Pet friendly coffee shops
Many businesses in the United Kingdom do not allow pets on their premises with guide dogs being the most obvious exception to the rule. However in the Nebraskan city of Omaha many shops are beginning to open up their doors to man’s best friends – and not in the ‘cat café’ type manner.
Typically, in my experience, beside pet shops, the most common place you are likely to find adorable animals are in community orientated public houses where next to a rustic looking fire you can expect to see the odd dog or two lazily lifting up an eyelid before dozing off again content with life.
But across the pond in the state of Nebraska, pets are becoming common place.
One such establishment that welcomes visitors with four legs as well as two is Howlin’ Hounds Coffee (an aptly named coffee shop I’m sure you’ll agree.)
“Now we have regular customers and regular dogs” said proprietor Greg Sechser to Omaha.com.
And thinking about it, coffee shops are perhaps the clearest choice of location to adopt a pet-happy philosophy.
“I think it can define your store as being a friendlier, more customer-centric place” noted Jeff Lonowski, who works in Omaha.
And with the amount of coffee shops expected to rise over the coming years, providing unique selling points for your brand and business will be vital and providing a pet friendly establishment could be a brilliant hook for potential customers.
A place to catch up with friends, to relax a read a book, newspaper or magazine, or to fire through a few e-mails and finish off that presentation; the coffee shop is malleable and can be all things to all people.
But can they become all things to all pets?
What do you think? Would you consider encouraging your patrons to bring along their four-legged friends, or do you already operate a pet-friendly coffee house?
picture: Squigman (Wikicommons)
