Beloved Montclair Pet Store Struggling to Stay Open

A beloved local pet store known for its rescue of hundreds of dogs and cats over the last five years most likely will close its doors this month due to a dramatic drop in business.

Danny Heaps, owner of  on Valley Road in Upper Montclair, told Patch that business has dropped by about 50 percent in the last several months.

"People go to Petco now to get their pet supplies or they just buy them at the big supermarkets," he said.

Iggy's is the only pet shop in Upper Montclair and it's only one of two in Montclair. Montclair Feed & Pet Supply is located at 191 Glenridge Avenue in Montclair.

Although Heaps has posted a "For Rent" sign on his door, he said nothing would make him happier than to keep the store open.

"But I can't keep losing the kind of money I'm losing now," he said. "If business was the same now as it was a year and a half ago I wouldn't be closing the store.

"I've told the landlord we will leave by the end of August," he added. "If people start coming in I would be happy to extend this and try to turn business around."

Although Iggy's has been open only about five years, the colorful shop has become an integral part of the neighborhood's landscape, customers say.

"We love [Heaps]. He's a truly amazing one-of-a-kind devoted and dedicated animal lover ... he did multiple home visits to help our rescue kittens get adjusted and to educate our children about being pet owners," said Bronwyn O'Neil, mother of two. "We call him the Montclair cat whisperer but he's also the local dog whisperer as well and has brought our family and many others so much joy!

"He and his staff have personally saved the lives of countless abandoned animals," she said.

At Iggy's, the animals rescued on the streets of both Montclair and Jersey City get marquee billing with the commerce aspect of the store designed to subsidize the rescue operation.

"I've never drawn a dime from the store and I don't need to because I pay the rent through my work in the music business," Heaps said. "But I also can't afford any longer to handle the business' losses which is a shame because it's a community place."

Kids pop in after school to play with the kittens. If the adoption of an animal doesn't work out, Heaps gladly accepts the pet back at his store. And, when it comes to the products, everything in stock—from food to toys—is organic and of the highest quality.

Unfortunately, as Heaps points out, Iggy's isn't the only business suffering in town.

"As everyone knows the prices that many landlords charge are the same as the rents charged in the late 1990s," Heaps said. "As a result there's lots of turnover out there and many of my favorite places have gone out of business."

He pointed to which was located in Upper Montclair Plaza but closed in 2011. The store was replaced by  which just closed in July.

In addition, a home decor boutique called Well Feathered Nest opened across from Iggy's in October 2011. The shop closed six months later.

"I opened the store with the premise that we could do rescue work and sell high quality products to subsidize the good we're doing," Heaps said. "We have five cats right now in the shop ... one was found on Upper Mountain and four as kittens in a dumpster in Jersey City.

"We do everything we can to find good homes for the animals because we want animals to be a part of everyone's lives," he said. 

Iggy's Place is at 542 Valley Road in Upper Montclair. The shop can be found at Facebook by going here. While you're at it, check out and "like" Montclair Patch on Facebook by going here.