New store caters to furry friends

A new store is set to open in the village on May 1, and it will certainly get tails wagging.

Roxxy Bomb’s Pet Food + Supplies is the first business for James Bingham, who named the store after his beloved dog Roxxy.

After seven years of being the general manager for the Coast Sundance Lodge, Bingham decided to try his hand in the pet supplies business.

“It’s my first time owning a business, and my first time in retail, so it’s been an exciting learning curve,” Bingham said.

Bingham and his fiancée Chantelle Groenewegen have had a busy year already between juggling a new baby and now the new business. He said he’ll be starting off by catering to dog and cat owners, selling items such as raw dog food, healthy treats, toys and clean-up products.

“We’ll have food, treats, accessories and apparel like leashes, collars jackets and harnesses,” Bingham said. “We’re happy to do some custom orders and whatnot if people are looking for items that we don’t carry, or for animals besides the dog and cat.”

Bingham said he decided to pursue this endeavour after the previous local pet food store closed, leaving an open space in the market.

“I guess it closed down about a year ago or just over a year ago. So it’s a good opportunity to fill that void. You know, every other household has at least a dog and a cat… The year round locals, tons of [those] people have pets,” Bingham said. “The majority of customers will be local, year round folks, and then tourist season is just sort of a bonus.”

Roxxy Bomb’s will be located in the bottom of the Kookaburra Lodge at 102-3270 Creekside Way.

“While it’s not right on that foot traffic area… we have drive up availability,” Bingham said. “So that’s always good when you’re carrying a 40-pound bag of dog food.”

The store will be open from Fridays through to Tuesdays, and Bingham said he expects to be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., although he’ll adjust the hours of operation if needed.

“We’re trying to be accommodating to our local base, we want to see what works for them because people work different shifts so, you know, if those [hours] don’t work for them and if we need to open a bit earlier… or stay a bit later, I’ll be accommodating in that,” Bingham said. 

Bingham said he’ll work to make sure locals can get the supplies they need for their furry friends, and even hopes to implement a delivery service within Sun Peaks and Whitecroft in the near future.

To learn more about Roxxy Bomb’s, check out their Facebook page.

Correction: A previous version of this article had a misspelled version of Chantelle Groenewegen’s name. This has been corrected and the team at SPIN apologizes for any confusion this may have created.