TARBORO — A longtime local businesswoman in Tarboro is giving pet lovers a reason to stay in town for their pet needs.
Barbara Molten recently opened a new pet service business called Farm Life Pet & Feed and Bait & Tackle Store at 229 N. Main St. in downtown Tarboro. Molton celebrated the grand opening of her store on Feb. 16 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony hosted by the Tarboro-Edgecombe Chamber of Commerce that brought out about 60 people.
The store offers different types of Nutrena livestock feed, grain-free dog and cat food, animal toys, pet supplies, animal cages and live bait and tackle for rock and shad fishing. The store sells guinea pigs, puppies, frogs, crabs, different kinds of rabbits and birds such as yellow canary’s, society finches, red cheek codon blue finches, orange weaver finches, parakeets, tropical fish and jelly bean parrot fish.
Kaytlin Pollard, a dog owner, said she came out to see what kind of dog food the store offers. Pollard added she came away impressed with the different options the store has such as crabs, rabbits and birds. She also said she likes the fact of being able to go to a pet store in town.
“This is a wonderful place, and it’s great that you don’t have to drive all the way to Rocky Mount to get something from PetSmart,” Pollard said. “It’s also something different from a Wal-Mart because it has a lot more options like the horse feed, goat feed and something good for everybody.”
Molten and her late husband Lou, who died in December, owned Lou’s Quick Shop convenience store on 408 W. Wilson St. for 18 years until it closed in 2009. Previously, Molten said, she and her husband ran a car shop and a pet store from 1996 to 2002 at the Colonial Plaza in Tarboro. Molten said the new store is a one-stop shop to supply customers’ pet needs.
“Before my husband died, we had talked about going into another business,” Molten said. “First, I thought just having a feed store here would be perfect because there wasn’t a feed store. However, in addition to the feed store, we decided to be a pet store and bait and tackle and have all three in one. People here in Tarboro now don’t have to go to Rocky Mount, Greenville or anywhere else to get their feed, buy birds, fish, puppies or rabbits because I carry all of that.”
Molten added she can have feed available to fit the needs of her customers and can special order any kind of animal that a customer is looking for. The store also has honey available from a beekeeper from Roanoke Rapids, Molten said.
Different local children are involved in a coloring contest where selected winners will have their drawings displayed in the store and will receive a small fish bowl with a fish in it. Molten said there are also special deals going on in the store.
Farm Life Pet & Feed and Bait & Tackle Store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and by appointment only on Sunday. For more information, contact the store at 252-822-2256.
