Jayzun Boget has worked in the reptile department of
Preuss Pets, the funky 22,000 square foot pet store in Old Town, for eight years. He lives near the shop in
Old Town and walks to work.
“To this day I can still remember the first day I set foot in the store. Within two weeks I was working here," says Boget. "Most places don’t consider habitat as part of the well-being of the animal. I came here and saw that every habitat was tailored to the specific species. They even had contests to see which staff could design the most attractive environments, and I was just floored.”
Boget is into tarantulas, and his department gets rave reviews in Internet
chat rooms covering the topic.
Pruess Pets has become a magnet for animal lovers from all over the Midwest, partly because they also act as a Match.com of sorts for the pets and people they love. This commitment to animals and people has helped the store grow and brought its owners, Rick and Debbie, back to Old Town.
One Animal to Another Debbie Preuss inherited her love for animals from her father. Rick’s came from his mother, whose tropical fish store took over their parsonage home in Troutville (yes, Troutville), Pennsylvania, displacing their family to the basement.
“My mom would be amazed at what we’ve built here,” says Rick.
To make the appropriate pet/people match, Preuss assigns each staff member to one department, doing his best to match the employee’s personality to the department.
“Our reptile staff and their customers are often younger, in their 20s, and more nonconformist and expressive—with more appreciation of the outrageous.” Rick pauses a moment. “And the last thing you want to do is have a dress code for your reptile department, because then you have no employees.”
Debbie manages the bird department, and explains that birds—many of which can live to be 50 years old—need physical and emotional involvement in their environment. Their owners tend to be older.
“You have to be sensitive to connect with a bird. There has to be a part of that in you, and that discovery is very important in the bird department,” Rick says.
“From the time a bird is four weeks old I have nine people—pre-vet students, psychology majors, socializers—that all have their roles to play very carefully,” he says.
One of them, Kelsey Stevenson, who has spent four years in Preuss’ bird department and adores an
African Grey Parrot named Domino, agrees. “Each individual bird has its own personality, and each one connects with people in a different way.”
Business GrowthRick Pruess himself is clearly a “fish person.” The shop has an extensive inventory of freshwater and salt water tropical fish. Fish customers cover a broad spectrum, but “passionate fish hobbyists tend to be more cerebral, reflective,” according to Preuss. “They like to sit and watch, as their escape and as a challenge.”
Creating environments in which fish can thrive has been a major factor in Preuss Pets’ impressive business growth.
“Our business is a nearly impossible journey,” Preuss says, and each step in the journey requires more square footage.
Take the
digenetic flukes issue. This rampant parasitic disease in the wholesale fish trade affects livebearing tropical fish. “Most stores sell them anyway,” Rick says.
“We knew if we would sell them, at least 25 percent of them would die. But it’s not just an ethical issue. When fish die, weeks later the customer blames themselves. That’s the last thing you want, because when that happens people just get out of the hobby.”
So Preuss began raising all his livebearers in on-site, controlled environments.
“Responsible consumers have been evolving in their expectations,” say the Preusses. “We have had to grow to keep up with them—to provide a place where they can go and feel like they’re going to a place that reflects their values—birds with larger cages and open perch structures, larger fish tanks with water circulation. Customers respect that.”
Return to Old TownTheir quest for more space took the Preusses out of Haslett and brought them back to Old Town, where Rick has family ties going back generations. Two Old Town buildings unrelated to the pet business have “Preuss” chiseled into their facades.
“We really had to have more space, but we wanted to be in Old Town.” Rick says their approach to business fits in Old Town, where people are “just a little past normal.”
“Before we moved here,” Preuss recalls, “we started exploring the neighborhood. We went into Elderly Instruments at two o’clock on a Friday afternoon. It’s on Washington Avenue, a little out of the way, but it was packed! That visit to Elderly made us feel that once we got past rehabbing the building, this might really work.”
Their
extensive rehab includes a number of creative elements. Local artist Tom Phillips created a striking mural on the front of the building. Rick‘s brother, Rob, built an outdoor waterfall, which serves as the source for an indoor river. And the Caribbean theme throughout the store focuses on the brightly colored bus, which houses the small animal department.
“The reptile guys were a little skeptical at first," says Rick. "They’re all about black, and I was going to paint it all kinds of crazy colors, and they said “What? This is going to intrude on my space? This looks like something out of
Dr. Seuss.” Now they all embrace it.
Next steps? Rick cites extending educational programs and the aquarium maintenance program,
Aquarium Innovations, which maintains installations in restaurants and other public venues, as possibilities.
But Debbie adds, “We don’t know what’s next. It’s what we do every day. It’s out there somewhere, and someday it will walk through the door.”
“If you had asked us this 10 years ago, we would have had no idea," Rick concurs. "Sometimes your customers determine it, and sometimes it’s the talent on your own staff that determines your next step. Kirby Adams on our staff has gotten us into coral propagation. And now that we’ve moved, we have room to do this, too.”
Rick Ballard’s lifetime of pet ownership includes four dogs, hamsters, gerbils, numerous tropical fish, an alligator, and a few thankless days sheltering a stray cat.
Dave Trumpie is the managing photographer for Capital Gains. He is a freelance photographer and owner of Trumpie Photography.
Photos:
Jayzun Boget with a Savannah Monitor named Apollo
Mural by local artist Tom Phillips on the Preuss building
Kelsey Stvenson with a Hyacinth Macaw named Alejandro
A Brazilian Rainbow Boa
Tropical Angles
Preuss Pets Caribbean themed small animal department
All Photographs © Dave Trumpie