Ortonville- Three local independent pet stores are collecting signatures in an effort to keep a pet store chain from moving into town.
Edith Hastings, owner of Edith’s Pets & Supplies, 1605 S. Ortonville Road, began a petition drive recently for citizens to show their opposition to Pet Supplies ‘Plus? coming to town.
Signatures were recently collected at Bueche’s Food World, 400 Ortonville Road. Hamilton’s Feed Store, 465 Mill St., and Buk’s Feeds and More, 8159 S. State Road, Goodrich, have also joined Hastings in opposing the chain store from moving into the former Rite-Aid building located at 1 Mill St. The building is divided between the village and Groveland Township.
A Village Planning Commission meeting will be at 7 p.m., Sept. 5, at the village offices, 476 Mill St., at which Brian Mills, owner of five Pet Supplies ‘Plus,? stores in Farmington Hills, Rochester Hills, Shelby Township, Washington Township and Lapeer, will seek approval to lease the building for his newest pet store. Groveland Township is in the process of reviewing the request.
Mills, a Davison resident, calls Ortonville an ‘untapped market for pet business.?
‘I know the area very well and we would do well there in the community,? says Mills. ‘I hope the community supports us, and we would in turn support the community.?
Hastings, however, believes the town isn’t big enough for another pet store.
‘This town is too small for that right now,? said Hastings, whose business has been in Ortonville for nine years. ‘It will put us small businesses out of business because it’s hard to compete with a chain. This town isn’t ready for that type of business.?
Bill Kratt, owner of Hamilton’s, agrees.
‘It’s the start of big business coming into this town,? he said. ‘The look of a small town is going to go quick. It won’t be long before other larger businesses come and snuff out other small businesses we have in town.?
Kratt has had the petition opposing Pet Supplies ‘Plus? on his front counter and says people have been signing it as they come in.
‘The people say we don’t need it, they like the comfortable atmosphere of walking into here or Edith’s,? says Kratt, who is concerned about it hurting his business.
Mills says his intention is not to put them out of business, rather, he would like to work with them.
‘We don’t want to put out of business a store that has been there for years,? he said. ‘I think there’s enough people to keep all the businesses. Maybe we could do a group effort on community events to draw more people into the area. Maybe instead of just coming to our store, they could also go to Buk’s or Edith’s. We can send customers to the other stores if we don’t carry what they want, so they don’t look at us as the enemy.?
Pet Supplies ‘Plus? has 210 stores nationwide, each carrying about 12,000 different items.
‘It’s up to the community,? said Dan DeJohn, co-owner of Buk’s Feeds. ‘If they want these larger corporations, it’s their decision… It’s up to the community to decide what kind of store they want in their community. The pie is only so big in any area.When another store comes in, it doesn’t help anyone. It won’t be good for PSP or any of us, with economic conditions the way they are. It could hurt everybody.?