Brookside Barkery & Bath expanding into Johnson County

May 20, 2023

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Brookside Barkery & Bath is opening its first Johnson County locations in the coming months. A Shawnee store is slated for a mid-September opening, and an Overland Park store could open by early 2024. Photo courtesy Brookside Barkery & Bath.

Brookside Barkery & Bath, a local pet supplies and spa company, is expanding into Johnson County, with two new locations opening in the coming months.

Brian and Jennifer Murphy, the new owners of Brookside Barkery & Bath, are planning to open two new stores in Shawnee and Overland Park.

The couple is expecting a soft opening by mid-September at 12204 Shawnee Mission Parkway at 10 Quivira Plaza in Shawnee next month. Meanwhile, an Overland Park store could come online by early 2024.

The Murphys expect to eventually have seven or eight Barkery locations in the market.

The couple arrived in town late last year from Minneapolis with intentions to start a new mom-and-pop pet store. They bought Brookside Barkery & Bath from Delena and Larry Stout, who retired in December 2022

“We want to expand into the marketplace, and we saw a good need in places like Shawnee for natural pet food and fresh, frozen foods,” said Brian Murphy. “This is higher-end food, but we want to provide nutrition-focused food.”

The Shawnee location will have a slightly smaller footprint than their Brookside shop, but it will still offer their entire range of services, including full-service grooming and bathing. Three self-wash stations and several walk-in services will also be available. The site is currently under remodeling.

Brookside Barkery & Bath also offers same-day delivery through a new partnership the company launched with a crowd-sourced platform called Roadie. All orders received by noon will be delivered by 6 p.m., the same day, every day of the week.

“We’re now faster than Amazon and Chewy,” Murphy said. “It’s a game changer.”

This year marks the 20th anniversary for the company. The Murphys plan to mark the occasion in October with a celebration that also serves as a grand opening for the new Shawnee store.

“We’re still aiming for a soft opening in Shawnee by mid-September, but we want to celebrate the company, too,” said Brian Murphy.

“We really liked this location, next to Westlake Hardware and Price Chopper,” Murphy added. “We want people to be able to visit a local pet shop before or after they do their other grocery shopping close by.”

Jennifer Murphy hopes to launch partnerships with local animal shelters, adoption centers, and also find ways to help feed pets in need. Her husband points out that they aspire to (and live by) the slogan on their company shirts: “Shop Local.”

“We want to serve the neighborhood, not the nation,” said Brian Murphy. “We’re not going to become another ‘dot com’ business.”

Other pet store news: Mobile pet spa Zoomin’ Groomin’ now open in Johnson County

Ben McCarthy is a contributor to the Post and other publications in the Kansas City area. He can be reached at [email protected] with questions, comments and story suggestions.