’s services range from the full grooming package to à la carte services such as nail clipping and even hair coloring. Pinkstaff said he specializes in cuts designed to reduce the heat stress pets suffer under the Florida sun.
“With the heat and humidity, dogs mat up really badly,” Pinkstaff said. “We’ve got customized clips for the Florida environment. Low-maintenance, easy to take care of.”
Pinkstaff said that kind of knowledge is where 40 years of experience comes in. Unlike the field of cosmetology, dog grooming is unregulated and unlicensed.
“Most all privately-owned grooming shops, very few of them have ever been to a school because it’s almost impossible to learn to groom all the different breeds in just a year or two of schooling,” Pinkstaff said. “It’s more of an apprenticeship-type thing. It starts with bathing and cutting nails. A dog can bleed to death if you cut the nails wrong.”
Over the years, Pinkstaff said he’s learned so much about the animals he cares for that he’s been able to customize his shop to cater to his four-legged customers’ needs. Among the many creature comforts his recently remodeled shop boasts is a pair of home-style bathtub/shower units installed specifically to reduce the stress pets experience on grooming day.
“The dogs were afraid of the stainless steel tubs. It was so foreign to them. You almost had to drag them in,” Pinkstaff said. “So we put these in and they love it. A lot of dogs will jump right in because it’s like being at home.”
On a recent visit to Pinkstaff’s business along with Mayor Ed Kelley, Rick Fraser, executive director of the Ormond Beach Chamber of Commerce, said it was clear to him why the salon has been so successful.
“They seemed to treat their customers, both the two and the four legged ones, with a very personal touch,” Fraser said. “Given today’s technology, it is most important for small businesses to maintain a personal relationship with their customers to foster loyal customers for repeat business. These happy customers will also refer new customers to the business.”
The ribbon-cutting event will be from noon-1 p.m. Light refreshments and finger foods will be served and $10 gift certificates will be given to those who attend. Tours of the remodeled salon, featuring a hand-painted mural by the late Donna Metts, a local artist, will be given.
