Earthwise Pet in Mantua New Jersey is a locally owned Pet Nutrition store which opened several months ago on the Bridgeton Pike. This Friday (July 29) they will be opening their two Self Serve Dog Wash rooms!
The store is locally owned and operated, and grew from the unfortunate closure of the Pet Valu stores in the US when three coworker friends from a now closed area store thought “What do we do now?”
Well they opened their own pet store!
Located at 661 Bridgeton Pike in Mantua, Earthwise Pet is owned by Kelly White (and husband Fred). Kelly’s coworkers Hailee and Tanner joined the team and together they opened the Earthwise store to fill the void in the area which was left when the Pet-Valu chain closed all 358 stores in the US.
The new Mantua store has the best of both world’s for a retail store. Earthwise Pet is a national franchise Pet supply store which gives the Mantua location access to an awesome variety of products at great prices PLUS the benefits of being locally owned and operated!
I visited the store a few weeks ago and caught up with Tanner… and while there I had an awesome phone chat with Kelly who happened to be out of town that day.
The Earthwise Mantua store is packed with everything you would need for your Pet including food, treats, nutrition supplements, dental, toys and more… all in a comfortable sized store that you wont feel lost in!
Certified pet nutritionists are on staff plus Earthwise requires 300 hours of nutrition and health training so that you know you are getting the best care and suggestions for your pet!
And at times they even have in-store pets that are available for adoption. During my visit the cutest little kittens were in the store!
And while the don’t sell pets they do have some friends in the store at times including their cat Mia and a variety of reptiles including a bearded dragon!
The store is located on Bridgeton Pike (Rt 45) about 3/4 of a mile South of Home Depot, and next to Gino’s Mini-Golf, Driving range complex.
Earthwise Pet Dog Self-Wash Opens This Weekend
Opening this weekend at the Mantua store is a dog self-wash section with two private rooms. Wait?! What is that?
NOTE: Kelly tells me they already have HUGE interest in the dog self-wash rooms for the weekend. Remember there are only two rooms in Mantua. They currently aren’t doing appointments but may move in that direction. The point being.., Absolutely stop in at the store to check things out and buy things for your pet! But before 101 dogs show up at the same time on a busy first weekend for a dog wash, maybe give them a little time to settle in a bit!
Most pet owners at one time have washed their pet at home in the tub, sink or even bucket… and honestly it can become a mess and a burden!
Water ends up all over the place. Your dog does his natural thing and shakes off all the water on his fur and soaks everything in the room!
Having the right towels to use is always a seek-and-find mission. And even just the correct sized basin to wash them in has it’s challenges.
Not to mention the pet owner at home is usually bent over in some awkward position (say over the tub) and it literally becomes a pain in the neck and back for several days afterwards!
Well Earthwise has the solution with the Pet Self-Wash rooms!
Two private rooms that are fully outfitted to make it easy for you wash your pet!
To be clear this is not a Pet Grooming operation where someone else is doing the work. This is for you and your pet. An economical way to give your pet a bath without destroying your kitchen, bathroom or your back!
At Earthwise, tubs are positioned at a comfortable height and the room is basically watertight and private.
For larger or older dogs they do have ramps available to lead up to the tubs.
Towels are readily available and of course they have all the supplies you need in store.
Kelly tells me that their set-up is somewhat unique in the area with having a private room for each dog and owner. Other stores my offer dog self-wash setups but they are typically in a large shared room.
I know for my dog getting a bath is stressful enough and having other dogs just feet away in the same room? Yeah that’s not a good idea… so I really love the idea of the private rooms!
They Say When A Door Closes… You Make Your Own Door
Let’s take a step back to the start of the store’s opening, because this really shows just how locally owned Earthwise Mantua is!
As mentioned… Kelly, Hailee and Tanner all worked together at the Mullica Hill Pet-Valu store.
They had no idea the Pet-Valu chain was going to close in the USA. In fact over the most recent few years Pet-Valu was still opening new area locations.
But the Covid pandemic and associated government based store closings was an unprecedented event which impacted every business. Retail stores still needed to pay bills while no revenue was coming in for many months.
Unfortunately for Pet-Valu this meant an abrupt closing of the US stores.
The three women were shocked to find themselves out of work during the holiday season in 2020.
A plan was hatched, and Kelly and her husband purchased what was left of product and store fixtures from a few Pet-Valu stores, with plans to start their own pet nutrition store.
Fred has his own successful area business so while he lends a hand behind the scenes, it was the three women friends who built the store from start to opening.
Every aspect of the Mantua store was done by them including loading in the shelving and building it! Bringing in all of the merchandise and setting up on the shelves. And even just organizing everything they had purchased was a big chore!
Like I said this truly is a hands-on locally owned business!
Today they have a warm and friendly store where they look forward to not only meeting your needs as a pet owner, but also someone who gets to know you and your pet!
Links and Location
Earthwise Pet – Mantua
661 A Bridgeton Pike
Mantua, NJ, 08051
