Relaxation • Cal
State Long Beach student Marco Lalau
attends to his furry friends at the
Bubbles Pet Spa, the professional
pet grooming business he owns. Erika
Jones
/ Online Forty Niner
Student’s pet business targets the dogs
By Erika Jones
Online Forty Niner
Chief Photographer
Bubbles Pet Spa is literally a paradise for dogs and their owners. Located on
Palos Verdes Boulevard in Torrance, the spa is equipped with the state-of-the-art
Hydro Bath pet cabin, offers customer-oriented business hours of 9 a.m. to 7
p.m. seven days a week.
It also offers natural and holistic dog food, vitamins
and snacks as well as professional grooming. The successful pet spa, expecting
to profit already in its fifth month, is owned by Cal State Long Beach students
Marco Lalau, a senior marketing major and marketing vice president of Corporate
Relations for American Marketing Association (AMA), along with his brother Marcelo
Lalau, who both immigrated here from San Paulo, Brazil, four years ago.
“
We don’t get the average dog owners who just have dogs and deal with
them. They love dogs and they like us.”
Marco and his brother Marcelo, who worked as a branch manager of Honda finance
corporation for 10 years, was inspired to start a pet spa because of the difficulty
in getting grooming services on weekends without appointments when their dogs
got dirty from walks on the beach. They usually take customers on an appointment-basis,
it’s too expensive and there’s a lot of restrictions. They’re
usually booked on the weekends, too.
Marco can attest to the difficulties of starting a business as a student. Because
choosing an upscale location was important for the success of their business,
the Lalaus chose an area near the beach where the average annual income is $100,000.
“
We didn’t like this area at first,” Marco said. “But we
have a coffee house and a nail salon next door, and people can drop off their
dogs
and get coffee or their nails done while they wait.”
After choosing the location came the expenses. The Lalaus purchased furniture
from Ikea, tore down the ceiling and redid the walls, ceiling and floors themselves,
even working until midnight on New Years day. Sarah Momohara, a friend of Marco
and an art student at CSULB, designed the company logo. Marcelo Lalau personally
attended a show in Las Vegas to purchase all the products sold in the store himself.
Besides his supportive family, neighbors and friends, Marco thanks the AMA
on campus for the generous help received in starting his business. Valentin
Capraru,
a member of AMA, looked over the business plan and dried the dogs on inauguration
day, while another member, Rhea Lee, assumed public relation duties and created
a database of Marco’s clients by gathering basic information from his customers.
Sarah Harris, also a member of AMA, contributed to the dÈcor of the
store and created balloons on inauguration day.
Being a marketing student, Marco knows how to market his business. According
to Marco, the spa’s most valuable marketing tool is the Hydro-Bath pet
spa, a $25,000 state-of-the-art pet spa cabin with relaxing jets that soap, rinse
and blow-dry pets in less than 25 minutes. “We’re the only one in
South Bay that has it. There is one in Long Beach too. It provides quick, easy,
in-and-out service,” Marco said.
Marco also offers additional dog-friendly services ranging from flea baths,
natural shampoo and conditioning, nail clippings and teeth brushing to dog
grooming and
puppy training classes taught by professionals after-hours. In the puppy training
classes, the puppies are taught basic command such as “sit” and “stay,” while
in the dog grooming classes the owners are taught the whole grooming process
from a professional.
For the very hands-on owners, washing the dog themselves is also an option at
Bubbles Pet Spa. The self-wash station is available for customer use for $15,
equipped with towels, shampoo and conditioner, spritz, and nail cutters.
Besides the pet-friendly services, Lalau also offers holistic dog food, treats
and vitamins for pet-loving owners visiting Bubbles Pet Spa.
“Eagle
Pack” is a natural pet food carried
by Bubbles Pet Spa that is vitamin and
mineral fortified. “Hip Action” is
another natural dog treat with added
glucosamine and chondrotin. It comes
in flavors such as real beef, peanut
butter, and lamb and rice.
To future entrepreneurs of CSULB, Marco said, “Surround yourself with
good people-it’s the people around you that make you successful.”
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