The Tenant

Earthwise Pet is a national franchise for pet products and pet care. The first Idaho location recently opened for business in Eagle Island located at 1240 W. Chinden Blvd Suite 104 Meridian, Idaho. The business has two primary elements: pet nutrition and pet grooming. On the nutrition side all the food products are natural and locally sourced. With a focus on small production, the food is made in house. Company representatives maintain direct contact with ingredient sources to ensure the quality of the food. When talking with Jim Fizznoglia, owner of Earthwise Pet in Meridian, he described the store as a, “Whole Foods for pets.”

Pet grooming is a service provided in the store. Similar to the nutrition side, Earthwise Pet maintains a high standard for pet grooming. They call it a “wellness spa” where pets can receive the maintenance and care they need from licensed professionals, including Blueberry facials. Depending on the service provided, Earthwise Pet has a quick turnaround time. Once the pet is dropped off, they are groomed and returned to their owner as soon as possible. Earthwise Pet also has benefits programs that allow for regular customers to get discounts and other benefits as they continue to visit the store.

Background

With a background in sales, Fizznoglia wanted to start this Earthwise Pet location because of his passion for animals. “I’ve had everything from fish to dogs, you name it,” he said. Fizznoglia decided he wanted to buy a business and after looking at different franchises he decided on Earthwise Pet for a variety of reasons. One of them being the fact that Fizznoglia has had a diabetic dog for six years. Because of his personal experience, he aligned with the values of the franchise and their focus on holistic pet health and nutrition. During the franchise negotiation, the Fizznoglia lost their other dog Marley suddenly to heart failure. This impacted them further to eventually name the business after Marley in respect, Marley Boy LLC.

Fizznoglia’s daughter Amanda Rapp is the manager for this store. She has a background in customer service and shares her father’s love for animals. Another way Earthwise Pet takes pet care to a higher level is that each location must have a licensed pet dietician. Both Fizznoglia, and Rapp have completed the certification. The course outlines basic nutrition for animals and focuses on a “raw diet.” Rapp explained that a lot of the commercial pet food that is out in the market now contains a lot of things that it shouldn’t contain and that are not meant for animals. She said, “We are trying to stay focused on where the animals came from and where they derive from, which is a raw diet. We are trying to avoid dry kibble which can contain a lot of ingredients that are not healthy for animals.”

When it comes to the renovation of the store, Fizznoglia emphasized the importance of being intentional in projects like this. He said, “In our market the way it is today, construction costs have skyrocketed and you have to control what you do.” He was intentional with the remodel and repurposed wherever he could to minimize costs and maximize the cost effectiveness of the project. He also talked with other franchisees for Earthwise Pet in other states to determine the best way to go about bringing the franchise to Idaho. Fizznoglia hopes to open another location in the Boise area in a few years.

Partnership

Multiple factors went in to finding the best location for this store. With not many pet stores around, Fizznoglia wanted Earthwise Pet to stand apart in a higher income, growing area. Eagle Island services this kind of area and was good fit for the new store. The new tenant shares the property with a variety of other businesses including Boise Fry Co., Palm Beach Tan and Orangetheory Fitness.