SIOUX CITY — A new boutique store for dogs has opened on Hamilton Boulevard.
Urban Mutts, 1933 Hamilton Blvd., sells specialty dog foods, treats, harnesses, leashes, training tools and toys.
“Just like your average dog store, but I really invest my time into researching what products I'm going to sell,” said proprietor Hannah Helseth, “and make sure that it doesn't harm your dogs or have anything that could potentially have like carcinogenic impacts on your dog.”
The shop opened its doors this month. For several months before that, Helseth had operated Urban Mutts as a mobile pop-up shop.
“And then we decided to just go for it, to open up a store and get an actual space,” she said.
An assortment of dog treats are shown at Urban Mutts, a new dog boutique on Hamilton Boulevard.
Various slow-feeder bowls, water bottles and other accessories are sold at Urban Mutts, a new dog boutique on Hamilton Boulevard.
Urban Mutts, a new dog boutique on Hamilton Boulevard sells natural dog food in Sioux City, Iowa, Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Pet owners in the U.S. have for years been spending ever-increasing amounts of money on their animal companions: An estimated $150.6 billion in 2023, according to the American Pet Products Association, up from $90.5 billion in 2018. At the same time, dog and cat fanciers are becoming finicky about pet food, which is increasingly marketed as human-grade.
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Helseth, a Sioux City resident, has a day job as a high school counselor in Winnebago, Neb. When she returns to work in the fall, husband Luis Magana will take over at the shop.
The couple has four dogs (two are Helseth's, two are Magana's); canines are a longtime passion, Helseth said, as is customer interaction. A French bulldog of hers that was allergic to chicken helped inspire her to become a purveyor of specialty dog foods.
“Finding chicken-free dog food is nearly impossible,” she said. “That was one of my main things that kind of drove me was finding products that I was able to give my own dogs.”
Watch the 2023 Little Yellow Dog auction held by the Ancient and Effervescent Order of the Little Yellow Dogs to benefit the Goodfellows charity to provide Christmas presents to Siouxland children.
