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6 People in Business Tuesday, October 26, 2010 SHOPLOCAL SHOP SMART... SHOP HALTON HILLS MEN IN BUSINESS Muttley Crew Dog Training and Daycare Inc. Tom Allen has taken his love of dogs and turned it into a career. Tom is the owner and operator of Muttley Crew Dog Training and Daycare Inc., a Georgetown-based business that offers a variety of dog-related services, including training, walking and daycare. Tom travels to his clients' homes so he can train the dogs - and their humans - in an environment in which they're most comfortable. He also uses his own home as a daycare and an alternative to boarding. The visiting dogs are treated as part of the family and are given the run of the house and the large backyard along with Tom's two dogs. In addition to these services, Tom also helps people find the right breed of dog for their lifestyle. "Too many dogs end up at the humane society because people don't know what they need," he says. Tom meets with clients and conducts a detailed interview to learn how active they are, how often they're away from home and other information to get an overall view of their life. "I'm not going to put a Golden Retriever puppy with somebody who's 75 years old," he says. "They might want and older dog that has already calmed down. "People don't necessarily understand their pet and I want to help," he adds. "I want to help from the dog's perspective and I want to help people get the behaviour of their dog under control." For more information, visit www.muttleycrew.ca. SHOPLOCAL SHOP SMART... SHOP HALTON HILLS Family Optical At Family Optical, clients are treated like a part of the family. The Georgetown business has been helping clients with all their eyewear needs since 1990. Family Optical is owned and operated by David Joseph, a registered optician and a certified contact lens fitter. His store carries a wide variety of brand name frames and sunglasses from designers like Chanel, Armani, Prada, Dior, Gucci, Ray-Ban and Oakley. Family Optical also provides contact lenses and safety glasses, as well as one-hour lab services. Each product is custom-fit and meets David's high standards for quality and service. Customers are invited to drop by anytime to browse the store's extensive collection of products or to have their frames repaired or adjusted. In addition to fittings and adjustments, Family Optical also has an optometrist onsite four days a week. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, customers can make an eye appointment with Dr. Simon Chang. Having been in business for so long, David and staff have developed close, personal relationship with their clients. The staff go above and beyond to make sure their clients feel like they're a part of the Family Optical family. Located at the Georgetown Market Place, Family Optical is open Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. TOM ALLEN muttleycrew.ca muttleycrewinc@gmail.com Phone 905-299-1489 Tom Allen, President & Vision Family OPTICAL "Quality In Sight" 905-873-3050 DAVID JOSEPH 280 Guelph St., Georgetown M Market k Pl Place www.familyoptical.ca Glazed Expressions Ron Quinlan works long, hard hours and loves every second of it. He is the owner and operator of Glazed Expressions Ceramics Studio, a paintyour-own pottery studio located in downtown Georgetown. "Everything I do is about helping people find their creativity," he says. "I help them find their creative wings and bring out their inner artist." At Glazed Expressions, clients choose from hundreds of different mugs, plates, boxes, wall plaques, piggy banks, vases and other items, and decorate their piece however they want. Ron and the Glazed Expressions staff then glaze and fire the pottery to create a one-of-a-kind handmade ceramic gift. "It's all about spending time with friends and family," says Ron, who has owned the studio for four years. "There's nothing to do but paint and talk. It's a beautiful and relaxing concept." Glazed Expressions also hosts stress-free birthday parties and special events in the studio, and Ron has created a special school program where all of the students paint a tile, which are then used to decorate the school's hallways. Although his job keeps him very busy, Ron wouldn't have it any other way. "I've never had a day when I've woken up and said, 'Ugh, I don't want to go to work today,'" he says. "I love what I do." Chalmers Fuels For Mike Palleschi and the staff at Chalmers Fuels, excellent customer service is key. "I've tried to deal with big corporations before and it's almost impossible," says Mike, the operations manager at Chalmers Fuels. "We pride ourselves on our service. We want to make our customers happy." This method of doing business seems to be working well for Chalmers, which has been in business since 1962. The company delivers heating oil, propane, diesel and gasoline to residential homes, farms and businesses. Chalmers also sells, installs and services furnaces and air conditioners. Chalmers, which has locations in Georgetown and Teviotdale, employs four installers and more than 20 technicians so that there is always someone available to help clients quickly and efficiently. "If we get really busy, I, as the manager, will run out and do what I can to help the customer," Mike says. In recent years, Chalmers introduced propane to its list of services due to demand from its clients. This commitment to customer satisfaction is just one reason why the business has developed a loyal and multigenerational client base. "A lot of our customers are rural and we're changing the names on the bill from parents to their sons or daughters almost all the time," Mike says. "We feel like we're part of the family." 65 Main Street South, Georgetown RON QUINLAN 79 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown MIKE PALLESCHI 905-877-2224 glazedexpressions.ca 905-877-5104 www.chalmersfuels.ca Brilliant Gold Jewellery To Jim Vu, his customers are as good as gold. Jim is the owner of Brilliant Gold Jewellery, a jewelry shop located in the Georgetown Market Place. The store sells and repairs all types jewelry. Jim and the Brilliant Gold staff also do special orders for rare stones, such as natural pink diamonds, and work with clients to design and make custom jewelry. Since opening Brilliant Gold Jewellery 22 years ago, Jim has seen a lot of changes. He has watched families grow and has seen children grow up and start families of their own. He has also seen changes in jewelry trends. Today, the younger generation looks for larger diamonds than previous generations did. While people were happy with half- or threequarter-karat diamonds in the past, today's shoppers want one karat or more. Recent years have also seen a rise in the popularity of white gold. What hasn't changed, Jim says, is the types of stones that people want. Diamonds are still the most popular, followed by sapphires. Another thing that has remained the same is Brilliant Gold Jewellery's commitment to its customers. "We keep a high quality of items that our customers deserve," Jim says. "Halton Hills is a good place for our business because the people appreciate the quality of our items." Adams Equipment - Gary Rodda Since 1967, Adams Equipment Sales, Service, Rent-All Inc. has been helping the people of Halton Hills with their home, lawn and garden projects. The store sells and services a wide variety of outdoor power equipment, from snowblowers, lawn mowers and garden tractors to chainsaws, pressure washers and leaf blowers. While selling and servicing outdoor power equipment is a major focus for the Georgetown-based business, Adams Rent-All also rents out light construction equipment to people who only need to use it for a short amount of time. Members of the public can rent out items like excavators, skid steer loaders and other general construction tools for whatever amount of time they need. Adams Rent-All will deliver the equipment to the client's home if necessary. In addition to selling, servicing and renting home maintenance equipment, the business also offers small engine repairs at its Guelph Street location. In a town the size of Halton Hills, reputation matters, which is why store manager Gary Rodda and the Adams Rent-All staff pride themselves on their excellent customer service. "I think people feel that they can trust us. We enjoy helping people and it's good to see somebody satisfied," Gary says. "We know we can't make everybody happy, but we do our best." 334 Guelph St. Georgetown EQUIPMENT JIM VU SALES SERVICE RENT-ALL INC. 905-877-0157