Today we’d like to introduce you to Suzette Blair.
Suzette, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My mother taught me to groom from a very young age .At 76, she still has a shop in Mississippi. I love animals and have performed dog and cat grooming my entire life. When I left Chicago and sold the grooming shop there, I went to Mississippi to be closer to my family, I opened a shop which is now run by one of my daughters. Both of my daughters are professional groomers.
I came to South Carolina and worked for a grooming business in Myrtle Beach. After a couple of years here in 2017, I decided to open my own shop, Suzette’s Dog and Cat Grooming and Boarding in a small shop in Surfside, SC. Business boomed and after a couple of years, I needed a bigger shop and additional groomers. So Suzette’s opened the larger shop which is still going at 640 A Leigh Plaza, Highway 17 Business South in Surfside, SC. As the company continued to grown, our second location opened at 4863 Highway 17 Bypass South in Myrtle Beach in 2022. We are looking forward to opening our next shop in a year or so.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are struggles in every new business. My biggest concern was hiring groomers who could stand up to my standards of grooming. Every pet which comes through our shops should leave as close to the perfect cut as we can make it. My standards are high and not every groomer who comes in can meet that standard.
I have trained several women to groom and due to other circumstances have now left ( due to moves, marriage, etc.) but they have all been trained so they could work anywhere in the country with excellent results.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have worked hard over the years to concentrate on specialty cuts and odd requests. For show dogs, I have learned the cuts and how they should look when they are in a show and have several customers who I see before each show. I also do things like turning a goldendoodle into a lion when the customer requests it, or into a Clemson Tiger with stripes for a special event.
There are new techniques out every year and I strive to stay on top of the latest for my customers.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
For me the biggest risk was opening my first shop in Surfside Beach. I was fresh from having breast cancer, going through surgeries, chemo, and reconstruction. Opening the shop and moving away from a guaranteed paycheck was a big risk. I was not well known at the time and it did scare me some to make that jump. I knew my capabilities, took the task on, and it has paid off for me.
Pricing:
- We offer very competitive pricing for all our grooms. I have so many long time customers that I don’t raise the price on because of their loyalty.
- Our boarding pricing is the best in town. My staff and I treat each pet as if it is ours. We offer boarding for dogs, cats, rabbits, etc.
Contact Info:
