(Image: Woof Gang)

Woof Gang Bakery & Grooming, a rapidly expanding franchise of pet food, supplies, and grooming services, is coming to Capitol Hill with promises of luxury spa days and fresh-baked treats along Broadway for the neighborhood’s booming population of fur babies.

“It’s been a fur-rific ride of rapid growth and expansion for us, and we’re pawsitively thrilled to be bringing our personalized grooming services and high-quality products to even more pet parents in these lively and vibrant cities,” a message from company CEO and fast food industry veteran Ricardo Azevedo said about the western expansion of Woof Gang with new franchise agreements rolled out in Arizona, Idaho, and Washington, according to the announcement.

“To enter three major states in such a short span of time is truly a testament to the power of our brand and our leading position in a thriving and dynamic industry,” Azevedo said in the announcement.

The chain’s Seattle expansion, part of a wave of what the company says is nearly 400 new locations in development across the country, will come in Capitol Hill’s Harvard Market shopping center above Broadway and Pike.

(Image: Woof Gang)

The center has been hard hit by the exit of Bartell Drugs last year as the Rite Aid chain has imploded under the weight of massive bankruptcy woes. The center and its street level QFC have also been a focus of public safety concerns centered around street disorder, addiction, and homelessness in the area. In April, a woman was hospitalized in a shooting in the center’s parking lot in what has been an ongoing string of nightlife gun violence in the lot over recent years.

Harvard Market has also been home to a Banfield Pet Hospital location since 2015.

The address of the new Woof Gang has been the home of sneaker shop Sole Mates which recently closed.

Local owner Anurag Gandhi and Woof Gang will bring a dog and pet supply store with “luxury spa services, gourmet treats and premium pet nutrition” for dogs to the corner of Broadway and Pike. The chain’s “bakery” concept includes a selection of treats for your furry friends but the construction permits do not include a commercial kitchen in the store. “The baked goods will not be baked on-site and will be delivered to the business,” one permit notes.

Dog ownership has soared coming out of the pandemic and the pup-ulation boom is easy to see most every day on Capitol Hill. CHS reported here on the pressure the boom puts on public spaces like Cal Anderson and Volunteer Park. In April, the city announced Capitol Hill and the Central District did not make the cut for the next round of off-leash park expansions.

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