Business Page: Online Competition Closes Chatham’s Paws And Claws

Here’s sad news from Chatham’s retail sector: Paws and Claws, the pet supply store which also offers grooming services, is closing its doors Dec. 31 after 19 years in business.

 Owner Lucille Grenier says the business is going to close due to a combination of factors. A major one is competition from online sellers. Once the pandemic hit, she says, Chewy and Amazon took over the pet food market. 

 “People auto-ship. They don’t have to think about it,” she says.

 On a Thursday morning at the business at 1615 Main St., just down the street from the Shop Ahoy Plaza, the phone doesn’t seem to stop ringing. Most of the calls are about grooming appointments. Grenier is working the front counter while two of her three groomers are back in grooming rooms. One loud “woof” booms out from behind a closed door.

 Over the past two months, as Grenier worked to close down the business, her priority was resettling her dog groomers. One is full-time, one is an apprentice, and a third gives baths only. Two of the groomers will rent space at Ungerdogs Grooming, which operates as a collaborative in Harwich. The third will migrate just up the street, to Dog Spaw on Main. 

 “Groomers are scarce on Cape Cod already,” Grenier says. Now she is confident that both her groomers and their clients will have places to go.

 Paws and Claws is bigger than it looks from outside — it’s a ring of rooms containing anything you can imagine you might want for your dog or cat. (It even carries limited horse supplies.) A rainbow of leashes dangles from a wall. Hanging on hooks beside them are colorful collars and harnesses. Like nautical flags? Here’s a matching set — leash and collar. And right now most items — there are exceptions such as food, flea products, frozen items and kitty litter — are 30 percent off.

 There are dog costumes — dazzling red “Sassy Sequin Tanks” that suggest your pooch could spend star time on a Las Vegas stage. There are humorous Fundog brand bandanas —“Pawty Animal,” “Total Goof Ball,” “This Belly Ain’t Gonna Rub Itself Please Help.” And there are shampoos, conditioners and sprays. Some are hypoallergenic while others are probiotic. And here’s something every dog owner needs — stain remover. Have a nervous dog? Here are ThunderShirts that swaddle the dog during storms, car rides, and moments of “general fearfulness.”

 Here are license plate frames that say “Dogs Rule!” and “Dog Taxi,” and small magnetic dogs in various breeds. And how did we neglect to mention the toys in bright, cheerful colors? Sheep and turtles and ducks and “Beggos —” a “Houndstyle Dog Toy” that looks eerily like an Eggo covered with maple syrup. One Kong chew toy is shaped like a seabass. Here is a stuffed Popeye and a talking ball that can be programmed to say…whatever. 

A refrigerator is half full of PupCups and meat.

 Back in 2006, pet food was a growing industry. 

 “When we started, we thought we’d put up a sign and sell stuff,” Grenier recalls. Just up Main Street, Agway of Chatham, which also sells pet food and supplies, opened at about the same time. 

 “We were always competing,” Grenier says. “But it kind of worked.” Paws and Claws carries foods and items that Agway does not. But in the past few months, tariffs have come into play, and driven some prices up. Grenier says some days are so slow — even in the summer — that not a single customer comes in to shop.

 Also back then, when she first opened, Grenier offered a self-serve dog washroom. “It never really took off,” she says, as most people preferred to allow someone else to wrestle Sparky into a tub.

 Grenier established the business with her brother who stepped back when he experienced some medical issues. For about six years now she has run the business by herself. Taking everything into consideration, it seems that this is the time to retire. Grenier runs a service trimming cats’ nails. She will continue this by going to her clients’ homes.

 “I want time with my horses and grandkids,” says Grenier, who lives in Brewster, where she grew up in one of the town’s historic inns. She owns four horses that she stables in Harwich and has two grandchildren who live nearby. She also has two dogs.

 Ed Cameron, who runs “Puppy Love,” a dog walking and pet sitting service whose flyer is tacked up on the bulletin board, walks in shortly before 9:30.

 “I need a hug from you,” he says to Grenier. “I heard you’re retiring.”

 “Don’t do that, I’m going to cry,” she says.

 “I’m going to miss my friend.”

 Paws and Claws will be open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Dec. 31. If anything remains in January, Grenier will sell it at an indoor yard sale along with the store’s fixtures.