Hounds Town USA Hires Operations Guru Abe Dunaway to Join Team As New Senior Director of Operations and Training

Hounds Town USA, the 20-plus-unit doggie day care franchise, is set to open 38 stores and counting over the next 9 months, with a 24-month goal of getting to 100. To ensure the brand has the proper infrastructure in place to support this growth, Hounds Town USA is continuing to expand its leadership team with the latest addition of Abe Dunaway as the new senior director of operations and training.

Dunaway comes to the team with over a decade's worth of experience in the doggie day care segment of the franchise industry. Most recently, Dunaway served as the vice president of franchise operations for Wag N’ Wash, where he spent 14 years.

“My story in the industry is really an example of how you can work your way up from the bottom,” said Dunaway. “I started as a store manager with Wag N’ Wash, and as the company grew and more franchisees signed on, I began working with the corporate team and transitioned to the franchising side to do training support and franchise support. I eventually was promoted to the director of franchise operations and went on to become the vice president of franchise operations. This experience gave me a lot of insight into both the pet industry and franchising in general.”

When Dunaway met Hounds Town USA CEO Jackie Bondanza a couple of years ago at an IFA event, the two got to talking about the story of the brand. Dunaway loved the concept and the business model, and even spoke with several Hounds Town USA franchisees to learn more about their experience.

“As I started hearing stories about the growth of the Hounds Town USA brand over the past few years, I took a second look and saw a position was available,” said Dunaway. “I reached out and was thrilled to join the team in August. I’ll always treasure my time with Wag N’ Wash, but I’m very excited to be with this exciting and emerging brand.”

In his new role, Dunaway says his main focus will be supporting incoming and existing franchisees. “The day-to-day operations are a very important part of helping franchisees build better businesses and become profitable,” said Dunaway. “My role is to offer that operational support and training by sharing best practices and leveraging my previous experience in the industry.”

And that $100 billion pet care industry is becoming more relevant than ever, Dunaway says, as more and more entrepreneurs flock to the pet care space. “People love animals, and they always have — this is a great industry to be in for animal lovers,” said Dunaway. “Additionally, pet care concepts generally require a lower cost of entry and franchisees can benefit from a more simplified business model compared to other retail concepts. Those are some of the reasons we see so much interest in the pet care market.”

Looking ahead, Dunaway says he is most excited to make life easier for all Hounds Town USA franchisees by building internal operational processes, increasing communication and rolling out training programs.

“Hounds Town USA really stands out in the industry with an incredible leadership team,” said Dunaway. “Now, I’m excited to join that team and help them build some of these systems and processes as the brand grows across the country.”

Bondanza says the rest of the Hounds Town USA shares Dunaway's excitement. “We are proud to have such an experienced franchising industry veteran joining our family, especially one who is an animal lover and has so much experience working in the pet care industry,” she said. “Franchisees are following their dreams with Hounds Town USA, and Dunaway will help our owners make those entrepreneurial dreams a reality.”

The overall investment to open a Hounds Town USA ranges from $330,000 to $630,000 and includes a one-time franchise fee of $49,000 for a single unit. For franchising opportunities, please visit http://www.houndstownfranchise.com.