Geneva's Top Dog store offers treats for your pets

Austin, Texas, has a reputation as a college town, a music festival town and an emerging technology town.

But it also is a place "where dogs reign supreme," said Melanie Morris of Geneva.

Morris should know. She and her family recently moved from Austin to Geneva and brought their four dogs - all spoiled to the bone, she claims - with them.

And to prove their love of dogs, they opened Top Dog in Geneva in The Berry House at 227 S. Third St. as a way, at least in part, to emulate the vibes they had in Austin.

Top Dog is exactly what it sounds like - a store to pamper and spoil your pet with treats and toys and various other things that dog owners buy for their beloved family members.

"We have loved interacting with this awesome community of animal lovers," Morris said, adding she can't wait to provide area dog owners with organic and healthy treats and other specialty items for their pets.

She is planning a grand opening at the store on Saturday, with a rain date set for Sunday.

"We would always have a small, unique dog store to choose from in Austin and we wanted to replicate something similar here in Geneva," she said. "We realized that the people in Geneva care for their dogs just as much as the residents in Austin, so we knew this would be the perfect place to settle down."

Her family has enjoyed seeing and meeting many of the dogs that walk up and down Third Street with their owners, and are hoping to lure them into the store.

On Fridays and Saturdays, when the weather allows, the store will conduct "Yappy Hour" on the lawn in front of The Berry House to provide special deals on certain treats.

Shopping on Mars:

Could we all end up in a "Mars" sort of world?

We could, if Mars refers to Micro Automated Retail Stores.

Can you tell I was at another conference related to modern retail? In the interest of helping our elected city officials stay abreast of what is happening in the retail world, and what could become of some empty storefronts in the future, I will pass along this information.

As I have mentioned in the past when lamenting the Charlestowne Mall, which is sort of like a train that can't get passengers and/or get out of its own station, wise retailers should see a key connection between their e-commerce sites, physical stores and consumer mobile devices.

Another twist on that is Mars, which is a "micro store" set up with mobile touch points in mind for a shopper to visit, see what the company offers, try some visual aids to help choose products and maybe even order something.

But mostly, it is a way for an online business to have a physical presence, albeit a small one. So these types of shops can be set up in empty storefronts, or in shopping centers or in airports or other locations.

We're not going to see entire downtown retail districts or even area retail strip centers full of these types of setups in the immediate future. But it's coming.

What do the Scouts say? Be prepared.

A tasty sign:

A sure sign of autumn and Halloween?

It's not the bright tree colors or even the Halloween decorations.

It's munching on apple cider doughnuts from Kuiper's Family Farm in Maple Park.

That's the way to bring in the new season.

That other sign:

Let's hope another sure sign of autumn in the coming years is the Chicago Cubs playing in a World Series. We could get used to that.

But I'm not sure what all of the hoopla is really all about.

After all, the Cubs did play in a "World Series" a few times in the 1960s. It just happened to take place in my backyard in Wiffle ball games.

For those who may not have been keeping track back then, I have fond memories of one in particular when the Cubs beat the White Sox.

Glenn Beckert got the winning hit in the bottom of the ninth, overcoming a lead the Sox had on the strength of a Walt "No Neck" Williams home run.

Now, that's October excitement. And fantasy at its highest level.

dheun@sbcglobal.net