About Us

Beloved Pets & Feed started a little before 2025. Nick was working at Steve’s Pets when he heard the previous owner was thinking of selling the store. Nick, and his mother Leslie, talked about it for a few minutes here and there at first. What started out as occasional dreaming turned into more frequent and more serious discussions. Leslie decided to go for it, and when the matter turned towards the name, there was a bit of temporary disagreement.

Construction & Cleaning

Gabriel Huckins shown working on taking apart some of the old shelving units. We had to take it down to get the floor clean and figure out what we could save and what needed to go.

The Man, The Inspiration

Here stands James Smiley in front of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. This was taken before receiving the diagnosis that would devastate the Smiley Family. James and Leslie often liked to travel together, usually in state, but they were branching out to other locations. Would you believe they nearly moved to Tennessee?

Nick was thinking the name should be simple and location based. “Oakhurst Pets & Feed” had a nice ring to it. Leslie didn’t feel it was quite right yet. Nick stuck pretty closely to that idea since if they couldn’t find a better name, it would be better than no name at all. Leslie thought about how she was able to purchase the store, and how she and her late husband, James, had always thought it would be a smart move to own a business. James was her one, her person, her only. She knew this would have never happened without him. If she couldn’t have him by her side, she was at least going to immortalize the idea that this came to being due to his influence. Leslie wanted to name it “Beloved” after James.

January 2025 rolled around, and we had to close down for a minute(several, in fact). There was a lot of cleaning, a lot of repairs, and a lot of product to sort through. Nick worked on getting distributors settled; there was a lot of paperwork to turn in, figuring out the right people to talk to, a point of sale system to install and set up. Before too long, Beloved Pets was able to put in our very first order for animal feed and hay

Penny-Newman

Feed side opened sooner than Pet side. Turns out people of the earth work a little faster when it comes to getting paperwork through and product to people who need it.

Ducklings

Throwback to our first ducklings chowing down on some dried mealworms.

Pet side opened on February 14th, 2025. It was a wild year full of twists and turns, and it certainly didn’t come without its own controversies. Still, we worked hard to improve, and we’re going to continue to work hard to keep things going and to earn our place in the heart of the mountain.