Paradise Pets opens in Hay River - NNSL Media

Paradise Pets opens in Hay River - NNSL Media

Paradise Pets opens in Hay River - NNSL Media

Posted: 19 Nov 2020 12:00 AM PST

Treena Eyford and Mark Benoit have just opened a new business in Hay River called Paradise Pets. The store in the Caribou Centre sells pet and farm supplies.
Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

At a time when many businesses are struggling and some are even closing because of Covid-19, a Hay River couple is going in the opposite direction.

Treena Eyford and Mark Benoit have just opened a business called Paradise Pets, which offers pet and farm supplies.

They both admit to being a little nervous about opening a new business in the face of a pandemic.

However, that nervousness seems to have found an equal match in an entrepreneurial spirit and an admitted stubbornness.

"You've got to be stubborn in order to own a business," said Benoit. "We would know within the first six months. Covid is the best time to open, because it's your worst time. So you're going to know if you make it or if you're going to break it right away."

The co-owner added that some businesses open in good times, only to later experience bad times.

"If you can make it through the worst of times, your good times are coming," he said.

Eyford said it's a bit of a gamble opening during a pandemic.

"And we are still nervous," she said. "Because you never know if a second wave is going to hit."

Eyford noted that some people are surprised to see the new store, which opened on Nov. 9 in the Caribou Centre.

That's partially because the store's opening wasn't really advertised, she said. "We didn't put it out there because of Covid, too. Because we don't want a big grand opening, hundreds of people rushing in. You're only allowed so many people. And I don't want people sitting outside in their car waiting to come in."

So she and Benoit decided on a soft opening and to let the community learn of the store by word of mouth.

Eyford said business has been good so far.

While she and Benoit are co-owners, he continues to work full-time at Eagle 88 Enterprises and she works onsite at the new store.

Paradise Pets sells pet supplies and food, along with feed for farm animals like chicken, pigs and rabbits, along with hay and straw.

The new store builds on a business at Benoit's Farm in Paradise Valley, where they had been selling farm supplies.

In March, Eyford received a temporary layoff because of Covid-19 from her job in the service department at Aurora Ford.

"We just turned it around from you could look at it in a bad way getting laid off from your job and having to be at home and having to home school your kids," she said. "We just took it and decided to make an opportunity out of it."

Eyford said they decided to take it to the next level.

"I said, 'Let's do something with this,'" she recalled. "We've been talking for a couple of years about starting the pet food chain. We had looked at a couple of locations. It never panned out. Obviously, I was fully employed at the Ford dealership at the time."

Eyford returned to her job at Aurora Ford in early July, but she left that work in mid-October to concentrate on the new business.

The store sells food for a variety of pets, including cats, dogs, fish, birds and hamsters.

"I think we've got all the food bases covered," said Eyford, noting the store also sells pet toys and supplies for fish tanks.

Right now, Paradise Pets also sells live tropical fish.

"And I think eventually I'll get into the small little critters – the hamsters and that kind of thing," said Eyford, adding there won't be sales of dogs and cats.

Both Eyford and Benoit are from business families.

Benoit's family owns Eagle 88, while Eyford's grandparents operated J & M Wholesale, a grocery store that once existed in Old Town.

"We're pretty proud just because we're both from families that have had businesses in Hay River," said Eyford.

As a reminder of her grandparents' business, she has two small shelves at Paradise Pets that were once in J & M Wholesale.

Advertisement

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post

This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post This fish is worth $300,000 - New York Post Posted: 05 Jun 2016 12:00 AM PDT With exacting precision, the surgeon inserted the scalpel above the eyeball and cut out a snotty deposit of fatty tissue. The routine eye-lift was nearly complete when suddenly the patient awoke, suffocating, and began to flop about on the table. The audience gasped. Knowing time was of the essence, the surgeon scooped up the patient in his arms, raced across the stage, and dropped her into a tank of water. She revived. Because she was a fish. Yes, fish eye-lifts exist. As do fin jobs and tail tucks. The operating theater was a mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, where a pet expo was under way. As for the patient, she survived, her formerly droopy eyes now bright and perky. A good thing, too, as this was no ordinary goldfish but rather an Asian arowana, the world's most expensive aquarium denizen, rumored to sell for as mu...
Read more

Catching Dory: selling aquarium fish supports coastal livelihoods in Indonesia | npj Ocean Sustainability - Nature.com

Image
Abstract The global marine aquarium trade has created new local markets across the planet, including in Indonesia, now the second-largest exporting country of marine aquarium fish in the world. Participating in the global aquarium trade has been touted as a potentially sustainable addition to fisher livelihoods, but scant data exist showing the numbers of fish coming off the reef and how those fish contribute to income. To determine how participants in the trade incorporate aquarium species in their livelihoods, we examine source-level aquarium fish collecting and trading data in the Banggai Archipelago, a region in Central Sulawesi that has become a significant source for popular aquarium, also known as ornamental, fish species. Using a sustainable livelihoods lens, we examine this data to understand how participants in the aquarium trade both contribute to as well as benefit from the trade and consider how their participation relates to emerging Blue Justice principles. From one year...
Read more

NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire

Image
NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire NilocG Launches New Website for the Only All-in-One Thrive Fertilization Solution for Planted Aquariums - PRNewswire Posted: 11 Mar 2021 02:00 AM PST ALBANY, Ore. , March 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- NilocG launches a new website for planted tank enthusiasts to gather and make THRIVE, a plant fertilizer that assures planted tank aquascapes flourish while eliminating the need for multiple products more readily available online. The company also takes it a step further in the industry, making its flagship product easy to dose, super-concentrated, and an all-in-one solution based on an effective EL dosing method with all essential micro and macronutrients. Continue Reading Thrive fertilizer: North America's most trusted aquarium plant fertilizer Colin Grice , CEO, a self-described planted tank lover, re...
Read more