Meet Deb Dempsey of Mouthfuls Pet Supply in Northwest Denver

Today we’d like to introduce you to Deb Dempsey.

Deb, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Mouthfuls was started in 1999 when my best friend and I decided to tackle the universal problem of dog breath. We opened Mouthfuls, Inc and began manufacturing dog breath mints that were packaged in a hinged tin, similar to human breath mints. We soon moved onto a variety of other products that we sold in the upscale gift and gourmet market.

In 2005, we decided to venture out yet again and opened our flagship retail store, featuring our products and many others that we had discovered through the dozens of trade shows that we attended every year. The store was located in an “up and coming” area that was safe during the day but got very questionable as it got dark. We had hoped to sell enough in the store to cover our rent, essentially giving us an office out of my home. Instead, 5280, Denver’s lifestyle magazine dubbed us Denver’s best pet store in 2006, an award which we’ve continued received numerous times over the years.

The following year, the pet industry experienced one of the worst slate of pet food recalls in history and our store became the darling of the media. Big box pet stores wouldn’t allow the media in without corporate approval and the recalls were coming so fast that the media didn’t have time for that. Instead, we offered them full access any time and were featured on every metro news outlet and the cover of the Denver Post.

As the years went on, we shifted our focus to retail and dismantled our wholesale business. We are now known as one of the top independent pet supply stores in the city and focus heavily on health and nutrition. The neighborhood that we are located in went through an amazing transformation and the property values have soared. It’s now one of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city and we were able to purchase our building a little over two years ago. We are safely entrenched within a community that we love and grateful for our loyal clients who are incredibly supportive of independent businesses.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh, that’s funny. This has definitely not been a smooth road. This has been a wonderful ride though. Because our store was located in an up and coming neighborhood, we’ve weathered A LOT of construction and a major “streetscape.” For several years, we had one-way traffic (we’re on a two-way street), with no parking on either side of the street. We organized community meetings and worked with the city council, utility companies and the contractor hired by the city to move the project along faster than it was slated to be finished.

After the streetscape, developers ascended on our shopping district, which is essentially 6 blocks long and began buying up everything they could get their hands on. Quaint little buildings have been scraped and multi-story dwellings and commercial buildings have taken their place. This took a huge toll on a lot of the businesses in our area and many closed as a result. All that development has ultimately increased our customer base and we are thriving. We have learned to roll with the punches and adjust our model along the way to accommodate the ebbs and flows of the demographic change.

Mouthfuls Pet Supply – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We are a pet supply store located in a big city but operate as if we are a small-town country store. While we sell a lot of the same items as other holistically based pet supply stores, our store culture stands out among the rest. To begin with, we are passionate about nutrition and I have spent countless hours researching and educating myself. I’ve had more nutritional training than most veterinarians. Our staff is thoroughly trained as well. We don’t hire cashiers, we train our staff to be problem solvers. We source unique products from small, independently owned businesses and probably carry more Colorado-based products than any other pet supply store in the state. Probably, most importantly, we offer a happiness guarantee to our customers. We want everyone to be satisfied and have empowered our entire staff to facilitate that. We don’t even have a return policy to speak of because we take everything back. No questions asked, no excuses or receipt necessary. We’ve had people buy clothing online and bring it in to exchange it. We’ve taken back food that we don’t even sell, just to get dogs and cats on the right path. Of course, we have the occasional person who truly takes advantage of this policy but for the most part, it has resulted in happier employees (they’re not defending arbitrary policies to customers), happier customers (we have amazing reviews on Yelp and Google and a thriving business amidst an internet shopping culture. Our reputation precedes us with both our customers and our vendors and we are very proud of our standing in the community.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Probably, our proudest moment was our ability to purchase the building that we had been renting for our shop for 12 years. It was not a cheap purchase but we worked so hard to save so we would be able to afford it if the opportunity ever arose. For years, we watched developers sweep in and snatch up anything they could in our area. We had literally begged our landlord to sell it to us but the rental income was her retirement and she didn’t want to change what her husband had set up for her. Finally, when she passed away, her family approached us and allowed us to do so. We will be forever grateful for them for not bidding this out. We doubt we could have afforded to win a bidding war with developers. Having this stable location, firmly entrenched in our community is paramount to our success.

Contact Info:

• Address: 4224 Tennyson Street, Denver, CO 80212
• Website: www.mouthfuls.net
• Phone: 720-855-7505
• Email: mouthfulsinc@comcast.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mouthfulspet/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mouthfulspet/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/mouthfuls
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mouthfuls-denver

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.