News / Business

Dyvig’s wipes its paws before entering Main Street

Jennifer Dryden
June 12, 2009

Editor’s Note: This story was initially published on Feb. 9, 2009.

A pet can be a person’s best friend.

Finding the right place to meet that friend can be a challenge, but Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe makes it easy with a friendly staff and clean environment for animals and people.

Dyvig’s, 412 Burnett Ave., is an independently owned business run by Dale Dyvig.

He said although Dyvig’s brings a new business to Ames, it’s a reliable one that has a successful past. Dyvig’s first pet shop opened in 1979, operating from his basement and selling only fish.

Since then it had expanded to a downtown location in Webster City until 1985 when Dyvig moved his business and family to Clear Lake.

On Nov. 22, 2008, he made his most recent move and opened in Ames.

“[Ames] is a good community with the college and everything like that,” Dyvig said. “It’s a good retail base and population down here … it’s constantly changing with new stuff coming to town and constantly growing, so we saw a need in another pet shop. It was large enough for another shop.”

Dyvig’s is known as a “full-line pet shop,” which means it carries food and supplies for all pets.

Along with a wide variety of animals, Dyvig’s offers services ranging from animal advice from a knowledgeable and trained staff to water testing and wing clipping.

Dyvig said he strives for a clean and healthy environment for the animals. The smell of a pet store shouldn’t make the customer turn around and want to leave, he said.

Keeping it clean every day is key.

“Everything is clean daily and we really strive on that because I know it’s a turn off to people when they come in, once in a while you’ll have an odor from the puppies,” Dyvig said. “But it’s very important to have a clean and healthy-looking store.”

David Sharp, a customer from Ames, said it was nice to see a pet store take care of their animals as well as Dyvig’s does.

“It was nice to come into a pet store where I didn’t feel like I was rescuing the animals,” Sharp said. “Sometimes you just come in a place and it smells like stinky pet shop. I’ve been in some places and it’s like you walk in and you think, ‘Oh, I’ve just got to rescue something out of here.'”

Sharp said Dyvig’s isn’t like that at all.

Dyvig’s prices their pets and supplies competitively, but always considers how the economy is doing. Right now, he said, he has taken the bad economy into consideration while pricing items and pets.

“People are price-oriented these days with the economy the way it is, and so we just try to give really good prices and good service,” Dyvig said.

He said one of his biggest competitors is the big box stores such as Wal-Mart and Pet Co.

“Big box stores seem to take over and everybody thinks that it’s because of the price … but we’ve been told we are cheaper than big box stores even,” Dyvig said.

Dyvig said business is steady and Main Street deserves some credit because of its central location within Ames. He said seeing new faces every day is reassuring.

From talkative parrots, freshwater fish and bearded dragons to state and federal respected kennel puppies, Dyvig said his pet shop has only gotten positive reviews.

Even though no kittens or bunnies have arrived yet, once available, they will be added to the many pets sold at Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe.

He said he tries to have at least three puppies on hand at all times and reassures that all puppies are from state and federally respected kennels. Each puppy has had its shots, been registered and comes with a year guarantee on health. Dyvig said customers don’t need to worry.

Dyvig said if customers don’t see a product they want, just ask.

“If we can get it, we will get it for them,” he said.

Dyvig hopes to grow with Ames.

“This is our last stop — this is where we will stay put,” he said.

Animals you wouldn’t think they sold: