Canine Country: When dogs greet customers

Walk into some Palm Beach stores and there’s a good chance you’ll be welcomed by an enthusiastic greeter. That welcome presence may be very young, unless you do the math in dog years. 

And the greeter may welcome you not with a wave of the hand, but a wag of the tail. A number of store and gallery owners are proof that Palm Beach has gone to the dogs — in a friendly way. 

“He’s a perfect greeter. He makes people smile. He’s very gentle,” Sherry Frankel, owner of Sherry Frankel’s Menagerie, a gift shop in Palm Beach, said of her 11-year-old standard poodle, Dash. “He’s very retail friendly. He’s grown up in retail. He came to the shop when he was 11 weeks old. He’s been here for 11 years.”

Katherine Louis, owner of Bibi’s Doggy Boutique and designer of “custom canine couture,” sells things like custom-designed dog harnesses. While some of her dogs don’t go to the store, she says one, Lou Lou, loves time there.

“She really enjoys people coming in.” Louis said. “She wants to greet everybody. She wags her tail. It’s kind of charming.”

Some people think of dogs as guardians, while others look at them as one way to greet the world. At men’s clothing store Trillion in Palm Beach, black miniature poodle Jet often greets guests.

“I have people say, ‘You’re protecting this store,” David, with Tatiana a Trillion co-owner, said.  “I say, ‘He’s here to invite.’”

Jet sits in the store doorway much of the day., attracting attention and customers.

“People are walking and their periphery says, ‘What’s that?’” David said. “It does stop traffic. It’s nice like that. And it sets a very friendly tone.”

David days poodles are easy to have around and appear to be popular among in-store pets.

Frankel said Dash is the ideal companion for bored husbands and others accompanying shoppers.

“A couple comes in. Usually, the guy is going to be bored.” Frankel said. “Most people love dogs. He’s very lovable. The husband will play with the dog while the wife shops.”

Dog owners who bring their pet to work daily believe it’s good for the animal, who gets stimulation and attention.

“We’ve had this store 40 years and we’ve always had a dog here,” David said. “A customer just mentioned that today. It’s nice for everyone including the dog. He gets to see new people and gets stroked all day long.”

Regular customers, and visitors, typically get to know the dog of the store who welcomes them with an enthusiasm humans reserve for rare occasions.

“So many come just to see him,’ Frankel said. “He’s fabulous company to me. And he’s a joy to everyone who enters the shop.”

Having the dog at the store also solves the problem of dog sitting or dog care while the owner’s working.

“It’s hard to leave a dog home alone, unless you have somebody who walks the dog,” said Frankel, who opened her store in 1994 and has always had a dog there. 

A dog can be a store owner’s best friend, a constant companion,  source of comfort and greeter.

“We talk to each other,” Frankel said. “If I have a delivery, I’ll say, ‘Where should I put this?’ It just makes the day go quicker.”

When Jet isn’t near the front door, he typically sits on the edge of the main desk. 

“People are amazed that he doesn’t go out,” David said. “He sits at the desk where we write up sales.”

While some dogs simply hang around the shop, Dash has the biggest crate Frankel could find, which she refers to as a canine “condo.”

“It sits in the middle of my store,” Frankel said. “I use it as a display. I put merchandise on the top of it.”

Frankel outfitted Dash’s condo “like a little boy’s room” with two feather pillows, shams and blankets with cars, dinosaurs and other patterns.

“His collars always match his leashes. He’s. got pink, plaid,” Frankel said. “I get all of his leashes from Bibi’s boutique. Some have sharks. Some have flowers. He’s like me, very neon, very colorful.”

Pets make nice dining partners, especially if you eat outdoors. 

“We dine al fresco.,” Frankel said. “Our courtyard has benches and a table.”

Store owners’ love of dogs sometimes overflows into products they sell. Frankel’s store sells ceramic hot plates with sayings such as “Beware of the dog. He will steal your heart” and “I named my dog Five Miles, so I can tell people I walked five miles every day.”

Many dog owners seem to have a sense of humor. When Frankel takes Dash for a walk, she hangs a sign on the door with Dash’s photo and the text, “Dash says when you gotta go, you gotta go.”

Katherine Louis, who named her store after a Yorkie she rescued, said some people think that must be her name.

“She inspired the name for the store. Now people think I’m Bibi,” she said. “They drive up in a Rolls Royce and shout, ‘Bibi, I’m here. Bring the package.’”

Louis cites the movie aphorism regarding not working with dogs or children, since they get all the attention. 

“Sometimes, people get so focused  on the dog, they go, ‘Bye. We’ll come back,’” Louis said.

Frankel said Dash has “his own groupies who come into the store to see the dog not to shop.”

For companies like Bibi’s that sell canine products, a dog can be more than a greet: It can be a model. 

“I enjoy having my dog here,” Louis said. “She dresses in our stuff. She’s a fabulous model.”

Dogs don’t only seem to please many visitors, but some delivery people. When a UPS delivery worker dropped off a package at Frankel’s store, he whisked a treat out of his pocket. What had been a mundane moment suddenly turned into something more.

“Whenever Dash sees him, he’ll pull me to him,” Frankel said. “He becomes like a lion. He recognizes him and he knows he’s going to get treats.”