Milford Pet Foods offers music and bargains at grand re-opening

Editor's note: The following article has been revised to correct a number of errors, including the free trial offer, which is for frozen cat and dog food priced up to $4, not $13 as originally published. Also, The Dead Level Band will perform at 4:30 p.m., not 4 p.m. The Courier regrets the errors.

Milford Pet Foods & Supply will offer discounts, music, and face-painting too at its grand re-opening and customer appreciation day on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Take advantage of lots of one-day sales, including items selling for half price.

A tricky tray offers the chance to win great items like a $70 bag of dog food or a Yeti cat cave made from New Zealand wool and valued at $65. Tickets are one for $2, three for $5, and ten for $8. Participants can also take their chances on winning Kong toys for dogs and cats and chemical-free West Paw toys made in Bozeman, Montana. Anyone who buys kibble that day will get a free trial size of frozen dog or cat food -- up to a $4 value.

The event is being held in conjunction with the borough-wide, daylong Septemberfest music festival. Local musicians -- all of them customers -- will perform at the store from 10 a.m. into the evening (see schedule).

More room, more products

Owner Chrissy Kotar expanded her store by 800 square feet.

“I wanted to bring more products in and didn’t have the room,” she said.

Since her birthday is in September, she knows the weather is usually great. And with Septemberfest on the horizon, she figured that would be a perfect day to celebrate her customers and the expansion.

“I have a lot of loyal customers, and while I have lots of loyalty programs here every day, I think it’s important that I give back to my community,” Kotar said.

The vendors taking part in customer appreciation day include Merrick Pet Food, Fromm Pet Food, Primal Pet Foods (featuring raw and freeze-dried selections and goat milk, bone broth and elixirs, and The Honest Kitchen (offering dehydrated dog and cat food made with human-grade ingredients).

Three or four times a year, Kotar conducts a photo fundraiser and picks a different nonprofit to receive the proceeds. She’s fundraised for the Pike County Humane Society, the Ecumenical Food Pantry of Pike County, Gait Therapeutic Riding Center’s "Horses 4 Heroes" program, and Zipper Junction, a holiday toy drive for underprivileged children. This time she’s picked Jill’s Ferals, which will be holding a kitten adoption that day. For $5, have a professional photo taken of you and your pet (or of you and your friends), and all proceeds will go to Jill’s Ferals.

“Jill’s an unsung hero in the tristate area,” Kotar said. “She traps, neuters, and adopts (kittens) out. She just did a huge thing in Port Jervis -- rented out a firehouse bay and did a spay-and-neuter event for $10 each.”

First a customer, then the owner

Kotar said she was led to the business through some long talks with the former owner.

“It all started with my dog,” Kotar said.

She was unemployed for the first time in her life and had rescued a pit bull named Jethro. She and her husband, Larry, had both lost dogs to cancer.

“I knew I wanted to feed this puppy differently," she said. "So I went looking for a better food store, and that’s how I became a customer of Milford Pet Foods. One day I came in to get bully sticks, and the former owner, Mike (McNamara), and I got into this long conversation. ‘I lost my employee and I’m on day 14,’ Mike said, and I said, ‘Hire me.’"

And after another long talk, he did just that.

McNamara moved away from the area, and Kotar bought the place on April 1, 2017. She expanded the name to Milford Pet Foods & Supply. And the rest, as they say, was history.

Milford Pet Foods & Supply is located at the Old Lumberyard Shops, 113 7th St., Milford, and may be reached at 570-296-1707. For more information visit milfordpetfoods.com.