NAJU Gets Creative

Have you seen the NAJU Boarding & Grooming Shuttle around town?

 

 

If so, you have probably been curious and want to know more. NAJU is a local business that is family owned and operated. This thriving business was originally started on the property of Biff Hunt’s parents in the 60’s and 70’s where they were breeding American Foxhounds and show dogs. The property was an old dairy farm which still had the runs and covered facilities out back. This was used for the dogs. People loved their setup and how clean and consistent the facility was. This then led to the conversion to a public facility in 1975.

The businesses name NAJU came from the combination of the first 2 letters the owners names.

Nancy + Julian = NAJU

The new building was completed 13 years ago and then they opened the dog park where pets enjoy 5 acres of play space.  Mr. Hunt states, “most dogs are built like athletes” they need to move and exercise.

 At NAJU Parents can choose any combination of services. If they want only Day Care and Dog Park, that is fine. It’s their choice.

If you can’t bring your pet to day care, the Shuttle will pick up your pet from one of the designated stops or come to your house. The pets anticipate going to Day Care. Many dogs will run in the shuttle and go directly to their crate. They are ready to go play!

The NAJU Shuttle will pick up your pets Monday - Friday. 75 – 100 pets are transported per week. That is an astounding number.

Shuttle stops:

• Publix in Lynn Haven
• Sam’s in PC
• Kmart in PCB
• Winn Dixie in PCB

NAJU’s goal is to have a CLEAN and CONSISTANT environment for pets. They care for 80-120 pets on an average day. Depending on what types of services you pay for, you can have them all each day, or only day care.  Biff Hunt says, “Consistency is the Key” to a happy pet. Each day the pets have the same routine. The pets “thrive off of a schedule.”

A typical day at NAJU:

• Playtime every morning form 6-6:30
• Back inside for breakfast by 9:30
• Playtime every afternoon 2-2:30
• Dinner is at 5:30 (schedule can be adjusted to meet the needs of individual pets)

The animals go out to the dog park in small groups according to their size and behavior. There are 15-20 minimum and 30 maximum dogs in the park at a time. They all get along so well.

NAJU employs 20+ people with room to grow and advance! There are 2 shifts, each shift having a “shift leader” who is responsible for the primary care of the pets. They move the dogs from their runs for outside playtime. Here they play with the dogs while other employees clean the runs. This is performed twice per day.

 

In 2006-2007 NAJU averaged 45-55 grooms on Friday. They didn’t have to do any marketing at that time. Then business began to slow down when the economy took a plunge. NAJU began offering free “playtime” at the park to get business. Mr. Hunt then decided to build a website, offer shuttle services and send out postcards with coupons monthly to help increase business. Mr. Hunt began couponing himself to see how it worked and then he adjusted his coupons according to what “parents” wanted.  He began working with Creative Printing of Bay County in 2010. Creative prints, adds labels and mails out 7,000 postcards for NAJU each month. The postcards are mailed at the first of each month with coupons that are good for 4-6 weeks. The coupons can be used for different services during the same visit.

 

• NAJU is a unique local business catering to the pets and pet lovers of the area.
• They look forward to growing and expanding with the community
• They attribute their success on the last few years to 3 things: