The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Bird Loft provides one-stop shop for all things birds
An Amherst business has found its niche in the community by being a one-stop shop for all things birds.
The Bird Loft, located at 141 N. Leavitt Road, is still going strong after a decade of offering a myriad of birdrelated services.
“We have been here for 11 years,” said Elaine Jameyson, who owns the store with Lesa Basydlo. “We are really the only one (birdonly shop) in the county, but I could understand why some folks don’t find us if they are not into birds. You’ve got your chains that offer some birds, but we are the only mom-and-pop shop that specializes in birds.”
Jameyson said her shop offers a lot of different services for bird lovers.
“We are a full-service shop,” she said. “We offer boarding and grooming services.
“We have had one man already call us and reserve a boarding spot for when the campgrounds open,” she added. “It’s just like if you have a doggy and you are getting ready to leave for vacation. It’s the same thing if you have a little birdy, too. We usually offer our grooming service by walk-in, but for the time being we are offering by appointment only.”
Jameyson said the business has also made safety precautions when customers buy food due to novel coronavirus.
“Our birds are raised on specialty items so we sell in bulk bins for folks to feed their birds,”she said. “So, right now we have been waiting on folks so we can go through and keep up with safety protocols. Normally, folks will come in
and open the bins themselves, but we have had to do it just to prevent the spread.”
Jameyson said all the birds in the store are bred in-house.
“We raise and sell our own birds; we don’t get them from outside sources,” she said. “We breed and raise everything we offer, so we can control all the variables and make sure they are all healthy.
“We take them from their parents when they’re about 3 weeks old and their eyes start to open,” she continued.” This is when we start the hand-feeding process so they are used to being fed by a human. Our bigger birds are just one generation out of the wild because they stopped importation in the 1990s. A lot of my breeders were imported legally out of the wild. Now we are working on the second generation and so on. A lot of the smaller birds are more domesticated.”
Jameyson said bird production is limited to the weather.
“Birds are interesting because they are influenced by the weather,” she said. “With the coldness we have had less production, but we should see more as the weather improves. We have a group of five people doing all the breeding. I’ve never counted all of the different species, but I would say we have well over 20 different types of birds.”
Jameyson said folks should stop by to get the proper food for their bird.
“We have all supplies and quite a variety of foods,” she said. “We also have seminars for owners because a lot of the big things now is a better diet for your pet, so we do a lot of seminars and educational things to inform folks how to do that.”
Jameyson said the business was doing well before the coronavirus closures.
“We were all coming off the best quarter ever,” she said. “So, I think we had the funds to survive something like this which is good.
“We had some plans about how we would invest the funds we had,” she added. “Unfortunately, we’ve needed it to maintain things during the crisis, but at least we have been in good shape for the most part. Being a small business, we have a group of customers who are dedicated, loyal customers that really want to shop here and help out a local business. So, things are going well.”
Jameyson said birds have good qualities that make them great pets.
“They are easily contained,” she said. “They are also very intelligent animals, so you need to offer the right stimulus and activities. They’re very fun to interact with. They are also extremely friendly and just a good animal to be around and have as a pet. It’s similar to a dog in the fact that they love attention and affection.”
“We are really the only one (birdonly shop) in the county, but I could understand why some folks don’t find us if they are not into birds. You’ve got your chains that offer some birds, but we are the only mom-and-pop shop that specializes in birds.” — Elaine Jameyson