Maplewood Pet Shop Moving to Millburn

Maplewood Pet Shop, which has operated on Maplewood Avenue in Maplewood Village since 1946, will close its doors by April 1 and move to Millburn.

Bill McClure has been the owner and operator of Maplewood Pet Shop since 1972. He was born and raised in Maplewood and still lives in the house he grew up in, along with his wife and business partner Candace.

But McClure has found business to be a bit cramped at his Maplewood Avenue location. With just 1,300 sf of space and no storage areas, there's no room to expand. When McClure heard that his colleagues (the Boile family) at Millburn Feed were retiring, he was interested in taking on their space at 378 Millburn Avenue, across the street from Town Hall. Millburn Feed has more than double the retail space of Maplewood Pet Shop, along with a full basement and a warehouse.

Parking is also more convenient, noted McClure.

"It's a 150-year-old house," said McClure. "We're going to spruce it up, paint it up, bring it back to its heyday." McClure is also enthused about the history of Millburn Feed. "They used sell food to Barnham & Bailey back in the day, when they came to New York!"

The new name of the shop will be the Millburn Pet Shop. Along with feed, McClure will add livestock—the same array of live animals found at the Maplewood location including fish, anole, gerbils, hamsters, rabbits, parakeets and guinea pigs.

McClure will continue to sell his line of Maplewood sweatshirts and hats, but he's adding a Millburn line too. "The salesman is coming today," said McClure.

And Maplewood patrons need not be too sad. "We are going to consider deliveries" as a routine service, said McClure, "especially for our customers in Maplewood." The Millburn store will be open seven days a week, as it is in Maplewood.

"We are so grateful for the patronage from our customers," added McClure. "They put our kids through school." McClure also had good words for the Maplewood Village Alliance, of which he was a founding board member. "It proved to be an asset." The McClures very well may get involved with the Downtown Millburn Development Alliance.

McClure hopes to operate at the Maplewood location up until March 31, before transferring to Millburn on April 1. At least, that's the plan.

Meanwhile, McClure has some good news for Maplewood Village: he says that the Maplewood Avenue space already has a new tenant but he is not at liberty to reveal the name of the business.