Crestview Kennels on South Road, suffering from an 80 percent decline in revenue, is for sale.
“We weren’t planning on retiring just yet, but Covid presented itself,” said Larry McNeill, who with his wife Nancy has operated the Kennel for more than 20 years.
The biggest reason for the precipitous decline in dogs is the dearth of travel opportunities, for business or pleasure. “A lot of our business was overseas travelers or vacationers, which now are non-existent,” McNeill said. “People can’t even go to Canada.”
A vaccine may be the light at the end of the tunnel, he added, “but people are still going to be apprehensive about traveling.”
“I drove down the road and saw a sign saying, ‘We’re all in this together,’” McNeill continued. “But some people are carrying more than the brunt of this thing. We have had to carry this business since March, and it’s not sustainable to keep it going at this level.”
Some folks still drop off dogs for the day. “The daycare has been one of the few areas where we been able to create a little bit of revenue,” McNeill said. “People are staying at home but want to bring their dogs to have fun for a day.”
Crestview has a licensed capacity of 35 dogs. Now during the week, the kennel is hosting 10 to 15, and fewer on a weekend, the owner said, although there have been as many as 20 on a holiday weekend.
The business, he said, “is basically supporting the employees.” Although hours have been reduced, no one has been terminated. There are staff members who have been with the kennel for more than a dozen years, McNeill said.
McNeill was working in telecommunications back around 1999 when Nancy decided she wanted to try a business at home. “We had an old barn on the property that had a few kennels on the side, so we decided to take a few dogs for something to do. Little by little people started coming.”
The McNeills, who have two dogs of their own, are selling their house as well as their business. They intend to permanently relocate to their second home in Maine.
“We’ve had a couple of inquiries but nothing significant,” he said. “Obviously the loss of business has impacted any kind of great activity for selling. We understand it is going to take a little bit longer.”
Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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