by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
There will be new signs of thriving life in May when Knotty Paws, a pet-grooming and pet-supply business, reopens at its new location – the rather forlorn-looking former convenience store building on Benton Drive across from the paper mill site.
The site and building used to be home to the Benton Mini-Serv convenience store and gas station. It was left empty about five years ago when owners built a new convenience store/gas station down the road at CR 29.
For the past six years, Knotty Paws has been at the mini-mall near the Wells Fargo bank just off of Pinecone Road N. Owner Kelly Thompson opened the business in March 2013 and has since developed a loyal clientele of pet lovers.
The new place will be about three miles from the current place, and Thompson said she feels disappointed her customers won’t have the same convenient access as they currently do.
However, she was quick to add she had no choice. Her tenancy in the current building was not renewed by the building’s owner. She has sent letters to her clients explaining the situation.
The good news, she noted, is that Knotty Paws at the new place will expand its one-day doggie care, and a chain-link fence will be constructed for that purpose.
“There are a lot of good changes coming,” Thompson said. “Already the roof of that building is gone, the flooring will be torn up and some inside walls. I’m investing a ton of cash into it.”
Knotty Paws employs five full-time workers, two part-timers and another employee who is now on maternity leave.
This is the new location for Knotty Paws pet-grooming and pet supply business in east Sartell on Benton Drive. The long abandoned convenience store/gas station is being completely refurbished to accommodate Knotty Paws, a multiple-award-winning business in west Sartell. It will open in this new location sometime in May.
