Today we’d like to introduce you to Alex.
Hi Alex, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Our pets are our family. Pets extend our lives with all the joy they bring us and they deserve not only our love but also the best nutrition we can give them. At Pet Wants, we are dedicated to providing high-quality pet food that is fresh and nutritious. I’m Alex Kombogiannis and I own this local business with my wife, Shawn. At Pet Wants, our specially-crafted pet food formulas are made in small batches with fresh, natural ingredients enhanced with vitamins and minerals for a complete and balanced diet in every bowl. We offer multiple blends of dog and cat food formulas as well as healing salve, calming balm, anti-itch spray, paw wax and more. Our storefront is located at 1310 Ranch Road 620 south, suite A7, Austin, Texas 78734 and we offer free delivery to Bee Cave, Lakeway, Steiner Ranch, Westlake, Tarrytown, River Place, NW Hills, Circle C, Zilker and Bear Creek.
I was born in Greece and moved to New York when I was four. I owned and operated a successful dry cleaning business, but I was never passionate about the work. Shawn is a native of Austin who worked in a myriad of executive positions at culinary schools until 2006 when she moved to New York to be with me. After spending eight wonderful years together in New York, we decided to move to Austin together. It was not easy to convince a life-long New Yorker to leave the city – until Shawn gave me a tour of Lakeway. I fell in love with Lakeway immediately and knew this was where I wanted to be. We love it here and we’re thrilled to own a business together working with animals and doing something we both enjoy and have a tremendous passion for.
A year after moving to Texas, Shawn and I decided to adopt a beautiful little dog who was on the verge of death. We saw this beautiful black lab online and decided to go see if he spoke to us – he was very sick weighing only 60 pounds, with more than 300 ticks on him, two tick infections, two upper respiratory infections, anemia, and a fever of 105. We fell in love with him at first sight, took him to the vet immediately, got him healthy and he’s been with us ever since. We named him Winston because we felt like he deserved a strong name and I’ve always admired Winston Churchill.
Winston loves the Pet Wants food and his coat is very thick, soft, and shiny. Winston brings us so much joy every day and we are thrilled that we can feed him a food that’s so good for him and that he enjoys. His experience with the Pet Wants food helped us decide that this was a business we wanted to open here in Austin. Come by the shop for a sample of our food and bring your dog or cat with you so we can treat them to the proper nutrition they deserve or contact us for free, personal delivery!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, it has not. It’s an issue trying to get people into our store. Most pet parents buy their pet food online at the big retailers like chewy, Amazon and Costco. We offer free delivery and actually deliver to you faster than those big online retailers. Once people come into our beautiful store and see our all natural products, many of which they can’t find in other pet stores, as well as take a sample of our made fresh monthly natural dry food, and see how their dogs and cats react to it, they are hooked. 1 Month on our food and your pets will have more energy, a better skin and coat and better poop.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We are a natural health food solutions-oriented pet food store. I say solutions-oriented because we have a vast knowledge in nutrition and holistic supplements and are able to resolve 95% of the problems your vets can’t. I as the owner am at the store every hour of every day, except for Sundays when my wife runs the store. We have been able to improve the lives of dogs with seizures, debilitating arthritis, Cushings, Addisons, cancer, environmental allergies and many other issues with our holistic approach, knowledge and unsurpassed passion.
What matters most to you?
What matters most to me is that our customer’s pets live very long, happy and healthy lives. Our pets are family and make us better people through everything they give us and teach us much more about life than we pretend we teach them. Losing them is always devastating and soul-crushing, so I want them all to live as long as possible. This business is a passion and a labor of love for me. I’m always honest with my customers and it’s all about what’s best for their pets.
Contact Info:
- Email: Winston@petwants.com
- Website: PetWantsAustinWest.com
- Instagram: PetWantsAustinWest
- Facebook: PetWantsAustinWest
