Make no bones about it: our four-legged friends like being pampered, and at Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique on Jericho Turnpike in New Hyde Park, pet care is taken to the next level.
“I wanted it to feel like we took a salon out of Manhattan and put it here,” explained salon owner Michelle Brice. “The atmosphere, the feeling when you walk in – I don’t think anybody else can offer that, in terms of the products we sell and quality we offer.”
Aside from full grooming services, Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique offers facials, mud masks, pore pad treatments, exfoliation, hot oil treatments and hot towel wraps, as well as massages, dying, airbrushing and nail painting.
A full grooming starts around $40, Brice said, but the cost really depends on the breed and size of the dog.
Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique services all sizes of dogs. She individualizes a dog’s grooming and spa program after a consultation with the dog and its owner, Brice said.
Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique also carries quality dog food, treats, and hair and eye care products, not to mention a collection of clothes that any human might envy. Brice sells bows, shawls, coats, sweaters, sweatshirts and fashionable dog carriers.
The boutique only carries holistic foods, including brands such as brands as EVO, Innova, Solid Gold and Wellness, Brice pointed out.
“I want to carry only what is good for dogs,” she said, adding that her prices for such foods are cheaper than her competitors. The boutique will also deliver locally in New Hyde Park and Garden City Park.
The doggie wear and dog carriers are imitation Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci, Coach, Dooney and Bourke, and Ed Hardy – items that are both stylish and practical, Brice said. The boutique offers fashions for dogs of all sizes, and Brice expects to carry tutus for both small and large dogs in the future, she said.
Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique also offers day care and boarding, and Brice is very selective about the clients who board at the boutique.
Brice, 30, got into the pet grooming industry about eight years ago, and opened her own business inside a pet store in April 2010. Four months after opening there, the new entrepreneur learned that the pet store was closing and she would need to find a new location.
Brice opened Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique in New Hyde Park within weeks of learning she needed to relocate.
“There (at the pet store), I couldn’t bring my vision to its fullest,” Brice pointed out.
Her vision is carried out in New Hyde Park and is nothing short of sophisticated, refined and, naturally, luxurious.
“My focus is to be different, from the products I carry to the services we offer,” Brice explained, adding that she is aware of the area competition and wants to stand out among pet service providers. “I’m not looking to be the cheapest. My quality of work speaks for itself.”
“People will come in and say ‘You’re kidding me,’ ” as far as treating their pooch to a day at the spa, Brice said. But it is an experience for the dogs, she noted. Then she pointed to a frame in her boutique that lists “the top 10 reasons it costs more to get your pet groomed than your own hair cut.”
Reason No. 1? “The likelihood of you pooping on the hairdresser is pretty slim.”
Luxury Pet Spa and Boutique offers coupons on its website, www.luxurypetspaandboutique.com, as well as on its Facebook page.
Brice also offers discounts to clients who stick to their pet’s recommended salon program.
The salon also hosts monthly “Sudsy Sundays,” when dogs can come in and receive a salon service package at a great rate, Brice added.
