Also, SPOT offers discounts to the residents of its partners' buildings.
Dogs and their owners are offered posh treatment – even the floors are specially designed to protect the pets’ joints, and owners can watch their pets play in daycare during business hours via a webcam. SPOT also offers cage-free overnight boarding and personalized walking services.
“It’s like sending your child to the highest end, most reputable preschool program or day camp, where they get access, experience and exposure to so many different opportunities,” Marrow says. ”Our personnel are well-trained, have backgrounds with animals and they give the dogs one-on-one attention throughout the day. It’s a safe, social, wonderful environment.”
To develop his business and to differentiate from other metropolitan pet care serviced providers, Marrow began partnering with real estate developers throughout New York, including Silverstein Properties, Building & Land Technology, LeFrak and Rockrose.
The company’s city locations are located in luxury apartment buildings and serve high-net-worth clients in the surrounding neighborhoods.
SPOT opened up one such location at Mercedes House, an 864-unit New York luxury residential building supervised by Two Trees Management, in February of 2015, citing the opportunities in the vicinity: 60 percent of the building’s residents are pet owners.
SPOT staff provide dog-walking and other services to the client’s doorstep, often partnering with property managers to offer the service to all of the residents of a building.
The managers view SPOT as a retail client and an amenity for residents, says Marrow, sometimes funding a portion of the pet care service’s property costs in hopes of attracting more occupants to their apartments.
At one time, Marrow says, it was rare for city apartment dwellers — even those with luxury needs — to demand pet-friendly buildings and services, but that’s changed since the financial crisis, which led many property developers and managers to loosen their restrictions on pet ownership and drove demand for more local pet services.
For city dwellers, SPOT’s price point is competitive, says Marrow.
“We have unlimited use of daycare for around $30 a day,” Marrow says. “A dog walker in New York was costing me $20 per walk, two walks per day. The prices are very competitive for this marketplace. It’s a better opportunity for the dogs, we offer them socialization, it’s important for dogs to be around other dogs and to be well-socialized in the city environment.”