INNOVATION STARTS WITH a spark. A thought about a customer need. An idea for how to meet it. Independent pet businesses excel at innovating. With their smaller size and freedom to experiment, they are able to quickly implement new ideas and adjust as needed to achieve success.

To say Maddie Shutts is a champion of small businesses would be an understatement.

When you’re making your list and checking it twice this holiday season, don’t forget about your furry friends! Modern Companion Pet Boutique is here to help you find the ‘paw-fect’ gifts for your dog, or the pet lover in your life, all while getting them prepared for the New Year fireworks.

Chapin’s Modern Companion is also tailored toward animals. The store, located at 508-B Lexington Ave., provides pet owners with trendsetting products, community and events, according to owner Maddie Shutts.

The dog days of summer may be over but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate all things Fido this fall! This weekend hundreds of dogs and their owners will meet at the Crooked Creek Park in Chapin for the Fall Fido Festival!

WHEN MADISON ST. GELAIS started Modern Companion as an online pet accessory brand in 2019, she focused on developing a sense of community and family with her customers and followers. That family only grew when St. Gelais expanded the business into a Chapin, SC, brick-and-mortar storefront in 2021. Today, the store attracts pet parents from even out of state, but she remains dedicated to building meaningful relationships and delivering service with a personal touch.

Friday's rough weather didn't stop a dog-on good time out in Chapin on Saturday. The Modern Companion, a dog storefront in Chapin, started the FIDO Festival back in 2021 to bring dog lovers in the Midlands together. 

A Chapin pet store was one of 16 businesses selected for a national award. Modern Companion was chosen as one of the “America’s Coolest” by PETS+ Magazine in their annual contest. The business competed against 80 submissions in this year’s competition.

Pet parents know that the perfect pet store is hard to find. A small, local pet boutique in Chapin just earned the title of America's Coolest. Modern Companion started as an online pet accessory brand created by owner Madison St. Gelais. It grew into a brick and mortar location in 2021. Out of more than 80 entries, Modern Companion was chosen as one of 16 businesses to win the PETS+ America's Coolest award in its sixth annual contest.

On July 4th each year, the United States commemorates the Declaration of Independence with backyard cookouts and fireworks displays. Here at PETS+, we celebrate another freedom as well, that of the independent pet retailer and service provider. These amazing small businesses operate by their own rules and ethics, helping pets and their people in ways that big-box and e-commerce operations simply can’t.

Pets in Chapin are about to get a lot of stylish options. Modern Companion, a pet boutique owned by Maddie St. Gelais, is scheduled to open on Lexington Avenue in early March. According to St. Gelais, who is 25-years-old, Modern Companion is a community-driven lifestyle brand for pets and their humans. January will mark two years the company has been in business, but St. Gelais has been operating out of her home. After accumulating about 10,000 products, she decided it was time to move her company to a brick-and-mortar location.

Modern Companion, a new dog store opened in Chapin last weekend. Owner and founder of Modern Companion, Maddie St. Gelais, says she started her business out of her own home in Chapin. She started manufacturing the accessories herself and then selling them online and at local farmers markets in 2019. With the support from the community and her success online, St. Gelais decided to open her own store.

In this episode, I’m talking to Maddie St. Gelais, an online shop owner who is an advocate for shopping small and community over competition. Maddie has some great ideas to share about getting involved with your customers through Instagram, she strives to be on a first-name basis with many of her followers which really brings a sense of community to her account. Her customers-turned-ambassadors are actually so invested in her brand’s success that they created a hashtag campaign to share her wares every week.