Fetch Dog Park Ties Down Sites Across the Southeast US
Dog park operator Fetch Park has plans to expand into several new cities in the Southeast as well as in its hometown of Atlanta, where it's tied up a spot in the northern suburbs.
After experiencing better-than-expected results at its first location in Atlanta, Fetch Park will open parks in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina; Birmingham, Alabama; and Nashville, Tennessee's Germantown neighborhood. Fetch previously announced plans for the Germantown location.
In Atlanta, the company charges $10 per day per dog for admission. Fetch Park also has membership plans that range from $30 per month per dog or $275 per year per dog, according to the company's website.
Fetch Park is negotiating deals for the sites but will not disclose the locations until the the paperwork is signed.
The company's Atlanta location opened last year at a green space at 520 Daniel St. It was the first dog park in the city to include a full-service bar, which is housed in a retrofitted 43-year-old Airstream travel trailer. Fetch Atlanta also opened a restaurant called The Ice House that serves lunch, dinner and brunch on the weekends in former shipping containers.
Stephen Ochs, founder of Fetch Park, said he chose the new markets for Fetch Park based on the cities' high dog ownership numbers and environments where canines could thrive.
"Expansion has always been on my mind since even before the first Fetch Park was announced," he said in an email. "The goal for this first round of expansion was to target the most dog friendly markets in the Southeast."
The new Fetch Park in Atlanta will be adjacent to Ameris Park Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, Georgia, though Ochs would not say exactly where.
"We have been working hand in hand with the city of Alpharetta to select the perfect location and I don’t want to release the exact address until we officially submit for permitting, which should be in the next few weeks," he said in an email.
Ochs came up with the idea for a dog park that serves adult beverages and food after being unable to bring his boxer, Oakley, to gatherings with friends at establishments that did not allow pets. Fetch Park allows people in similar situations to avoid having to make the choice of hanging out with friends or their dogs after work and on weekends, he said.
Ochs said he expects to have three of the new Fetch Park locations, including the one in the Nashville area, open within 18 months. The others should be in operation within two years.
