ELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times Those looking for a great place to get their canine friends looking their best now have that with Paw Palace at 115 W. 4th Street. Co-owner Antonio Puentes said the shop has been in the works for a while. “We were running another grooming place here in town for the last 10 years, and we were trying to buy the business, but after two years they decided not to sell it,” Puentes said. “So we decided to find another way to have our own place, and that's why we came here and opened this spot. We have dogs, we love dogs, and we got started in the grooming business because there was a opportunity two years ago before we were in charge of the other place. The owners were trying to sell it, and we saw an opportunity to get close to the dogs and get involved in this business. So that's the first step that led us to all of this.” Puentes added Paw Palace’s location really stood out when looking for a space. “When we started looking, there weren’t many options in town, but we saw this space and realized it has a lot going for it,” Puentes said. “It's a busy street, we have plenty of parking lot space and it's close to the downtown area, so people can see us and know about the shop.” Puentes then went into more detail about the services the shop offers. “We offer grooming, washing, styling, and we do tidy up. We also do nail trimming,” Puentes said. “We are trying to get the license for the boarding as well, but that’s going to take a few months for all of that to go through. But we're going to have it soon, so it's another thing we are working on.” Puentes said the shop has started very positively so far. “We're excited every time we open the doors,” Puentes said. “We had the whole remodeling and setup in less than a month, so it was fast because I actually own the construction company that did everything. We did the whole job in here, and everybody helped us a lot from City Hall, the Building Department, and everyone else. We had a lot of contractors working here. I think everything looks good, and it's really nice to have this place. Not only for us, but for the community. For all the dog owners, we have a good service here, and we treat every one of the dogs like they’re our own.” Puentes said he hopes a lot of people give Paw Palace a chance with their canine friends. “If anyone just wants to come and take a look and see how things turn out and want to try the service with us, they are more than welcome to do so,” Puentes said. “We actually have a lot of clients who I already know will stay with us, but if anyone wants to visit with us, they are welcome to come here and see how everything looks.” And even though Paw Palace is still new, Puentes said there are already some thoughts about potential future expansion. “At some point, we would like to be able to have some kennels and board animals, but that’s something that would need a lot of planning,” Puentes said. “Other than the kennels, I think we have everything we need, and we want to be here forever. There is a project we’re working on with our employees, and they are helping us a lot, and once this place runs smoothly and has its feet under it, we want to try to find another location in another town in the area and help those people too.” Overall, Puentes said, there is a lot of excitement about being part of the Liberal community. “We want to say thank you to everyone, because we have a lot of our old clients, and we want to do everything possible to take care of them while also bringing in new clients, so we are keeping ourselves really busy,” Puentes said. “Since the first day we have kept really busy with 10 to 15, dogs every day. We definitely weren’t expecting that right up front, but we’re really thankful about that. I also want to thank all the people who helped us get everything up and running really quickly – it wasn't easy, but everything looks good, and we feel really good with this.”