Preparations are underway at the new Jollyes superstore at Monks Cross in York which will be opened on 20 September by retired border force protection dog Pablo.
Award-winning pet retailer Jollyes will open its first York store – the 106th in its portfolio at 10.00am on Friday 20 September.
The store, at Monks Cross Shopping Park, Monks Cross Drive, Huntington, York, YO32 9GX will open in a unit vacated by Tui travel earlier this year.
The store is set to be officially opened by two special guests. Performing the red ribbon cutting will be Lord Mayor of York Cllr Margaret Wells who represents Clifton ward. Alongside The Lord Mayor will be retired border force detector dog Pablo who’ll also bite through a strong of sausages to declare the store open.
Pablo, 7, served in the border force on the Yorkshire coast for a number of years but ruptured a disc in his back requiring surgery while running, leading to his early retirement last Christmas.
Cheeky Pablo is now living with new owner Beverley Boynton and has become best friends with her four-year old cat Otis.
Like many service animals his treatment is being supported in these later years by the National Federation of Retired Service Dogs (NFRSA) which Jollyes recently named as a key charity partner.
The NFRSA helps support the care, well-being, and welfare of retired service animals from across the emergency service family - the police, fire, border force, National Crime Agency, NHS and prison services.
Over the next 12 months, all Jollyes’ stores will be raising money for NFRSA with collections matched by Jollyes up to £20,000 that will help NFRSA support retired service animals and their owners.
The new Jollyes store in York, which will create 12 jobs will be led by experienced Jollyes store manager James Wye who’s been promoted to the new role after five years working for Jollyes in Selby.
What’s more the York store will be a great example of the career development opportunities for colleagues as the pet superstore continues to open new stores at pace.
Joining the York team are Aquilla Fisher who’s been promoted from Supervisor to Deputy Manager after working for Jollyes for four years and Tom Hurleywill transfer from Doncaster store after eight years with the business.
Yorkshire Mix Radio will also provide entertainment on opening day with activity continuing into Saturday with an entertainer and pet theme gameshows on Saturday 21 September giving every customer the chance to spin Jollyes’ iconic ‘Wheel of Fur-tune’ to win prizes.
Jollyes new store will provide pet parents in York access to Jollyes’ raw food frozen ‘shop-in-shop’ and a community pet clinic which will open later this year.
Store manager James Wye said: “Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be working hard to get the store ready to welcome our special guests and customers for the first time.
“My whole team is looking forward to delivering the service, expertise – and above all prices – that Jollyes is becoming famous for right across the country.”
Jollyes has grown its store estate by 50 per cent 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.
Jollyes in York will be its 106th store in the UK joining other stores around Yorkshire including Selby, Harrogate, Leeds and Wakefield.
