Ormonds exotic pet store Amazon Jungle celebrates 35 years - Daytona Beach News-Journal

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Ormonds exotic pet store Amazon Jungle celebrates 35 years - Daytona Beach News-Journal Posted: 20 Aug 2019 12:00 AM PDT Amazon Jungle pet store in Ormond Beach has thrived for 35 years by catering to fans of exotic animals such as parrots, lizards and fish. ORMOND BEACH — When more than three dozen birds all clamor for attention at the same time, it's hard to get a word in edgewise. "This is quiet right now," said Cloide Sauve, raising his voice to be heard above the din at Amazon Jungle, the pet shop he and his wife, Rindy, have owned for 35 years along U.S. Highway 1 in Ormond Beach. In a world where the popular vote among pet owners often is split between dogs and cats, the venerable pet shop thrives as a third-party option for fans of birds, lizards and fish. "We don't carry any dogs and we don't carry any cats," said Sauve, 69, a former construction worker who credits the shop's longevity to a combination of customer service and knowledge about an assortment of rare creatures that don't fetch slippers or sticks. Business is good, he said. "In the last three years, it has been straight up, like this," Sauve said, pointing toward the ceiling. "People will not hesitate to fork out between $1,500 and $2,000 for a bird. Not hesitating a bit. They say, 'I want that bird and I'm getting it.'" Rindy Sauve, who had previously worked as a florist, recalls that the couple had high hopes that the pet store would become a longtime fixture in Volusia County when the couple first opened in its original location, a converted gas station not too far from the store's current spot on Yonge Street. There was a steep learning curve in the beginning, Rindy said, and a few ideas didn't last. "We had miniature sheep," Rindy said. "We had a wallaby back in the '80s. They were sweet; you could pet them, love on them and feed them. They were a nice draw, but we were glad when it was over." Amazon Jungle's booming business reflects a national trend that shows increased spending on pets and related items according to statistics compiled by the American Pet Products Association, a not-for-profit trade group based in Stamford, Conn. Nationally, consumers in 2019 are projected to spend $75.38 billion on pets, accessories and related care, up from $72.56 billion in 2018. Over the past five years, spending has increased nearly 30 percent, the organization reports. That interest can be attributed to several factors, said James Miller, communications director for the Florida Retail Federation in Tallahassee. "This is an industry that is recession-proof in a lot of ways," Miller said. "People increasingly are treating animals like a family member as you're seeing that notion of the traditional family changing. People are getting married later, having kids later, but they still want some form of companionship." Even in a consumer era defined by online shopping, the experience visiting family-owned brick-and-mortar pet-related businesses offers something that the Internet doesn't, Miller said. "When you own an exotic animal like a bird or snake, you become part of this unique community of people who have the same passion, the same love for these pets," Miller said. "A store that caters to that feeling offers a sense of community when you walk in the door that you might not be able to get anywhere else." At Amazon Jungle on a recent afternoon, several longtime customers wander the 2,400-square foot store, where the aisles are lined with more than 100 fish tanks and display racks laden with a formidable array of colorful trinkets to keep birds entertained: ropes, miniature ladders, tiny bells, confetti-like strips of paper, cardboard squares and leather tassels to satisfy a bird's natural inclination for grooming. An inventory of the fish population is conducted annually, an unenviable task that generally occurs around New Year's Day, said Cheryl Sorrill, a longtime employee. "The person stuck with counting the fish hates life," she said. "They don't hold still." On another row, there are small harnesses for walking rabbits, guinea pigs or lizards. Wait, lizards on a leash? "Oh, sure," Sorrill said. She eagerly removes one of her favorite creatures, a frilled-neck lizard. The tiny reptile unfurls the skin around its neck into a wing-like shape straight out of the film "Jurassic Park." It eventually will grow to roughly two feet long. Nearby, longtime customer Debhorah Williams, of Holly Hill, is shopping for fish. "They are very nice people and they stand behind their merchandise," said Williams, who has been coming to the shop since she moved to the area in 1988. "I don't like cats and I don't do dogs. I do fish. Nice quiet fish." Another customer, Jeni Goodrich, 48, is getting acquainted with a baby macaw that her husband bought for her a few weeks ago as a first anniversary present. "I told him no diamonds," Goodrich said, gently stroking the bird's plumage. "This is my diamond." When a customer buys a new bird, the shop requires that they return for such bonding and instructional sessions before taking the pet home. It's one of the things that separates the shop from bigger pet-store chains, Sauve said. It's also not unusual for area residents to arrive at the shop with injured or sick birds that they have come across, Sauve said. READ: Man's best friend: Rescued hatchling befriends Ormond Beach man  "They (chain pet stores) can never do what we do here with the birds," he said. "It's not like running a restaurant. They don't have to worry about something dying or getting sick. I'm proud that we've succeeded."

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