Bark Fur Joy a Dog's Best Friend
From Mississauga.com : Click here
What's old is new again
When one of Clarkson's oldest businesses, Anna's Fabrics, closed last year, one of the village's youngest entrepreneurs took over.
Cassie Rempel, 22, owner of Bark Fur Joy grooming salon, re-opened her young business in January at the site of the 40-year-old fabric store at 1858 Lakeshore Rd. W.
A Lorne Park Secondary School graduate, Rempel said her business specializes in providing quality dog and cat grooming, with extra love and affection for people's furry friends.
She opened three years ago in the same strip mall, a few doors down from the fabric store location. When she heard it was closing last November, she decided to purchase the property. It was larger and would provide more room for her business to grow. The owner of three pooches herself, she learned her craft during an intensive training course at a St. Catharines dog grooming school. She studied business at Hamilton's Mohawk College where she learned how to make a business plan for a grooming business. Now she employs and trains several staff members at the busy salon that also serves as a doggy daycare for owners who drop their pets off for a "day at the spa".
Rempel laughs as she recalls her childhood days and her fear of animals. To help her overcome that fear, her parents got her a dog. It worked, and when she was growing up, her young Maltese was often the model for her hair-cutting and styling ideas. Today, she likes the challenge of bigger dogs who require cuts and styling, complete with a head-to-toe bath.
Someday, the Mississauga resident hopes to open a training facility in the basement of her current location.
"I'd like to teach others how to groom and show them some of the things I've learned over the years," she said.
Bark Fur Joy groomers wear bright pink scrubs with the signature breast-cancer ribbons of hope on them, a charity that the business supports with regular fundraisers.
Right now, they're selling home-made dog cookies to help them raise money for the upcoming Weekend to End Breast Cancer in Toronto.
"A lot of my clients have been touched by cancer, and we wanted to do something to support the community, and give back," she said.
Bark Fur Joy Grooming Salon Grand Opening
From SNAP South Mississauga: Click here
Bark Fur Joy Grooming Salon is a dog-grooming salon that has been in Clarkson Village for 3 years. They are celebrating their new state-of-the-art facility, just a couple doors down from their old location. The modern new location will allow the staff to offer better service to their valued customers. They will also be hosting charity events to raise funds for the Women's Breast Cancer Foundation. Bark Fur Joy Grooming is located at 1858 Lakeshore Road West. For more information, call 905-822-1555 or email barkfurjoy@hotmail.com