2007 - The Year in Review

As we ramp up to our 2 year birthday and the ensuing party, I would like to look back at the year and contemplate where we are at and what the pet community looks like to us. Our year ends and begins in the middle of summer , since we opened in July, so this might appear to be a weird time to look back, but it makes sense to us... Besides we are usually so busy during December that we have little time to think about anything.

First off, our blog (www.blog.bigwag.com) changed this year. We went from a post a month (if we were lucky) to multiple posts a week. We decided to change the format to embrace the community to which we belong. We moved away from quite so many educational articles to a this is who we are, these are our friends, this is your pet community approach. The response was overwhelming. Thank you for reading this corner of our world. This was a learning experience for us and we have enjoyed making this a publication that people come back to and learn from, not just about us, but about the pet community and its events as well.

As indicated by the image above, this year we have changed our logo. Many things predicated this change - mostly my reading about effective marketing, good logo design, plus many other things. I think the new logo looks good, and I hope you do too. I'd love to hear some feedback from you guys.

More important than that though, I think what Bigwag is all about is starting to catch on. The pet food recall of last year helped because it brought to light how important it is that you pay attention to what is in your pets' food and where it is made.

Next, we have broken out of Rogers. We now sell wholesale in Pea Ridge, Bentonville, and Fayetteville. We'd love to be in Springdale too, but there just isn't any place that this works well at the moment. If someone knows of a place, please us know. We haven't worked out all of the kinks yet, but we are hoping to move to an online replenishment system in the near future.

This time last year we hired our very first employee - Jennifer. You may know her from Cho Blu Studios. She got to showcase some of her art at our first birthday party, and was the feature artist of this months ArkanPaws magazine. She has since moved on to bigger and better things, and the sarcasm meeter has since dropped in our store. We'll always be glad Jennifer joined our little family - and we're still waiting on our portrait of Sam and Hannah!! It was quite the ordeal - trying to decide if we'd grown to the point of needing an employee. We debated and debated, and almost hired someone before Christmas in 2006, but chose to wait until July. I hope all of our employees stay in touch once they move on. We enjoy everyone who has worked or is working with with us - Anna, Brandi, and our newest addition - Terresa.

Pet businesses have also come and gone. Camp Bow Wow is having their grand opening the Saturday after our birthday party. A Petsmart has also opened at the Rogers Promenade. I have also heard the Jennifer is trying to sell Woof! Woof! at the Tuscany Square, and that her Little Rock location has been closed. Nancy has retired from New Hope Animal Hospital, and Dog Days Doggie Day Care came under new ownership this year. The building at Dog Watch in Bentonville partially melted in a fire. Bow Wow Pet Styling opened in a new location in Rogers this year also. You may also have noticed that we haven''t gotten any new Ceramatherapy dog dishes and treat jars in a LONG time. Thats because they have closed up shop. I don't know if they have sold it yet or not, but cited the demands of owning your own business as too much for them. I completely understand. I am sure there was other news, but my mind is overflowing, so you'll have to forgive my forgetfulness.

We also didn't get to have a Mardi Paws or a full-blown Halloween Carnival this last year either. If anyone would like to help plan or take the leads on these projects, let me know. I know some people ;) RDOD, the Easter Egg Hunt, Photos with Santa, Springfest, the Dogwood Walk - were all bigger and stronger this year. We love to see these events grow each year, and the new fresh faces and tails that find them for the first time. If you haven't seen "The Biggest Wag" contest at any of these events yet, you just haven't lived! This was also the first year for our Paws-n-Spas dog wash fund raiser, which we hope to repeat several more times, based on the excitement, fun, and bubbles of the first one.

As we round out the end of our second year, and enter into our third, I almost can't wait to roll out the new plans we have for Bigwag. This year we added some great products, like our all natural butcher shop chews, Lupine Collars, Red Dingo tags, Solid Gold and Taste Of The Wild dog foods, and Happy Tails/Spot Organics shampoos, conditioners, and aromatherapy sprays. We added some great toys, like Toughies, West Paw Designs, and Canine Genius'. We're going to be further expanding our toy section and you'll get a preview of that at our birthday party on Saturday. We're also going to be adding more shampoos, birthday party supplies, more supplements to compliment our Solid Gold Sea meal, treat jars, greeting cards, books and videos, gifts, and hopefully a whole slew of new and innovative products you haven't seen before.

Thank you for being our customer and accepting us into your pet community. We enjoy being here, answering your ingredient and diet questions, exploring the new products you ask for and being a hub for some of the great rescues and organizations out there. We also love to see all of those wagging tails come into our store.

A final thought - I subscribe to a blog that examines different brands weekly with the question - "If company XXX were to go away tomorrow, would anyone miss them...". I hope that the answer to that is yes, that folks out there that would miss us if we went away. I hear stories every day about how their dogs love us, love to come to our store, won't eat other brands of treats. I hope we can continue to help your dogs live a longer, fuller, more rewarding life for years to come! We would surely miss all of you!

One Year Anniversary of the Pet Food Recall

Hey Folks!

As we near the one year anniversary of the horrible pet food recalls from last year, I would like to take this opportunity to let people comment on any experiences they may have had, as well as give any opinions on what could be done different. Currently, absolutely nothing has changed legislatively, and all FDA recalls are voluntary with self regulation. Why has nothing changed in the last year to help protect our pets from future outbreaks like what happened?

I have read in other blogs that what happened in the US in 2007 happened before in China in 2004. Obviously these companies do not care about anything other than short term profits. The Chinese governement protects their companies from lawsuites. What safety protocols should be in place, and how do we enforce them? Are we prepared to sit by and do nothing, opening the door to similiar events in the near future?

As a consumer, you have a vote. I don't buy any food or treat made outside the United States. Apparently, these companies are not only still selling products, but are raising the prices to offset lawsuits from last year. YOU are paying for their mistakes. YOU are paying for the lawsuites against these companies. How does that make you feel?

These companies want you to sit by, idely buying their products because they spend millions of dollars to help you forget. Chime in, I want to hear from you! How has the recall affected you, and are you satisfied with what was done about it?