Long-Time Orange Pet Store to Close After 44 Years: Report

Orange, CT - After 44 years of running Statewide Pets, Steve Primus is headed back to paradise where he met his wife back in 2012, the New Haven Register reports.

Primus told the New Haven Register that his lease is up in August and business has been lagging for the past seven years and now it's time to head south at least for the winter and come back to his home in Bethany in the summers.

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Primus, who had been divorced, decided to fly to the Dominican Republic in 2012 and would end up meeting a woman who would become his wife. Now he wants to live there for most of the year.

He said he'll miss the business, which started exclusively with fish but over the years his store has placed 22,000 puppies and kittens, the Register reports.

Primus said what really impacted business was when regulations forced him not to be able to place kittens anymore costing him $40,000 annually.

The store is located at 260 Bull Hill Lane and is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sundays.

For much more on this story, read the full New Haven Register story here.