Precious Pets is the brainchild of Gayle Dalton-Smith and Candy James, two local women who love animals. Gayle and Candy originally were successful business partners in the early 1980’s in the travel industry, and eventually went their separate ways, forging names for themselves in their respective industries.

Through the years, Gayle and Candy remained friends and played an active role in working with rescue groups, fundraising for various animal-related organizations, and giving their time and talent to Patriotic Pets, a non-profit organization that helps military pet-owners find temporary homes for their pets while they are deployed.

In 2004, Gayle and Candy decided that the time had come to open a business that would cater to people who loved their pets as much as they loved their own. To that end, Precious Pets was conceived, and born out of a need for pet lovers to find unique items for their animals, as well as for themselves. Unusual items, reasonable prices, and a store that had a feeling of home was the business plan. A fun place where people could bring their pets on leash, allow children to come and find things for their own pets in a room designed especially for them, on-going educational programs for pet owners, and classes for adults and kids in activities such as scrap booking became the goal.

Gayle and Candy’s love of animals propelled Precious Pets from a dream into reality. Their Precious Pets Foundation has been set up to support rescue groups and other animal charitable organizations in their endeavors to offer safe harbors for all of God’s 4 legged creatures. Active in the business community, Gayle and Candy have become an integral part of the retail growth in Historic Norcross. Precious Pets supports and features many local artists and that, coupled with their on-going commitment to the area, is evidenced in the plan to open auxiliary businesses that will complement the retail store. Candy has four dogs, Hannah, Emily, Sister, and Velvet, who are the light of her life. A beautiful talkative amazon parrot named Sebastian and a finch aviary rounds out Candy’s household.

Gayle and her husband, William, have four dogs, Chloe, Bandit, Peggy Sue, and Quincy  and three cats, Lexus, Picasso, and Luna. Because of Gayle’s obedience training and puppy raising for service animals, there is a revolving door at her house with all kinds of dogs passing through it for periods of up to 18 months at a time.

PRECIOUS PETS  9 SOUTH PEACHTREE STREET NORCROSS, GEORGIA 30071