Shaggy to Chic Pet Salon finding success amid fast start

By Cameron Montemayor

Tess Campbell wasn’t entirely sure how things would go after taking a leap of faith to open her own pet grooming salon in a highly competitive market in St. Joseph.

Working in a corporate pet chain job with close friend and eventual first employee Mary Dugger for four years, the two left their positions and bet on themselves to create something they want to do for the rest of their lives.

“There are a lot of other salons in town and everybody has a pretty loyal clientele,” said Campbell, owner of Shaggy to Chic Pet Salon.

It didn’t take long before she and Dugger, two St. Joseph natives, knew they had something with the new salon, as the two saw a number of previous clients jump into their new venture with them.

“Getting all of our clients’ reactions to them coming in and seeing it for the first time was really exciting and made it seem like, ‘Okay, like we had the right idea of like what we wanted to do,’” Campbell said with a laugh.

With anywhere from 20 to 25 appointments a day and a growing list of clients and followers on social media in just four months, the business at 1311 N. Belt Highway is off to a fast start giving pets a sleek new look seven days a week. The business is also set to offer cat grooming services at the end of the month.

“We were excited when we hit 300 followers and then we hit 500 and that was exciting,” Campbell said. “There’s obviously room for growth and we’re excited about that, but we’re really, really happy with as far as we’ve gotten.”

From the name to the tranquil atmosphere, Campbell and Dugger were eager to create something that doesn’t look like your everyday pet salon while also providing an experience as calm for the animals as possible. Previous clients were often concerned by the loud noises and environment at some places.

“Grooming can be really stressful for them, especially if it’s not something they’re super used to or a shelter dog,” Campbell said. “We don’t do day care or boarding or anything like that. So it is a quieter environment, which can be really beneficial.”

For Campbell and her employees, continuing to educate themselves on the latest information in pet grooming is just as important as anything they do. Campbell participates and encourages employees to constantly take new classes, always looking for the newest tools and products that might help.

With so many pet owners in St. Joseph and plenty of competition, she’s thankful for the support and positive reviews that have gotten them to this point. It’s made the decision to branch out all the more worthwhile.

“It’s really fulfilling to, you know, have the pet parent be so happy about what you did and have them return over and over,” Campbell said. “It’s really, really nice because they have a lot of options … for them to keep coming back to you specifically, it’s nice.”