This One's for the Dogs of Grosse Pointe

Lisa Bardy's is a business where the target customer has no way to pay and often no understanding of how to behave in her store.

She could never count on them for word of mouth recommendations, but they do make it perfectly clear what they like and don't like.

It all fits just perfectly with her business plan for in Grosse Pointe Woods, where the buying power lies not with the furry, four-legged target market but with their owners.

Many of them are regulars who come back to treat their buddies, from Yorkies to Labs, to the Sweet Potato Treats, Bow Wow Biscuits, brownies, cupcakes, iced butterflies and tulips. They look good enough to eat, and Bardy makes it clear that they are. Sweet Potato Treats are made of sweet potatoes, cinnamon, honey and brown rice flour.

Chances are Bardy will remember the pet's name before the owner's.

"I get to know the dogs first and then the owners. No one seems to mind. It's all about the dogs," says Bardy, who loves her year-old business so much she says she forgets what day it is, "like when you're on vacation."

A sign on the front door, 21035 Mack Avenue between 8 and 8 1/2, makes it clear who Bow Wow is appealing to: "Dogs Welcome! (But please keep your parents on a leash. Thank you!)"

Bardy bakes the treats daily from a simple set-up behind the counter at Bow Wow. It consists of a butcher block table and baking utensils, ingredients such as flour, turmeric, beet powder for red frosting, carob for faux chocolate drizzle and more, all of it next to a small convection oven that turns out treats of many shapes and sizes.

When she's baking the store puts off a scents that are appetizing to all. Bardy is quick to take a bite out of her treats, anytime.

She and her dog, Nala, are the taste-testers before any new treat goes into the display case and before that can happen, Bardy must have it approved by the Michigan Department of Agriculture.

At Bow Wow, which opened just under a year ago, the main gig is baking dog treats and the sideline is a boutique with doggie treats made in the USA not China, doggie place mats, collars, dishes, even dog-themed art and a red tutu.

The idea is to make treats for dog with all-natural ingredients that come without worry of repulsive ingredients or food safety recalls, she says. She also hosts special store events such as Meet the Trainer as a way to promote business and get to know dog lovers like herself.

It was Bardy's love for her dog, Belle, that got her to baking treats from scratch with healthy ingredients that she herself would eat. 

The loss of Belle a few years ago at age 16, followed by the death of her mother, convinced Bardy to act on a longtime dream to sell her treats.

The initial plan was online sales, which she does, but it didn't take her long to figure out that an Internet business alone wouldn't give her the interaction she wanted. So she decided that bricks and mortar were the way to sell her biscuits and bones.

"Before this I was going to work, doing the corporate thing, and I'm thinking, this just isn't it. There has to be something more," says Bardy, who was a schoolteacher before going to work for five years with Mercedes Financial.

It was her customers' love for their dogs and their requests for something like an ice cream treat that brought the latest product into the store: Yoghund. A frozen yogurt that comes in four flavors: banana, peanut butter and blueberry; vanilla bean; apple and cheddar; and papaya and peanut butter.

"I researched it. It's all natural, organic. I tasted it. My dog tasted. It's been a big hit," she says.

The dog-centric shop has recently added a Kitty Corner for the feline set.

Cats may not say bow-wow, but their caring owners come with wallets just like the canines do.

"It's just so much fun every day," Bardy says. "How can it not be fun, meeting people and their animals, and making things that are good for them."