Our South County location is closing, October 2nd.

This is a letter I never wanted to write.

As many of you already know, we are being forced out of our existing building to make way for a QuikTrip. Our building is set to be torn down in November. Despite our best efforts, we have been unable to secure a new building for our South County location.

As a result, on October 2nd, 2022, we will be closing our South County location indefinitely. South County is where we got our start, and we have every intention of returning as soon as we are able. In fact, we have been searching for a new space in the area since we found out our building was being sold well over a year ago.

In that time we’ve had a building under contract, made written offers on at least 6 others, set up town hall meetings with potential neighbors, met with county council members, attended multiple county council meetings, and driven hundreds of miles doing laps all over South County trying to find anything that might work.

We’ve approached owners of buildings that weren’t on the market. We’ve hired an architect and looked at building from scratch. We almost bought a building we had no use for just so we could get the building next door and utilize the space in between.

And most recently, since the beginning of the year, we have been negotiating the terms of a lease for a space just down the street. The space was too big, and it cost too much, but I really thought we were going to be able to make it work. We hired an attorney to help with the complex lease. We met with architects and contractors numerous times to get the space figured out.

We even ordered the fencing and the turf and the camera systems thinking we were moving in. Unfortunately, at the end of it all, we just can’t do it. All of the additional expense necessary to make it work is just more than we can reasonably bear.

Honestly, I’ve probably known this for a while, but I just refused to admit it. I couldn’t bring myself to let go of South County. It is our original location, but it is so much more than that. I love this place, and I owe it so much. I have often compared it to having a third child, and like a child, it has taught me so much about life. It has taught me about patience and perseverance. It has taught me so much about hard work and what it means to be a leader. It has taught me that if you truly want to succeed in life you have to put others’ needs ahead of your own.

And it all comes back to that little firehouse on Lindbergh.

Most importantly for now, we will be able to make room for all of our Soco staff at our other locations. Every single person who wants to stay will have a position available to them. And, of course, we would love to see you guys join us in Brentwood, Dog Grove or St Peters.

Lastly, we want to say THANK YOU to everyone that came through our doors. Thank you for trusting us with your loved ones and allowing us to be a part of your lives. Thank you for telling your friends about us and helping us grow this little doggy daycare into something we could all be proud of. And thank you all for understanding just how difficult this decision is.

Soco will always be a very special place for all of us, and we look forward to coming back to South County in the near future.

With Love,
Jeremy King