Dolittle's

Way back in 1993, upon graduating college, Ric and fiancée (now wife) Leah drove up the Eastern Seaboard. The two had always shared a love for pets, and as the miles rolled by they began dreaming about their own modern pet supply store. Within a few hours, they had settled on a name: Dolittle’s. By the time they reached New York they had a concept: natural foods, unique toys, and a self-service dog wash. From there the two explored every pet store they could find. Their road trip to Quebec and back was spent collecting ideas, making sketches, designing products, and more. When they arrived home and shared their excitement with friends and family, the sobering response was: “That sounds great, but what will you use for capital?”

Since the two had very little in the way of resources, they realized a store would have to wait. But they could start right away building funds by selling handcrafted items in Charleston City Market. In the winter of 1994 Dolittle’s sold its first item: a hand-painted personalized leash holder for a black lab named Dylan. Among the items offered in the early market days were picture frames, leash holders, homemade dog biscuits, and bird houses. Appropriately, bird houses helped create the nest egg.