Downtown building offered just what grooming shop owner wanted

WASHINGTON - The Laundro-Mutt opened at a new location in the heart of Washington Monday.

Alyssa Whittemore started the business last year in a building on East Washington. She always wanted to be downtown and recently started to look for a new place.

She drove around the square in September and saw a for rent sign in the window across the street from the courthouse. After giving the number a call, the owner visited her the same day and asked if Whittemore wanted to view it.

It was exactly what she wanted.

'It's clean, it's refreshing,” Whittemore said. 'That day I was like ‘I'll take it.'”

Whittemore has been grooming for around five years.

Originally, Whittemore wanted to be a veterinarian. She attended Kirkwood and fell in love with the yearlong grooming program.

After graduation, she went to Petco to become the salon leader then moved onto another small salon where she did independent contracting work as a groomer. After being there a year, she decided she liked the independence of owning her shop and branched out on her own.

Her favorite part is spoiling the dogs.

'There's no bad day coming to work when you know you're going to be around dogs,” Whittemore said.

The Laundro-Mutt is located at 225 W. Main St. in Washington. Appointments may be made at 319-460-0701 and more information can be found on Facebook at The LaundroMutt-Grooming w/Alyssa.