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Closing Pet Shop Groom-O-Rama Selling Puppies at Half Price

By Andrea Swalec | January 25, 2012 3:04pm
As of Jan. 24, 2012, the shop had English bulldogs, Jack Russell terriers, Chihuahuas and more.
As of Jan. 24, 2012, the shop had English bulldogs, Jack Russell terriers, Chihuahuas and more.
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DNAinfo/Andrea Swalec

GREENWICH VILLAGE —  Dogged bargain hunters looking for a sweet deal find may find it in the unlikeliest of places — a Sixth Avenue pet shop where adorable puppies in the window are going for half price.

The dog groomer and pet shop Groom-o-Rama near West 13th Street, whose puppies have tempted passersby for 14 years, has marked down the price of its pooches by 50 percent in preparation to close Saturday due to a rent hike, manager Sal Peretz said. 

On Tuesday, Stephanie Cameron, 21, cooed over a 10-month-old Shih Tzu at the 496 Sixth Ave. shop. The Chinatown resident said the price drop — to $800 from $1,600 — made buying the dog a possibility for her and her boyfriend.

"We wouldn't have had the money if he was that much," she said about the pup, whom she said she would name Paws.

Brooklyn resident Adrienne Moore said the deep discount on a white Pekingese that usually costs $1,400 made purchasing the pet "a consideration" for her. 

"Every time I'm around here, I drop in and look at the dogs — and now I may actually get one," she said. 

As of Tuesday night, Groom-o-Rama had English bulldogs, Jack Russell terriers, Chihuahuas and more. In addition to the shop's sale on dogs, canned food and pet treats at the store are now 20 percent off, and dry food and other supplies are 15 percent off.

Dogs and merchandise not sold at Groom-o-Rama will be moved to the owner's other location, Pup Slope, in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Peretz said.

The manager claimed he did not know the amount of Groom-o-Rama's rent increase, but the going rate for retail space on Sixth Avenue in that area runs between $200 and $225 per square foot, said Prudential Douglas Elliman broker Faith Hope Consolo. 

"That's a very strong neighborhood, and the cost there is increasing all the time," she said. "It's a seven-day-a-week shopping neighborhood with traffic, traffic, traffic. I expect that by the end of the year, it will be over $250 a foot."

But for loyal customers, the closing of the store goes beyond rents and half-off deals — it's about losing people who truly care about their pets.

Village resident Randi Jenkins, who bought her 7-and-a-half-year-old West Highland white terrier at Groom-o-Rama, said the grooming staff always had rapport with her pet, Puccini. 

"I'm so heartbroken. I have no idea where I'll go now," said Jenkins, 55. "The people who work here really care about your dog. They treat them like they're their children."