The dogs are scruffy, with no end in sight
Charlotte dog groomers are overloaded as a worker shortage collides with an increase in dog ownership
This article was published in The Charlotte Ledger e-newsletter on June 23, 2021. To receive the latest local business-y news and trends straight to your inbox, sign up for free here.
Groomers are slammed and appointments are hard to find, as the pandemic puppy craze hits up against a long-running groomer shortage; ‘We’re a dying breed’
Joan Hayward trims the nails of longtime client Kelsey, a terrier mix, at Animal Artistry Grooming in Pineville. Before the pandemic, Hayward was seeing two new dog clients a week. These days, she’s seeing two a day.
by Cristina Bolling
Got a dog in need of a bath and a haircut? Good luck to you.
The waits for appointments at many Charlotte-area groomers — if you can even score one — are stretching a month or longer, causing dog owners to panic, canines to sweat, and groomers to grimace as shaggy, mat-coated dogs trot through the door.
The reason is a trifecta of furry challenges:
a groomer shortage that’s been building for years
the spike in dog ownership during Covid
the hot weather that has dogs in need of their “summer cuts”
So serious is the shortage, that the first five Charlotte groomers The Ledger phoned rolled all calls to voicemail messages saying that they weren’t accepting new clients.
“We are through-the-roof busy. In 13 years, I’ve never booked out as far as I’m booking out right now,” said Joan Hayward, owner of Animal Artistry Grooming in Pineville, where waits for a grooming session span about three weeks compared with the pre-pandemic 5 to 7 days.
Before the pandemic, Animal Artistry would see about two new dog clients a week; now, Hayward and her team are seeing about two a day. And it makes sense. Dog ownership grew in Charlotte and nationwide during Covid, as people stuck at home cleared animal shelters and purchased pandemic puppies for companionship.
Help is hard to find: On a recent Thursday morning, Hayward blow-dried an 11-year-old 120-pound giant schnauzer named Sokka who was in for his annual bath and haircut.
Blow-drying dogs didn’t used to be a task that Hayward would handle. In years past, she employed six groomers and two dog-washers, but now, her staff has dropped to two full-time groomers (herself, and one other groomer), plus a full-time dog washer.
Finding enough workers has been a problem for three years or more, Hayward said, but the post-Covid labor shortage has made it even worse. Many groomers retired during Covid or decided to find new careers.
“We’re aging out in Charlotte right now, and the problem is that younger people don’t want to do the work,” she said. “We’re a dying breed.”
TRIM TIME: Ciara Starnes has been working at Animal Artistry for about eight years, and on a recent day she and owner Joan Hayward groomed a total of about 15 dogs. The pet salon’s schedule is booked about three weeks out because there’s a shortage of groomers and more demand for the service.
There are no licensing or certification requirements for dog groomers, so the barrier to entry is low. Many groomers are trained on-the-job at pet salons, although there are training programs available.
Pay for groomers varies by facility and experience level. At Animal Artistry, for example, dog bathers make between $10 and $16 an hour depending on experience level and longevity. Groomers make $25 or more an hour, depending on their speed. (At most salons, groomers take home a percentage of the profits from each dog they groom.)
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ jobs outlook predicts a 22% increase in the number of animal care and service jobs between 2019 and 2029.
Clearly, there’s a future in pet services, but Hayward said she sees the labor panic on a national level when she scrolls through three different Facebook groups for groomers that she’s on.
“I saw one (post) last night where a shop in Texas was giving a $4,000 sign-on bonus,” she said. “That means (the owner) is not making anything off that groomer for a year.”
Even one Facebook page called “Groomers Uplifting Groomers,” which typically features adorable dog photos, has become a place where groomers are pleading for workers, she said.
Growing frustrations: Hayward said she’s not sure if she’ll renew her lease in Pineville when it expires in a year. She says she’d love to find the right buyer for her business.
She’s 52, and frankly, she says, she’s frustrated with some of her younger clients who bring in their unmaintained, matted poodle mixes or other dogs with high-maintenance fur and get angry when she tells them the only option is to cut them short.
“They expect you to be able to work miracles, but yet they’re not willing to do any of the work at home,” she said. “When you bring me your doodle every eight weeks, I can’t keep the mats off your doodle. You have to take responsibility for that. … But they think it’s my fault. They don’t talk to you — they just blow you up online.”
TUB TIME: Where do you bathe and blow-dry a 120-pound giant schnauzer? In an industrial-size bathtub. Animal Artistry owner Joan Hayward has only one full-time dog bather, so she pitches in to help with blow-drying when her bather needs a break.
But clearly, Hayward and her staff love the dogs.
Animal Artistry is a cage-free facility, where the dogs are free to roam the salon floor as they see fit.
On Thursday morning, dogs came and went, with about six or seven calmly sitting or walking around at any one time.
Siblings Jax and Gracie watched each other take turns on Ciara Starnes’ grooming table. A sweet terrier mix named Kelsey dutifully raised her paws for Hayward when it was time for a nail trim.
And a tiny 9-month-old toy poodle named Dior walked through the door — precious, but clearly well overdue for his first haircut.
Cristina Bolling is The Ledger’s managing editor: cristina@cltledger.com
Related Ledger article:
“It’s the right time for a puppy” (March 28, 2020)
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Executive editor: Tony Mecia; Managing editor: Cristina Bolling; Contributing editor: Tim Whitmire, CXN Advisory; Reporting intern: Lindsey Banks