BRIGHT SPOT
Rio Rancho residents open dog bakery, grooming salon
Dogs are given something to drool over in Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming’s opening weeks with fresh-baked treats.
Rio Ranchoans Lucy Romero and Doug Wood are here to serve fourlegged friends at their new store at 9780 Coors NW, Suite F in Albuquerque. This store has been years in the making and began with a doggie food truck called Barkley’s Bistro.
The truck was named after the couple’s late pug, Barkley. He had many food allergies, so Romero became skilled in the art of doggie-baking.
After testing her recipes, the couple opened Barkley’s Bistro food truck with great success, she said.
“We just got so busy that I needed to grow and expand,” Romero said.
The couple has three dogs: a pug named Brady, a Boston terrier named Winston and an American bulldog named Rex.
“We have always been very cautious of what we feed our dogs,” Romero said. “So we wanted to open something where we were knowledgeable in dog food, in vitamins and minerals, and just give people a place to come to have fun with their dogs and get some yummy treats and great food and some chewies, and visit our dog spa.”
Woof Gang Bakery is a franchise that has 130 locations across the U.S. Romero and Wood’s location is the first in New Mexico.
“Woof Gang Bakery offers the very best in pet care by providing quality products and grooming with a service-oriented approach. Each location is a neighborhood store committed to the well-being, health and happiness of pets,” according to the Woof Gang Bakery website.
The couple is going to re-brand the food truck to Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming.
“People love their dogs like they are their children. We have people of all ages; millennials who come in and are waiting till later in life to have children, so their dogs are their kids,” she said. “And empty-nesters, like myself and Doug, whose daughters are in their 20s and our dogs are our babies now. So you just have all ages coming in here and they just love it.”
Woof Gang Bakery carries healthy pet foods, toys and supplies, and offers a kitty-corner and doggie spa. The doggie spa has a cage-less waiting area, kennels, grooming stations and two bath stations.
The couple also owns the Anytime Fitness on McMahon and Unser in northwest Albuquerque.
Romero plans to combine fitness and pets in creating pet friendlyfitness classes like pup-palates, and doggie yoga, she said.
“We want people to know that we encourage them to bring their dog here to sniff around, to play around and to get groomed,” Romero said.