The town is going to the dogs. In a good way! Because it’s going to the hamsters and fish and birds as well!
Not having a dog nor any household pets, I’ve never been in Feed & Seed, the corner store at Miller and Bay avenues in Highlands; I remember the store from more than half a century ago when it was a thriving and very neatly kept A&P store.
Through the years it had been many other things as well, until it fell into a time of disuse, had no use as a commercial business, was home for a local resident, and fell into even more disrepair, and in general an eyesore and useless bit of construction in the heart of the Highlands business district.
But about a five years ago, when Donica and Carolyn took over that corner they wanted renovations made and a piece of history kept. So armed with a postcard they produced it for their building contractor showing the building in its more popular days. Carolyn, who was also a councilwoman at the time and is now Mayor, told him she wanted the building to look like it did in the 1940s.
When she learned the art classes at Henry Hudson Regional had painted the huge sign identifying the site as The Great Atlantic & Pacific Company, she asked the school if she could have it. They agreed, figuring it would be seen more often and more prominently in the shop than if it were kept in the art classroom at Hudson. So that sign now holds a dominate location at the back of the store, visible from all over and recognizing the talent of those Hudson artistic students. And for any who ask, it’s a starting point for Carolyn to tell the whole story of why it’s there.
But it’s a pet store, so what could be the drawing card? Dog biscuits and canned cat food? Bird seed and fish food? You bet! And that’s just the top of the barrel.
Having time to spare, and wondering what exactly was inside that building, I took a few minutes, well, it turned out to be much longer, to see what kind of pet supplies are in the store.
Even without a pet, it’s a great place to spend a half hour or so.
Surprisingly, walking down the main aisle of the store, there are shelves filled with all kinds of things on both sides. But look again. There is so much stuff there that the shelves are not parallel with the center aisle. No indeed, there are numerous shelved cabinets, so many that they have mini aisles on their own perpendicular to the center aisle! And they’re all filled.
That’s what this pet supply store in all about.
Feed & Seed is, indeed, feed and seed for all kinds of pets from cats and dogs to gerbils, fish, hamsters, mice and more. But it’s even more than just feed and seed for all kinds of critters. It’s got a little, or a lot, of everything every pet owner may want, need, or think about either for their own pet or for a gift to a new pet owner.
