×
×
homepage logo
LOGIN
SUBSCRIBE

Local pet supply store under new ownership

By ADAM URQUHART - Staff Writer | Mar 15, 2020

HUDSON – A local pet supply store is now under new ownership, with a new name and new plans to offer additional products and different classes.

Husband and wife duo Carola and Dominick Mandeville took over Chasing Our Tails on October 1, changing the store name to Happy Tails NH. Since acquiring the business at 76 Derry Road 6A in Hudson, the couple has since been expanding the products they carry to include some that were not previously on stores shelves, such as a full line of harnesses and training collars.

Additional plans also are brewing to bring more cat supplies to the store, especially given that Carola soon noticed the store features four aisles of dog products and only one aisle for cat products. With plans to expand their cat product line in the works, the store also has a section catered to smaller animals such as rabbits, gerbils, guinea pigs and similar animals.

When deciding which products to carry, Carola also said the store is trying to promote other local businesses. For example, Happy Tails now carries a line of treats that are made across the bridge in Nashua, as well as pet bandanas that are made locally by a woman in Litchfield.

“We’re trying to promote small local businesses in our product line, along with continuing our philosophy of natural ingredients,” Carola said. “A lot of our food comes from, I’ll say, mom and pop businesses in the U.S. that only prefer to deal with independent stores and not big chains.”

She also said the store welcomes feedback on the products they have available, and that they are trying to carry as much as possible to keep pets healthy. In the back of the store, there is a room available that Carola is considering using to offer different classes, such as dog obedience training. She said those classes could begin in the fall.

Carola employs four people, and was actually employed by the previous owner of Chasing Our Tails for just under a year. She and Dominick also have been customers of the store, purchasing treats for their dog.

The way the two acquired the business is that this previous owner Stephen Trachtenberg came across the opportunity to purchase a meat packing and processing plant in Minnesota. Carola said he decided that was going to be his next big business, and moved the whole Chasing Our Tails operation out there, and selling his house in Hudson. However, Trachtenberg was left with the retail store.

Chasing Our Tails produces a line pet treats, and Carola said he is now raising his own livestock for those treats as well, and believes Happy Tails is the only store that carries his full line of products in the area. While those treats are still being produced, the Chasing Our Tails store switched names upon changing hands, and Carola said he wanted to sell to people he knew and that would care about the business.

Since the previous owner and her husband are friends, and she used to work at the store, the couple came to acquire the business. Carola also said the store manager, Jessica Lanfair, still is working there from when Trachtenberg owned the store, and said having her stay on board has helped make the transition easy, and nice for the customers to see a friendly face, too.

“It’s been great to see how many people we know in the community that come here,” Carola said.

Adam Urquhart may be contacted at 594-1206, or at aurquhart@nashuatelegraph.com.

Newsletter

Join thousands already receiving our daily newsletter.

Interests
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *