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Elevated beds, TVs playing Animal Planet and a spa: Pet resort opening in Palatine Plaza

Wall-mounted televisions in overnight suites, elevated beds with cozy blankets and access to a professional spa are among the amenities in Palatine's newest resort.

Not bad for the family pet.

Pete and Mac's Pet Resort, an upscale boarding, training, grooming and day care facility for dogs, is expected to open next week in a part of the former Hobby Lobby store in Palatine Plaza on Northwest Highway. It will be the first Illinois location for the Mesa, Arizona-based company.

The resort will operate in 12,200 square feet on the west side of the 46,000-square-foot former retail space.

Pete and Mac's President/CEO Gay Barwald said demographic studies, including home and pet ownership, were done before the company chose Palatine and the surrounding area.

“We've always liked the Chicago market,” Barwald said as employees worked inside Monday to prepare the facility for its debut. “We feel it's underserved.

“We just were thrilled with the (Palatine) area. We drove around to the competition, visited everybody. And the landlords here were very good with us, so it was just like, ‘Yeah, we like this.'”

Barwald said about $1 million is being spent to convert the Hobby Lobby space into Pete and Mac's, which will have 17 full- and part-time employees to start. Work began in October.

Instead of placing dogs in areas separated by fencing, Pete and Mac's will have glass blocks between 88 enclosures expected to accommodate about 100 overnight guests. Doors with tempered glass will keep the dogs inside their spaces.

“The glass block makes them more airy, much easier to clean,” said resort manager Jacque Heath, who has moved from an Arizona Pete and Mac's to oversee the Palatine location.

All rooms will have an elevated bed and a fleece blanket for the dogs, with accommodations expected to cost $34 to $58 a day, along with available add-ons such as a professional spa service. The TVs for the suites will be tuned to the Animal Planet network.

Dogs also will have access to an outdoor daytime play area. That space is about 2,400 square feet and surrounded by an 8-foot-tall fence.

The Hobby Lobby relocated in May 2016 to part of a former Dominick's at Deer Grove Crossing Shopping Center on Dundee Road in Palatine.

Dog boarding and training business to fill Hobby Lobby spot in Palatine

Creature comforts planned at new Palatine dog facility

  Pete and Mac's Pet Resort plans to open Jan. 28 at Palatine Plaza on Northwest Highway. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
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