K-9 Resorts Daycare & Luxury Hotel Answers the Growing Demand for High End Pet Care

When it comes to caring for man’s best friend, Americans aren’t cutting back. The pet care industry is booming— the American Pet Products Association predicts that people will spend $62 billion on their pets by the time 2016 comes to a close, which is up from $60.28 billion last year.

While those numbers might come as a surprise to some, it’s nothing new for Jason and Steven Parker, the brothers and business partners behind K-9 Resorts Daycare and Luxury Hotel. They were first introduced to the lucrative luxury pet care industry years ago, right after they decided to start their own dog walking business.

It all started as a hobby—Jason and Steven were never able to have a dog of their own because their parents weren’t pet people. So in order to fill that void, the brothers jumped at the chance to watch their neighbor’s dog while he was out of town. They did a good job and earned his trust, so their neighbor started recommending them to other dog owners in the neighborhood. Before they knew it, they were running a full-blown dog walking business.

It was through one of their clients that they then stumbled upon the idea of a luxury hotel designed specifically for dogs. They had agreed to pick up a neighbor’s dog from a high end boarding facility while she was away on vacation. As soon as they got there, they saw just how good business could be—every room in the entire facility was sold out.

“We knew right away that the luxury pet care industry was something we wanted to break into. So we traveled around the country attending different seminars to learn everything that we could about the industry’s best practices,” said Jason Parker, K-9 Resorts’ co-founder and co-CEO. “After that, we started building K-9 Resorts from the ground up. We officially launched back in 2005, and we’ve been growing steadily ever since.”

K-9 Resorts has carved out a unique segment for itself on two different levels. Within the pet care industry, the brand offers services that can’t be found anywhere else. Everything that goes into its luxury hotels is second to none, from the building materials to the layout and ventilation system. For example, every K-9 Resorts facility has separate zones with separate air control for different groups of dogs. The brand also makes it a practice to never group more than a dozen dogs together in order to cut down on noise. That five-star customer service extends to dog owners—every one of K-9 Resorts’ employees is specially trained to provide the best for both pets and people.

From a franchising perspective, K-9 Resorts stands out because its corporate team goes above and beyond to support its local franchise owners. That includes performing a thorough analysis of specific regions and sites to make sure that cities can support its business model. The brand also has relationships with real estate agents around the country who take on the responsibilities of finding an approved site and zoning, along with architects and engineers who are familiar with K-9 Resorts’ facilities and designs. That creates the consistency from location to location that’s necessary for franchises to succeed.

K-9 Resorts decided to break into the franchising industry to expand outside of its home base in the Northeast. Parker says they knew they had created something special in terms of their business model and system, but they knew they needed to partner with other entrepreneurs in order to successfully grow the concept nationwide without breaking the bank.

“Teaming up with local business owners is an ideal situation for us. It goes beyond our expansion and development goals—signing deals with franchisees gives us the opportunity to teach other people who share our passion for dogs how to be successful with a business they truly enjoy,” said Parker. “We’re excited to continue bringing more entrepreneurs on board.”

The brand didn’t decide to franchise right off the bat—K-9 Resorts has actively expanded in phases. For the first five years the brand was in business, the Parker brothers dedicated their time to making improvements to their model and figuring out what worked for them. For five years after that, K-9 Resorts franchised regionally so that the brand’s corporate team could be there in person to support their owners one-on-one. Now, the brand is taking its refined model to new communities across the country.

Part of the reason K-9 Resorts is able to expand nationally is because of its multi-million dollar deal with Navigator Partner, LLC to fuel those expansion efforts. The deal has enabled the brand to add key people to its development team, ultimately opening up doors in areas of the country that weren’t previously available.

“We want K-9 Resorts to be a household name from coast to coast. Now that we’re opening up franchises in cities all over the U.S., our goal is to cross the 100-unit mark within the next five years. We’re already on track to make that goal a reality—we’re close to inking few more franchise agreements,” said Parker. “At the end of the day, our main mission is to work with entrepreneurs who want to follow a system that’s already proven itself to be successful. We’ll be there to support them every step of the way.”