News Photo by Mike Gonzalez Go Fetch Pet Supply shelves are stocked with supplies for dogs, chickens, and horses in the back half of the store on Werth Road on Friday.

ALPENA — Local pet supply store, Go Fetch Pet Supply, opened on Sept. 8 and officially finished its first week of business on Friday.

Kari Chamberlain, the owner of the store, said the week was busy with lots of customers and community support.

“It was awesome,” Chamberlain said. “Yeah, it’s been steady the whole time. And everybody’s just so welcoming up here. It’s great to see new faces and then just be reunited with some folks that I haven’t seen in a long time. So yeah, it’s been great catching up.”

This is not Chamberlain’s first time working in Alpena. In 2009, she managed a local veterinary clinic before moving into the wine industry for the past decade. Now, she said she decided that after being away from the animal field for so long, she would like to get back into it.

She noticed that there was not a pet store in the area for supplies, so she decided to open one.

“There wasn’t … just specifically a pet supplies for the dogs and cats,” Chamberlain said. And I have horse feed, chicken feed as well – it’s all in the back. So there’s two sections to this building. I just knew there was definitely an opportunity. And I’ve always wanted to own my own business and it seemed perfect, so back into the animal industry marketing.”

Chamberlain said the store does not sell animals and that it is specifically for supplies; however, she has a do-it-yourself dog washing station for owners to wash their pets in a place designated for pet cleaning.

She hopes to open it up within the next few weeks.

The store had its soft opening on Sept. 15, but Chamberlain hopes to have a hard launch possibly in the spring. Due to colder weather, she thought that the change of seasons could potentially deter locals from attending the larger launch.

Chamberlain went onto a pet supply Facebook page and thanked everyone for the support from the community. She plans to head towards a pet supply expo this weekend to see new products and gain new business knowledge. A co-worker will keep the store open this weekend.

Go Fetch hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone that has stopped in to shop & check out the store,” a Go Fetch Pet Supply Facebook post said on Friday. “Your feedback, pet stories and warm welcome has made an incredible first week!”