“She’ll be with you shortly, she’s just coming back from the castle”. This is not something you hear in your average pet shop but, then again, the Belvoir Barkery is not an average pet store.
Set in the grounds of the glorious and imposing Belvoir Castle on the Leicestershire/Lincolnshire border near the town of Grantham, the store is the newest addition to the Belvoir Retail Village and is part of a strategic step to make the castle estate a leading dog-friendly destination.
The castle is already a popular attraction in the area, with a rich royal history and a number of other features including an animal park with goats, ponies, donkeys and small animals. The estate as a whole is a regular dog-walking spot, and work is now under way to make the location even-more dog-centric with more water bowls and clip stations, and the creation of a 4km long dog-friendly nature trail for visitors to enjoy with their companions.
The retail village features stores selling premium clothes, homewares, ice creams and other food and drink, along with a luxurious farm shop selling goods sourced from the estate directly and the surrounding area, as well as other premium lines that fit the bill.
Amelia Palfreyman, the energetic head of retail at Belvoir Castle, has been in place since January and has already been busy with new outlets and store refreshes in the village. With a background in own-brand product development, she has plenty of experience in building ranges, hitting price points and creating the right product mixes, and does all the buying for the store.
The Belvoir Barkery pet store has only been open a matter of weeks, but it is already on a schedule to expand the scope of its operation.
