Skiptown is on track to become one of Charlotte's most popular gathering spaces for dog lovers --- and beer lovers --- when it opens next month.
The facility, which was born out of Meggie Williams' dog walking startup Skipper, is a sprawling 24,000-square-foot paradise in South End that incorporates all the things a pup and its human could want in a social space: 25 beer taps --- including a bone broth "beer" for the four-legged variety, food trucks, indoor and outdoor off-leash space for dogs to run free, a giant playground and splash pad, and a daycare, boarding and grooming facility.
But Williams said it's the tech that makes Skiptown stand out among other dog-focused social spaces.
For starters, everyone who uses the facility for daycare or boarding is required to download the Skiptown mobile app, which gives dog-owners the ability to book and manage appointments, receive visit reports and photos, and allows them to create personal profiles for their pets.
"The tech is the backbone of the experience and is what enables our clients to communicate with us, and for us to deliver that personalized service we’re known for," she said. "We have an in-house tech team and put so much time and effort into building out the experience... When you’re trying to create a custom experience for each pet that fits their needs, clipboards just don’t cut it. We have the ability to take this to the next level."
The Skiptown team uses the client app to track each dog's behavior and put them into play groups that best fits each dog's individual needs. The team's platform also tracks the type and amount of food each dog gets and when the dog has eaten.
"It allows our back office team and our field team to succeed in providing the best experience for each dog because the tech knows," Williams said. "For example, it flags when two animals maybe don’t get along. All of this institutional knowledge that used to live in people, now lives in this digital system, so our people can focus on the care and love aspect."
To give visitors the best experience possible on the social side, Williams said they invested in building infrastructure to ensure fresh air is able to flow through. The outdoor play area is synthetically turfed, and large garage doors positioned strategically throughout the structure give an open-air feel.
Skipper, founded as Waggle in 2016, was rebranded as Skiptown with the new facility because it fit with the evolution of the company.
"We very much felt like Skipper is the dog, but when we launched, our clients, on their own, started to talk in vernacular about Skipper being us -- 'I’m so glad my Skipper came,'" she said. "So when we were building Skiptown, we had this opportunity to lean into what our clients had already branded us. We’re the Skipper, and Skiptown is the overall company umbrella."
Williams said planning for the facility began more than a year ago, and the building has been under construction since January. Skiptown is expected to open to the public in mid-August, and founding memberships --- which gives visitors free access to the bar, five shareable day passes and eight free pet care services annually --- are available at a discounted rate.
Those who choose not to purchase an annual membership can still enjoy everything the facility has to offer by purchasing a day or month pass. People without dogs are able to access the taproom and outdoor space for free.
"It's really like the White Water Center for dogs," Williams said. "It’s all making it this extraordinary experience people are comfortable in and are comfortable in, so they can be comfortable in the space together. And it’s fun."
