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Back Mountain has pet store again

By EILEEN GODIN Dallas Post Correspondent

What has tails wagging all over the Back Mountain? The opening of Whiting’s Pet Supplies ends a seven-year stretch of no pet stores in the Back Mountain.

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Whiting’s Pet Supplies, a new store with many fresh and salt water tanks, has opened in Shavertown. Shown here, from left, are Carol Whiting, Deborah Shafer and Nefertete.

CHARLOTTE BARTIZEK photos/ FOR THE DALLAS POST

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Donn Whiting stands in front of fish tanks at his newly-opened pet supplies store in Shavertown.

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Kingston Township Zoning Officer Bill Eck confirmed the last pet store in the Shavertown area was a small section in the back of McCrory’s, a five and dime store located in the Shavertown Shopping Center.

Whiting’s Pet Supplies is located off Route 309 next to Sheetz gas and convenience store. Owners Carol Whiting and her husband, Donn, started the family business in Duryea in 1998.

“We tried for six years to get a location out here but there was nothing to rent at the time,” Carol said. “We are very happy here. The traffic light makes it easy for people to come in and out.”

Typical furry creatures like hamsters, birds and mice, are available for purchase. Then there are the 1500 gallons of fish of all colors and sizes, fresh water and salt. Whiting said her store manager Mark Purdy has 30 years of experience working with aquariums and reptiles. And yes, scaly reptiles like lizards and snakes are available, too.

Whiting said the store specializes in providing the species appropriate food to meet the animals’ nutritional needs.

“They are born knowing how to eat,” she said. “It may be more expensive for the food but it will be cheaper in the long run, less vet bills.”

So what’s the buzz about town on the new pet store? Business neighbor, Amy Pryor, manager of Curves, thinks it’s great to have a pet store nearby.

“They are very nice people. I’m glad to see the store fronts filling up,” she said. “It’s great that more people are coming through now.”

Shift manager at Sheetz Lisa Megni, of Avoca, said the convenience store receives a lot of phone calls of people asking the name of the pet store is.

“They just put their sign up not too long ago,” Megni said. “I hope they do well.

Melissa Chamberlain, a teacher at Trucksville Early Childhood Education Center, said the new pet store is really convenient for her.

“We use to have to travel into Wilkes-Barre to get a dollar’s worth of crickets to feed the class pets,” she said “Now, we can go just down the road.”

The Whitings are thrilled to be part of the Back Mountain community and intend to grow with it, planning to offer a self-serve dog wash area.

“You could come, wash your dog and we will clean up the mess,” Carol Whiting said.

Other future plans are to offer speakers on nutritional health for pets and seminars on grooming.