Orlando is home to the happiest place on earth, but we think Central Bark’s doggy day care gives Disney World a pretty good run for its money for not only tail waggin’ fun but a lucrative business opportunity.
Like Orlando’s vast theme park destinations and many amenities, Central Bark offers entrepreneurs a 20-year, proven business model and the franchise is ripe for expansion in the region with multiple opportunities for growth with the right owner.
Currently there is only one Central Bark location in Orlando – Orlando East opened in December 2020 and owners and young parents Mike and Lisa Roth held their grand opening in late January. Close to the airport and Disney World on Young Pine Road, Central Bark Orlando East is in a great location for stay and play visits for families visiting Disney World, but more business comes from a cultivated pool of tail wagging regulars from East Orlando neighborhoods.
With more than 2.5 million people in the 4,000+ square miles of metro Orlando, there’s plenty of families in need of care for their furry family members, especially as COVID lockdowns lift and pandemic puppies need day care. Central Bark is poised to help.
For nearly 20 years, Central Bark has drawn in dogs and their owners across the country to experience its signature Enrichment Doggy Day Care, which combines Central Bark’s industry-leading doggy day care expertise with the latest in canine behavior science. Enrichment Doggy Day Care provides a healthy and balanced blend of exercise, social group play, learning, rest, and “TLC” to help dogs be healthy, happy, calm, and well-rounded members of the family. Furthermore, all Central Bark locations also offer dog boarding, baths, grooming, a retail market, training and more.
Each new franchise owner is trained not only in Enrichment Doggy Day Care, but the entire breadth of Central Bark’s business model from real estate, to build out, to marketing, training, operations and financial support. It’s pretty much a given that a strong affinity for dogs needs to accompany any new franchisee’s business acumen.
Take the Orlando East new co-owners, the Roth family. Lisa was always attracted to the idea of small business ownership but a career in the health insurance industry put her on a different path. Her husband Mike spent the bulk of his tenure in retail management, most recently with Apple. However, both always dreamed of being in business for themselves, but not by themselves. Combine that dream of entrepreneurship with a love of dogs and that’s how Central Bark Orlando East was born. They say they’d recommend the business and the area to other potential franchisees.
“If you have the right attitude and work hard while taking advantage of all the support that Central Bark provides, then the sky’s the limit,” Lisa said.
Co-founders Chris Gaba and Jackie Jordan agree.
“It does take a special person to deal with the day in and day out of owning a business,” Jackie said. “But we’ve done this before, over and over. And we’ve bottled it, so our new owners don’t have to reinvent the wheel. They just need to approach the Central Bark business with a willingness to learn and take our best practices and put them to work in their location.”
Chris, who has owned and operated a Central Bark location in South Florida for 20+ years, couldn’t agree more.
“While we’ve remained true to our core values since we first opened, we want to continue evolving as a doggy day care brand. We tremendously value our current and new franchise owners and learn from them daily. We’re all in this together and our goal is aligned: we’re determined to provide the absolute best care for our furry friends, whether it’s in Orlando, Omaha or Oakland.”
To learn more or inquire why Central Bark is one of the best franchises to buy, visit centralbarkusa.com/franchising.
