Shanklin Pet Stores The Beginning

Shanklin Pet Stores began in a humble, eight-foot-wide alleyway on the Isle of Wight, originally serving as nothing more than a basic storage gap for a local builder’s tools and ladders ( carpenters was their name ) . Over 90 years ago, this builder constructed a simple roof over the narrow space between his home and his neighbour’s, gradually extending the structure three times as his business grew. He eventually added a proper storefront, transforming the narrow alley into a bustling builders’ merchants.

In 1965, the building supplies relocated, opening the doors for a brand-new venture: the official founding of Shanklin Pet Stores. The shop changed hands three times over the following decades until the Knight family proudly took over ownership in 1998. Despite the passage of time, the physical shop retains its fascinating original charm. Walking the length of its unique, historic layout—just 8 feet wide and nearly 100 feet long—you can still clearly trace every single architectural expansion built by that original local builder.