Perfect for pups who don’t like to get wet.
A Dublin entrepreneur has been overwhelmed by the success of his latest business venture – pet umbrellas.
29-year-old Glenn Doyle has delighted dog lovers, who are now able to eliminate the smell of wet dog with this handy product – which can be attached to the leads of smalls pets to keep them dry on rainy days.
How Glenn came to start selling pet umbrellas is an unexpected and funny story.
Glenn works with The Green Felts, a company that runs poker tournaments all over the world. His work came to a standstill when the pandemic hit, so the company turned to golf instead as it was one of the only sports that could still be played under COVID regulations.
“The golf tournaments started to go well so we decided to bring in some branded merchandise to hopefully gain some awareness for our tournaments,” he says.
“We got the usual golf-related merchandise like umbrellas, jackets, hats, and other smaller golf tools.
One day while speaking to our umbrella supplier, they suggested we have a look at another style product they do to see if we would be interested. After listening to what they were saying, I started doing my research. It turned out this product was our pet umbrellas!”
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Glenn quickly began researching the level of interest for the product in Ireland.
“I found out that none of the pet shops I went to sold them, so I thought it was a niche in the market. We tested the waters and brought in 50 of these umbrellas. They sold in no time.”
After selling the initial batch, Glenn took in 250 more umbrellas. Meanwhile, the product gained quite a bit of media attention, which boosted sales even more.
“Well, the level of interest went to a whole other level. Now people of all different backgrounds and different ages want them, which is fantastic. They are selling very well and we hope to take this product abroad in the near future.”
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Glenn says he laughed when he brought the items to his box producer, who mistook them for faulty communion umbrellas that had accidentally been made upside-down. But as comical and cute as they may seem, they are pretty efficient.
“The item is all one piece. They work in a very similar way to a human umbrella. The canopy can be opened very quickly while the person is holding the umbrella,” he says.
With the enormous success of the product, Glenn now has a few more ideas for the future.
“At the moment, we don’t have plans to get into any more pet-related products. But we do have big plans to get into a number of other “quirky” products that you don’t see that often in Ireland.”
You heard him! Be sure keep your eyes peeled for what the company might have in store here.
