In a seven-week span this spring, Well Groomed Pets in Parker lost 41 clients.
The culprit, it says, is a few inches tall, about 6 inches wide and cost 61 cents to mail: a postcard sent to the homes of Well Groomed clients by its in-town rival, Furst Class Pets.
“Departing clients uniformly stated they were ‘moving to a different groomer,’” Well Groomed groused in a July 3 lawsuit it filed against Furst Class and its owners.
Well Groomed sees something suspicious in Furst Class’ marketing blitz.
Well Groomed hired Sarah Epperson before opening in 2023 and then Dottie Cropper a few months later. Epperson was the Parker salon’s sole manager, its top employee.
While in that role, Epperson reportedly registered the domain FurstClassPets.com in January, then created Furst Class Pets LLC in April. Photographs on the new company’s website were taken at Well Groomed’s salon and belong to Well Groomed, it claims.
Epperson resigned May 11 and Cropper was fired May 20, according to Well Groomed’s lawsuit. Since then, the two Furst Class owners have allegedly sent postcards to furry former clients, using Well Groomed’s client list.
“Between May 13 and June 30, approximately 41 Well Groomed Pets clients, representing more than 50 dogs, terminated their relationship with Well Groomed,” its lawsuit alleges. “The vast majority of these clients had historically been serviced by Epperson or Cropper.”
Well Groomed’s lawyers, Ben Volpe and Michael Glamann of Volpe Law, say they told Epperson and Cropper to return any confidential property they stole and to stop contacting Well Groomed’s clients. When that didn’t work, the lawyers sued the two and Furst Class Pets and asked Judge Victoria Klingensmith in Castle Rock to prevent them from using the client list.
“(Furst Class’) operations have been funded and advanced through the systematic exploitation of Well Groomed Pets’ confidential business assets,” the lawsuit states.
Epperson, Cropper and Furst Class did not answer requests for comment. Through company lawyers, Well Groomed owner Julie Patten declined to discuss the case.
