It’s fair to say that not every downtown business district boasts of having a ‘pet bakery.’ That’s one of the many unique things about downtown St. Joseph.
Fuzzy Butz Pet Bakery is a significant retailer on State Street and has been for 20 years. It’s owners would like it to continue to prosper into the future. However, as the calendar prepares to turn into another year, they’re thinking it’s time for a new phase of their lives. So, they are looking for the next ‘custodians’ of the successful and unique brand they’ve built at FuzzyButz Pet Bakery.
Let’s take a little trip back through the FuzzyButz story—to see if perhaps YOU might be the person writing its ‘Next Chapter’.
Just over 20 years ago, Mary and Rick Schaut began FuzzyButz Pet Bakery because they wanted to do something “fun and whimsical”, while also focusing on their community. Prior to forming FuzzyButz (www.fuzzybutzpetbakery.com), Mary served as an outside sales representative for a Chemical company. She was on the road for 11 years, traveling about 30,000 miles per year throughout the Midwest. That working lifestyle made it difficult for Mary and Rick to connect to the community and participate in the many activities in and around the St. Joseph area. So, with a lot of faith and excitement, they came up with the plan to begin a fun pet bakery business in downtown St. Joseph.
An important first decision was to come up with a name. “FuzzyButz” originated from Rick’s memory of calling his boyhood family dog, “Fuzzy Butt”. Rick and Mary decided on the unique name because it helped to meet their goal of putting smiles on the faces of their clients. Who doesn’t have a smile on their face when they say “FuzzyButz”?
Mary, Rick, and their daughter, Maggie, were the first employees. They opened their door on Broad Street in early 2004 thinking they could survive and flourish simply as a bakery. Their plan began to work, and they added the first non-family employee just 3 months into the new venture, but they also soon found out that they needed to expand the business with more merchandise. They added collars, leashes, food and water bowls, pet toys and more, but with an emphasis on adding products that couldn’t be found anywhere else. They added colorful, whimsical, and distinctive products that again, brought smiles to faces.
Although the first year was successful, Mary remembers a few tough days wherein she wondered whether she had made the correct decision, but now laughs about those moments. Over a decade of feeding dogs and cats with specialty bakery items has proven that the decision was a good one. FuzzyButz outgrew its original location and moved to the current State Street location in 2011, then expanded the State Street floor space to accommodate growth and a wider product line.
From the original merchandise, FuzzyButz increased its products to include a wide variety of pet food (including fresh foods), more options for the “chewing” dog, unique pet toys, pet health and wellness products, pet grooming products, dog clothing (including life vests given the store’s location near Lake Michigan), pet owner clothing and gifts, and, of course, pet birthday supplies because how do you not celebrate those special dog and cat birthdays!
Mary, Rick, and Maggie research all products to make sure they are the best quality for their four-legged clients, and they meet FuzzyButz’s amusing and exclusive product goals. Bakery items meet nutritional requirements and utilize fresh ingredients such as apples, eggs, honey, molasses, oats, cornmeal, and whole wheat flour. Where else can you get a dog biscuit shaped seasonally as a ghost, pumpkin, Christmas tree, or ice cream cone?
Mary and Rick say the downtown St. Joseph location has been “fantastic” for FuzzyButz as it provides a nice mix of seasonal visitors and the store’s very loyal local clients. Many local pet families walk through the front door of FuzzyButz throughout the year, many times with their fur baby alongside.
Community involvement has also enabled FuzzyButz to pass out dog treats and host a pet costume contest on Halloween, sponsor the annual Reindog parade (think dogs with antlers and wearing Christmas hats) and the semi-annual “Dog Day at the Fountain” events.
As with the transition from an on-the-road sales representative to a downtown St. Joseph merchant, Mary is ready for another transition, this time into a much-deserved retirement. Mary and Rick made the difficult yet exciting decision to sell the very successful retail establishment that they started and grew into one of the most recognizable, fun, and colorful merchants in downtown St. Joseph. Although it will be difficult to leave the many two-legged and four-legged clients that frequent the store, Mary is ready for the next phase of her life, including spending more time with her own two dogs – Frankie and Bear.
Appropriately, St. Joseph-based Next Chapter Consulting will be assisting Mary and Rick with the sale of Fuzzy Butz Pet Bakery. All inquiries about the sale of FuzzyButz should be made via phone to Next Chapter Consulting, LLC at 269- 281-3831, or via email to Rick Dyer at rick@nxtchapter.net or Maria Kibler at maria@nxtchapter.net.
Our thanks to Next Chapter Consulting for their assistance.
