Pawsitively Welcoming

by

The story below is from our March/April 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you! 

These pet-friendly businesses are making tails wag across the city!

There’s nothing more welcoming when you return home than a dog’s wagging tail or a purring cat rubbing against your leg with a “kitty hug.”

So why wait?

Pet-friendly perks make a workplace more appealing. Like having comparatively expensive onsite childcare, a pet-friendly workplace can eliminate an expense by allowing employees to bring their furry friends instead of paying a sitter.

But pet-friendly can mean more than that. Sometimes, it means having an office pet or allowing customers to bring their dogs in for a shopping trip. Of course, not every scenario works well for every business, but here are a few Roanoke businesses that found a way to make it work and are better for it.

John Whitcomb never intended for RCI Business Technology to be a pet-friendly workplace. Not that he doesn’t like pets — he’s certainly an animal lover who loves his granddogs and has had his fair share of cats over the years. It just wasn’t a top priority for his IT company. But then Misha showed up.

RCI has been serving customers’ telephone, computer, surveillance and other technology needs in Roanoke for almost 50 years, first out of his home, then an office on Hollins Road and for the last 20 years on Williamson Road.

About halfway through the tenure at RCI’s current Williamson home, Whitcomb walked outside to see his adult daughter Felicia sitting in the parking lot. When he got closer, he saw a tiny cat on her lap.

A grey and black tabby, a recent mom and mostly skin and bones, Misha was a bit feral at first but took to his daughter immediately. When Felicia taught yoga in her studio upstairs, Misha would greet all the students and then settle down when Felicia called for everyone to meditate.

Unfortunately, Felicia’s rental situation was inappropriate at the time to bring Misha home, and Whitcomb’s own housecat was unfriendly to her, so Misha made her home at the office.

It wasn’t long before another cat showed up on Pearl Harbor Day. Whitcomb believes the part-Persian kitten who came to be known as Pearl is probably Misha’s daughter.

The Whitcombs and RCI have given both cats a good life. Misha usually sits on Whitcomb’s lap or desk during the work day, though she also makes her rounds around the office.

Pearl, meanwhile, is typically found with either his wife, Pat, or son, Sam.

“It takes the edge off of the working environment,” Whitcomb says, “makes it a little bit more homey. The employees have better morale because of it. ‘They’re kind of a binding’ is a good way of putting it.”

Across from RCI in Lamplighter Mall is a pet-friendly business of a different sort. Sun and Spruce hand-makes custom soaps, shampoos, lotions and other bath and body products. Created by husband-and-wife team Wes and Krissy Reynolds, Sun and Spruce is a family affair down to their Rhodesian Ridgeback sidekick, Buffy.

“She is a daddy’s girl, and so she’s always been with us… so (our business) was just (dog-friendly) from the beginning,” says Krissy Reynolds.

Buffy isn’t there every day since her sniffer can get her into trouble when ingredients are open during the soap-making process, but she’s Velcro-ed to her daddy on the days he’s behind his desk doing paperwork.

But Buffy isn’t the only dog welcome in Sun and Spruce’s doors. Customers can bring their own pets while they shop, too.

“It’s just like a child to them, so… it was never really a second thought.”

Making their business pet-friendly was easier than you’d think. There were no special insurance or licensing requirements. It’s mostly just keeping certain areas closed and being ready for a quick cleanup.

Local dog trainer Beverly Amsler is all for it. “I think it’s a great socialization tool.” Amsler helps other owners train their dogs so they’re ready for the situations they may encounter and encourages everyone to be responsible and considerate, letting them relieve themselves beforehand and keeping them under control.

Some Roanoke businesses more directly serve our pets’ needs. Emily Bebout is another soap maker. Her home-based shop, The Clean Canine, creates soaps and shampoos specifically for dogs. Her products have no additives or preservatives. Pet owners whose pets have sensitivities or allergies are grateful for her products.

Similarly, Unleashed is a downtown bakery that makes treats exclusively for dogs.

 If you’re a pet owner visiting Roanoke from out of town, you’d do well to stay at Roanoke Boutique Hotel, one of the three bed and breakfasts Roanoke boasts and the only pet-friendly one.

Upon entering, you’ll be greeted by the red-vested Frankie, a friendly black Yorki-poo, and his person (and the innkeeper) Dianne Hailey. While Frankie has been a mainstay of Roanoke Boutique Hotel since its inception in 2018, it’s only been open to other pets since COVID-19 created the necessity.

Others in the bed and breakfast community said hosting dogs was a nightmare. But during COVID, she got constant requests, so she agreed and told herself, “It’s just six months. I’ll get through it.”

But it was no trouble at all! “They’d lied to me!” Hailey says, laughing.

Now, she offers a pet-friendly suite, the Beverley, named after the main street in her hometown of Staunton. This 800-foot space includes a claw-foot tub and a porch that opens directly into the fenced-in backyard, a necessity for pets off their schedules.

As a pet owner herself, Hailey is happy to send her guests to other downtown businesses that are happy to host dogs. And Frankie loves to have new playmates stay with him.

Many of Roanoke Boutique Hotel’s guests are hikers or other visitors here to enjoy the Roanoke growing outdoor economy. And when they bring their dogs on a hike, they want to make sure anywhere else they stop is dog-friendly, too.

Sweet Donkey fits that bill for a cup of coffee. Owners Ann Marie White and Dustin Eshelman are both dog lovers, as are most of the staff, and with the café’s large outdoor courtyard, it only made sense to open it to dogs.

White says, “I love going to cities, especially European cities where people take their dogs everywhere.”

So Sweet Donkey staff keep water bowls outside, treats behind the counter when possible and look the other way when someone briefly brings a dog in while ordering a latte. They did once have to draw the line at an emu, though.

As she sits outside at one of their picnic tables with her dog, Boca, White recalls how, in a way, she has Sweet Donkey to thank for sweet Boca.

It was eight years ago, and Sweet Donkey was about two years old. White’s husband was out of town, and she was there with her six-year-old daughter when Carol Gilbert came in with an adorable golden retriever puppy.

When White and her daughter understandably spent a considerable time fawning over him, Gilbert informed her he had a brother who needed a home. Boca came to their house that weekend and has been at the center of it since.

Gilbert is still a regular at Sweet Donkey, and she was happy to see Boca on a recent visit.

And White and Eshelman pay the love forward by hosting adoption events at the shop.

Dog owners love having places to go where they can bring their best friends. And when a business goes the extra mile for them, those customers make an effort to support it even when Fido isn’t in tow.

White says the feedback on their pet-friendliness has been almost exclusively positive. And that was the common refrain among all the pet-friendly business owners. They don’t see a downside.

So, for all the Roanoke businesses where work-from-home isn’t practical, consider that next best thing — making work feel a little more like a home. You may be surprised at its effect on your business and employees.

And you may find yourself as the answer to the all-important question: “Who’s a good business owner?”

The story above is from our March/April 2024 issue. For more stories like it, Subscribe Today. Thank you!