Today we’d like to introduce you to Coleena Heath.
Coleena, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I used to show dogs. A part of showing was doing some grooming. I found I was good at it and really liked working with the dogs. I looked up a grooming school and found there was no way I could afford to go. I then found one of the ladies that was teaching the grooming classes had left and opened up her own shop. I called and asked her to lunch. I asked her if she would train me in exchange for me working for free in her shop. She decided to hire me and train me.
I started out cleaning and helping customers and then was moved to a bather and then a groomer. I spent two years with her, the grooming school was only for 6 months so I received much more training by working with her. She retired and I moved on to one of the big chain grooming shops as a manager for 3 years.
I decided I wanted to open my own shop. That is when I found a spot at 200 N. Main in Keller TX. It is a very small place, only 600 sq. feet, enough for one groomer and a bather. It was a month to month contract, so if it did not work out I was not tied to it long term. That was in January of 2010. I used our savings and paid 6 months’ worth of rent to give me time to build a customer base. I was still working at the big chain store from 7 to 3 and then booked dogs at my shop from 4 to 9. I spent my weekends going door to door handing out flyers. After 5 months, my custom,er base was big enough I could quit the chain store and work Diggidy Dog full time.
In 2012 I was shopping with my husband at the Northwest Plaza Shopping Center in Grapevine. We saw an empty store front that use to be a tanning salon. We called the number on the window to find out about the spot. It was 1000 Sq. feet, we wanted to sign a 1 year lease, but the real estate broker only makes money if we rent for 3 to 5 years and would not even entertain a 1 year contract.
My husband did some looking into the property and found that the tanning salon went out of business almost 5 years earlier so it had been empty for a while. My husband also found the owner of the property and we contacted him directly. We made a deal for 1 year and in exchange he did not have to do any kind of building to make it ready to open. The fact that it was a tanning salon before, worked great for us because each room made a great private grooming room. So, we did our own painting and remodeling. After the 1st year, we were able to sign a 5-year lease for a 2nd Diggidy Dog at 1669 W Northwest Hwy, Grapevine, TX 76051.
Our 3rd Location is at 5201 S. Colony Blvd #693, The Colony, TX 75056. It was an established pet salon; the past owner had it for 10 years and was retiring. We bought it and put our Diggidy Dog twist on it.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
It was pretty smooth when it was just my little shop in Keller. I did all the grooming and if there were any issues it was easy to take care since it was just me in the shop. As we grew I had to hire more groomers. Finding groomers that were open to training to the way I do things was hard. I had to find groomers that were great at their job and had outstanding customer service.
Another struggle was financing and advertising. We do not have any loans. Every penny Diggidy Dog made, we put back into the business. That made it hard to find affordable advertising in our range. We relied mostly on customer word of mouth.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Diggidy Dog – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a full-service pet grooming salon with three locations, located in Keller, Grapevine and The Colony. We also groom cats. We specialize in full service grooms, bath and brush service, and hand striping.
We are known for quality grooms and we set appointments throughout the day to best fit with the customer’s schedules. For most pets, we are able to do this in a 2 to 3-hour window so your pet does not need to be in the shop all day long. Our groomers understand that the customer is the pet, you can have the best groom ever but if the pet did not enjoy their stay the owner will not be back.
Our Motto is: “Our Goal Is To Gain The Trust Of The Customer Along with Their Owner”
I am most proud of my groomers, and as I have stated, good groomers are very hard to find. I believe I have the best.
What sets us apart from others is, as an owner, I pride myself on a happy healthy environment for both employees and the pets. Even though each groomer gets paid based on pets they do, they work as a team and truly care about each other along with the pets they do.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
We would like to open more stores in the DFW area but want to do it slow. We would need to find and train the right groomers before opening a new store. We have not set a time frame for a new store. We will not open a new store unless we are sure we are prepared to give the same exceptional service we do in the other 3 stores.
Pricing:
- Full Service Grooms start at $50.00 and go up from there depending on bread of pet.
- Bath, Brush, Nails and Ears start from $30.00 and go up from there depending on bread of pet.
- Cats start at $65.00 for bath, brush, nails and ears.
- Cats start at $75.00 for Full Grooms.
Contact Info:
- Address: Diggidy Dog Keller
200 N Main st
Keller, TX 76248
Diggidy Dog Grapevine
1669 W Northwest HWY
Grapevine, TX 76051
Diggidy Dog The Colony
5201 S Colony Blvd #693,
The Colony, TX 75056 - Website: http://thediggidydog.vpweb.com/default.html
- Phone: Keller 817-431-5300 Grapevine 682-220-3578 The Colony 972-625-2275
- Email: The.diggidy.dog@gmail.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DiggidyDogColony/
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
