New pet shop sells healthy foods

WAUPACA – A new pet shop moved in behind Shopko Optical that is aiming to give pet owners a place to find food that is locally sourced and made within the United States.
Ava’s Golden Paw Pet Supplies at 103 Western Ave. North, is giving consumers another choice when it comes to buying their pet food and supplies in Waupaca.
Tiffany Mucha, the manager of Ava’s Golden Paw, said she was working in pet retail when she was approached to help manage the new store in Waupaca.
JoAnne Thornell, the owner of Ava’s Golden Paws, is no stranger to business ownership with also owning Marley’s Smoke and Vape Shop with locations in Appleton, Oshkosh and Green Bay.
Thornell named the shops after her two children, with Marley being her oldest daughter and Ava being the youngest.

Mucha said Thornell had bought the shop and was thinking of ideas of how to use the space, eventually deciding to create a pet food shop that focused on holistic, limited-ingredient types of foods for pets.
They offer Wisconsin brands including Stella and Chewy, American Natural Premium, Tucker’s, Vital Essentials and Herb Smith.
“We just definitely believe in the limited ingredient is a better food,” Mucha said. “You’re not going to have all those fillers and the yucky stuff and we definitely strive for as much American made in anything.”
Mucha said they have cat food as well and they are hoping to expand their small-animal section with the eventual addition of crickets, which are used to feed lizards.
“In my previous retail experience, we did not have that because that wasn’t in high demand, but it seems to be out here,” Mucha said. “I’ve only ever known one person to ever have a lizard, and then I come here and everyone’s like ‘do you have crickets?’”
Some of the other small animals they carry products for are gerbils, hamsters, chinchillas, guinea pigs and birds. Their main focus is for cats and dogs.
Mucha said they offer a frequent buyer program on most of the products they carry, so after a certain amount of food is purchased you would receive one free.
Mucha said they will also try to price match as close as they can to Amazon and Chewy.
“We offer a little bit of everything hopefully for everyone,” Mucha said.
Pets are allowed inside the store and are encouraged as the store was previously a boutique and while renovating the space they decided to put a pet photo booth area where the dressing rooms previously used to be.
Ava’s Golden Paw is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday they are open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday they are closed.
If you have any questions regarding the products they carry you can call them at 715-467-1615 or find them on Facebook at Ava’s Golden Paws.