The owner of a groundbreaking Bristol pet shop dedicated to improving dog behaviour has said she has been overwhelmed by the response when she announced it was to close after ten years. So instead of simply closing the doors of the Mutty Professor in April as planned, Roz Pooley said she will offer it up for sale, as she would ‘hate the idea of it being gone forever’.
In an emotional post on the Mutty Professor’s Facebook page, Roz announced she was closing the store in Bedminster, which has served owners and their dogs from across Bristol and beyond since 2012. But after her post outlining the reasons why, so many customers pleaded with her to rethink, that she added to the post with an update stating that she would welcome someone else coming in to take on the store.
Roz, who is a nationally-recognised expert in dog training and behaviour, runs the shop alongside her role running courses for owners. She opened the Mutty Professor, in West Street, as an extension of the Mutty Professor training school, and to help her mission to get more dogs wearing harnesses rather than leads and collars, as well as a mission to get dogs to eat more healthily.
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The store is the only one to offer harness and muzzle fittings, and has evolved into a hub for dog owners across Bristol, with puppy classes and, in recent years, a dog grooming pod on the site. But she announced late last week that the Mutty Professor would close from the end of April and downsize to being an online store.
“It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing my decision to close my shop in Bedminster,” Roz announced. She said that, while her sales had remained pretty constant, the cost of running the store with energy bills and stock had increased exponentially. She also lamented the growth in online ordering, and the shift in society away from stores which offer a personal touch.
“The world has changed, and I don't personally think it's for the better,” said Roz. “We are becoming a faceless, convenience focused society and of course, many people are facing real financial hardship. Businesses like my lovely, little shop have ever-increasing over heads, from extortionate energy bills, to higher wages. Now stock costs continue to increase, as the brands we sell also do their best to stay afloat. While our takings have not dropped that much, the overheads are waaaay higher, which is little different to sales dropping,” she added.
She said the store had its "best Christmas ever", but made a dig at Bristol mayor Marvin Rees about the timing of the introduction of the Clean Air Zone. She added that stock price increases have "caused a really emotionally tough two months for me".
“The frustration I feel at how independent traders, like me, are being forced to close is not good for my mental health. I find myself getting more bitter at the world - and I know I'm not alone because so many of our loyal customers describe feeling the same,” she added.
“The reality is, for some, there is now simply too much choice online. Convenience and novelty seems to be a primary motivation for shopping habits, rather than shopping independent and finding value in a sense of community and a more personal shopping experience.
“Some people will prioritise saving £1 or getting free shipping from a new online site than staying loyal to a shop who knows their dog's name and favourite chew,” she explained.
She said she was proud to be ‘one of the first shops of its kind in Bristol’ when it opened ten years ago. “I would rather close when things are only just starting to finally chip away at my armour than waiting another year and having a shell of a shop to say goodbye to and being a shell of a person too.
“I have lost the optimism that those heydays will return and I have simply run out of energy to fight it anymore. I'm tired,” she added.
“This shop has been ten years of my life. I took a big gamble back then, when no one else had the confidence to do it. I paved the way for others, like me, to be entrepreneurs and try opening small shops in Bristol. The first two years were scary as hell, but I showed Bristol that Pets At Home don't have to dominate the pet trade - especially when we out-competed their stealth boutique store they opened three miles away. We thought they’d finish us, but they didn’t and they were the ones to close.
“We helped Bristol embrace harnesses for dogs and be more open to natural feeding. That's not me bigging myself up, it is the simple truth. I find it frustrating when those who had the guts to pioneer something get forgotten when new kids on the block turn up with their sexy marketing and logos.
“If you don't want a faceless future and if you want the option to have a broad range of variety of shops to visit in person, where you can actually touch stuff before you buy it and ask questions to a real life person and get an answer straight away - then please get out there and support your independent shops now. If you don't visit them in person and support them, you will lose them. If you don't think your input matters, you're wrong. It's as black and white as that.
“Sorry if I sound a bit bitter and p****d off. It's because I am. It feels like I'm gearing up to end a long-term relationship. The process hurts like hell, but I know it'll be better for me in the long run,” she added.
Her post on the Mutty Professor’s Facebook page sparked a huge response from customers expressing their dismay that the store would close. Roz said she was left in tears at the messages of support - and it had prompted a partial re-think. Instead of simply closing the store, which she said was still making money, Roz said she would be open to consider selling it to someone else.
“I haven't listed the shop for sale, because, well, I'm probably not really selling the idea of running a small pet shop very well with my words,” she said. “However, I want to put it out there that if someone thinks ‘I'll flippin' try it’ then drop me an email and we can arrange a chat,” she added.
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