By Jessica Borders
FAIRMONT — Animal Kingdom Inc. has downsized to become more of a specialty store.
Animal Kingdom recently moved from the Middletown Mall, which was its home for about eight years, to 517 East Park Ave. on the East Side of Fairmont. The store opened at its new location around Jan. 17.
Owner Mike Marino started the business 11 or 12 years ago. He runs Animal Kingdom with the help of his wife Lisa, 18-year-old son Logan, and daughter Tristan, 13. One full-time and two part-time employees also work at the shop.
Marino said at one time the store at the mall had 13 employees, not counting his family. But in the last year and a half, he unfortunately had to let some workers go because of the impact of the economy on his business.
“The economy ... hit us hard,” he said. “It was a decision that we had to make.”
As Marino and his family saw the changes that were taking place, they started coming up with plans. For the past couple years, Marino had been wanting to turn Animal Kingdom back into a specialty business.
“We saw what was going on in the economy, and we just took the opportunity to downsize our business and become more of a specialty store at the same time,” he said.
While the store previously carried as many items as it could, top-of-the-line products are the new focus. For example, Animal Kingdom got rid of the supermarket-based foods and has brought in the top five brands of dog food.
“It’s just a smaller version of what we’ve had out at the Middletown Mall,” Marino said.
He said the business went from almost 4,000 square feet at the mall down to about 1,200 square feet at its new location.
“With lowering the size of our store, it allowed me to also lower some product costs because we don’t have the huge overhead now,” he said.
In an effort to continue supporting the Humane Society, the shop is no longer selling dogs and cats. Marino said his business has some exciting plans to work with the organization on animal adoptions.
“Let’s make a move to really help the Humane Society because I think they’re doing a good job,” he said.
Animal Kingdom still offers a nice selection of exotic fish as well as reptiles and many small animals. Customers can find turtles, spiders, snakes, lizards, mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, chinchillas, ferrets and more there.
Marino said he loves animals, which is why he started the business in the first place.
“I enjoy the animals first of all,” he said. “Without a doubt, animals are why I got into this. My passion is the snakes and the fish.”
He said his family and the employees also have specific creatures that they enjoy working with the most. His son likes the aquatic life, his wife loves the furry creatures, and his daughter’s favorites are the reptiles.
Marino also has fun interacting with people at his shop. He said it’s special to help a kid find his or her first pet, and he strongly believes that animals are therapeutic and teach children responsibility.
“One thing that I enjoy is meeting the people,” he said. “There’s just so many different personalities of animals out there and personalities of people that match them. It’s sort of neat. It’s a unique business.”
Animal Kingdom is already starting to see steady business at its new location.
Marino and his family expressed their gratitude to the Friendly City.
“Thank you, Fairmont, for your support over the last year and your continued support,” he said. “We appreciate your business.”
Animal Kingdom is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 304-366-4366.
E-mail Jessica Borders at jborders@timeswv.com.
