Good finds and great vibes at Goody’s Pet Supply

Welcome back to another Spotlight Series with Sarah!
If you’re new here, I’m shining a spotlight on hidden gems in the City of Wayne that I personally visit, experience, and review for my readers. I started this series to get to know the city more personally, while my readers can get to know me better in the process.
If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I love animals. In a different life (where I’m better at math and science) I would have been a veterinarian. But my brain is better at words than numbers, so I became a writer and a pet parent.
I have a 6-year-old Great Dane named Ezekiel (or Zeke) and a 7-year-old bearded dragon named Stanley.
Zeke and Stanley love getting out of the house and going for adventures. I take them on walks, car rides, and trips to pet-friendly stores. One of my favorite places to take them is Goody’s Pet Supply.
Goody’s is my go-to place to get Stanley’s mealworms, hornworms, and new bulbs for both his basking and UV light. For Zeke, I always get his peanut butter filled bones, chicken feet, and biggest tug-of-war toy Goody’s has to offer.

Zeke gets his picture with the Easter Bunny at Goody’s Pet Supply.

Great Danes are short-haired dogs, and if you know anything about short-haired dogs, then you know they shed like no other. I’ve tried brushing him with many different styles of brushes or combs, but nothing has worked.
I noticed Goody’s offered a shedding blade dog brush (like the ones used for horses), and since I get “is that a dog or a horse?” or “where’s your saddle?” comments whenever I walk Zeke, it seemed fitting to try it out.
I purchased the shedding blade dog brush, and it has been an absolute game changer. The amount of hair that comes off Zeke when I use the shedding brush makes me wonder how he is not bald by now, but his coat is so much softer and smoother after being brushed and I’m sure he feels so much better as well.
Since the shedding blade brush worked so well with Ezekiel, I wanted my brother to get a brush for his cat too, since he [the cat] desperately needed a good brushing as well.
I noticed Goody’s didn’t offer a shedding blade cat brush, so I spoke with Tom Swim, Goody’s Pet Supply Manager, and he put in a special order for the cat brush. Within a few weeks, I received a phone call from Goody’s letting me know my order was ready and at the store waiting for me.
Goody’s is my go-to for my pets’ needs, but it has also been a go-to for my family for years as well.
In 2017, my mom bought me (for Stanley) an upgraded terrarium from Goody’s as a birthday gift. Stanley had outgrown the first terrarium I bought him, and since I was just getting out of college, I was struggling to afford to purchase the upgraded size terrarium he needed.
My mom found my dream terrarium at Goody’s (48L x 18W x 18H) enclosure with double sliding front doors and screen lids) and made payments on it until it was paid off. Swim put a “sold” note on the terrarium and allowed us to keep it in the store until it was completely paid for.
In 2018, when we brought Zeke home as a puppy, we knew we wanted to crate train him until he was older.
I fully understand that not everyone agrees with crates, however, when my mom was younger and had a Great Dane of her own, she once came home to everything in her apartment completely destroyed by a puppy she let free-roam the apartment, and I did not want to experience this same thing with Zeke.
When she offered to buy me a crate for Zeke, I did not object. She ordered the largest crate you could imagine from Goody’s but unfortunately, it didn’t arrive by the time we brought Zeke home.
Swim let us take home a smaller crate (at no cost to us) in the meantime until our larger one arrived, and then we simply returned the smaller one back to the store.
All of this aside, I think my favorite part about Goody’s is the pet photos they host for Christmas and Easter.

Stanley the bearded dragon and Zeke the Great Dane visiting Santa at Goody’s Pet Supply in Downtown Wayne.

In honor of Ezekiel’s first Christmas in 2018, I took him to Goody’s to get a photo with Santa, and I was hooked. The following year, I brought Zeke and my Chihuahua-Terrier named Bella, and my brother brought his cat, to get a group pet photo with Santa (before I had to make the heartbreaking decision to put Bella down due to health issues in January 2020.) A few years later, I decided to bring Stanley along since he deserved some photos as well.
“One of the most iconic moments was when Zeke showed up in costume and matched with the Easter Bunny,” said Swim. “You could swear you coordinated. It was just awesome, and that stands in my memory.”
Goody’s Pet Supply opened in Wayne in 1989 by the Goodlow family. Swim has been with Goody’s since November 2004, when the new ownership took over.
The pet photos have been a fundraiser that Goody’s hosts for Providing for Paws for the last 10-15 years.
Providing for Paws is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that helps rescue animals in need. Providing for Paws hopes to help curb the amount of homeless animal population by educating owners on the importance of spaying and neutering their pets, as well as proper pet care, such as vaccines, preventatives for flea and tick as well as heartworm.
Goody’s just hosted their annual pet Easter photos on Saturday, March 23rd.
The cost is $10 a photo and Dee Maggio Photography does an amazing job of capturing the perfect photo for every pet owner.
“We’re honored to have the opportunity to host and be a part of it,” said Swim. “All donations go to the rescue, we’re making meaningful memories, and we’ve seen lots of cool animals over the years like little pigs, a hedgehog, Stanley – your dragon, and even snakes.”
Goody’s Pet Supply and Providing for Paws will host another event in December for pet photos with Santa, but there are many reasons to check out Goody’s before then.
VIP Petcare stops by for pet vaccinations, there are girl scout cookie days, and you can check out great deals through their loyalty program.
“We host pretty much anything pet related, but there’s nothing really flashy about what we do,” said Swim. “Our mission is to serve the local community and anybody that is connected to the city. We’ll do whatever we can to serve the needs of our pet families.”
Swim was born and raised in Wayne, and genuinely loves working at Goody’s Pet Supply and serving the community.
“It’s really been a pleasure. Some people dread coming to work, and I’ve never really dreaded it,” said Swim. “Pets are the connections that I have with our customers. These are my people. They feel like family to me.”
To stay relevant and keep up with the needs of the city, Goody’s orders special items upon customer request (like the shedding blade cat brush for my brother).
“Our community informs us what their needs are. If you’re listening, you can meet their needs,” said Swim. “We’re family owned, and sometimes you don’t know what to carry, or it’s not everything everyone wants. When it’s possible, and when we have access to it, we’re happy to order it.”
Another staple of the Goody’s business model is employees carrying out heavy items for customers to their vehicles.
“If there’s anything 20 pounds or greater, we offer to carry it or insist on carrying it,” said Swim. “It’s our way of saying thank you and gives someone an extra hand. I feel weird when I don’t carry something out.”
Carrying items to customers’ cars also continues the conversation so they aren’t just standing at the counter, and other customers can be helped.
Conversation is an important part of Swim’s job.
“I’m always asking qualifying questions to see if there is an opportunity to help, to figure out what their pet-needs are,” said Swim. “Sometimes customers go looking for something and don’t even know what question to ask. They know their pet better than anyone, so questions help give me insight on the pet and clues on how I can help.”
As much as Swim is involved in helping the pet-needs within the community, he admits he couldn’t do this alone.
“It’s a team effort. My team is united in our mission with serving the community,” said Swim. “It takes a team, and really it takes a village to do what we do. Our customers are just as much a part of making decisions with the store as I do.”
Goody’s Pet Supply is located at 35340 E Michigan Ave, and is open 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday – Saturday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Sunday.
For more information about Goody’s Pet Supply, call (734)728-5300. You can find them on Facebook by searching “Goody’s Pet Supply”.
For more information about Providing for Paws, visit providingforpaws.org/, call (734)237-1812, or email info@providingforpaws.org.
If you liked this Spotlight Series with Sarah, be sure to check out Goody’s Pet Supply. If you didn’t like this series, check them out anyways, and be on the lookout for the next Spotlight Series with Sarah!