Hot Diggity Dog! Man, we’re excited to have a new pet store in the ‘hood! We popped into Grooming & More [1524 Haight aka the Jimi Hendrix Red House] to talk to owner Marwan just days after they opened their doors to what promises to be a wonderful “spot” in the community!
Haight Street Voice: Hey Marwan! Tell us, what’s going on in here?
Marwan: I’ve been here since 1991 when we opened the Haight-Ashbury Tobacco Center. I sold it in 2017. The guy moved out last December. Coming to the Haight and seeing so many vacancies, I thought maybe I should do a business here [instead of] putting it up for lease.
I checked with my friend and my sister, she does dog daycare, but unfortunately they both changed their mind. The didn’t want to be in the City. So I decided to do it on my own. Looking at the neighborhood, I knew it needed more service establishments, and there’s none on Haight Street — dog grooming and all that stuff — so we decided to do it!
HSV: And lord knows there are lots of dogs!
M: I did some research and it seems there are more dogs than kids in San Francisco. There’s about 220,000 dogs in the City.
HSV: Grooming & More opening is so perfect for this “Dog Days of Summer” edition!
M: Yes, we’re open! We’re still getting more crew to come in to work, but everything’s good to go.
HSV: So you’re going to do daycare as well?
M: We have about 600 square feet of daycare area upstairs. We have the grooming and self-service dog wash downstairs. And we have the food, the supplies, the accessories, kennels, mattresses, and beds all at the front. The only thing we’re missing right now is food for some other animals, like birds. That’s all coming next week.
HSV: Cool! What would you like to say to the Haight Ashbury community, especially after covid?
M: I’m back! We’re trying to do as much as we can for you! And if anybody needs any help, just come back and talk to me or one of my workers and we’ll try to do our best to make you happy!
HSV: And what would you like to say to the cats and dogs in the neighborhood?
M: Cats and dogs? We’re happy to take care of you guys here and hopefully — the same thing — we’ll try to do our best to be nice to you!
HSV: Awww. Alright! Thanks so much!
M: Yeah, you’re welcome!
