Award-winning retailer Jollyes will open its next new store at Unit 2, Grimshaw Park, Lower Audley Street, Blackburn on Friday 26 July with an important giveaway for dog owners across the UK.

Inspired by Blackburn with Darwen Council’s campaign to encourage dog owners to do the right thing, Jollyes offered the first 140 customers on opening day free ‘power poop’ bags.

The giveaway could help pet parents save money – one council is hiking its fine for dog fouling to £200 as part of a zero tolerance crackdown – but even if a council issues typical fixed penalties of £50, ignoring the demand means owners can be fined up to £1000 at court.

But the giveaway wasn't just for customers at its new Blackburn store – Jollyes wrote to every council in the UK with a nearby Jollyes store to tell them that all of its 100-plus locations will also have 140 free poo bag rolls for the first customers to shop in store on the 26 July. 

That means Jollyes’ UK stores gave out almost 225,000 free poo bags to customers.

Jollyes took up residence in Blackburn close to Asda, B&M and Halfords in the former Mothercare, offering a frozen raw food ‘shop-in-shop’ for pet parents who want to take advantage of Jollyes’ wide range of frozen food – rapidly becoming the most popular way for owners to feed their dogs.

Alongside the poop bag giveaway, there was a big line up of other activities on opening weekend.

Jollyes has recruited a team of 12 in Blackburn which will be led by experienced Jollyes colleague Natalie Bentley who’s run stores in Ashton and across the country.

Jollyes has grown its store estate by 50% in three years and has had an remarkable start to 2024 winning new investment to supercharge its growth, being named as the best retailer in Britain at the prestigious Retail Week awards for retailers under £250m turnover and making the Sunday Times’ list for the first time as one of Britain’s best big companies to work for.