YOUNGSTOWN -- George Mesaros made a drastic job change when he and his wife, Lisa, decided to start

YOUNGSTOWN -- George Mesaros made a drastic job change when he and his wife, Lisa, decided to start a family. He left his job working in corporate loss prevention management for a major retailer and opened his own pet food store.
"I've always been around animals, my whole life. My parents used to have kennels. I've had everything from dog and cats to cattle, goats and horses," said Mesaros, who owns two dogs, two cats, a horse and a goat.
Four years ago Mesaros bought a pet food store and began his own business, Pet Food Center, so that he could spend more time with his family.
Pet Food Center carries holistic and organic food, the "super-premium healthier foods," Mesaros said. He said these foods do wonders for skin conditions and the overall health of animals.
"There are no byproducts, they use hormone-free [meat], it has fruits, grains and brown rice, which is good. It's got omegas for the skin and coat and it's more palatable and digestible," he said.
Besides pet food, the store carries organic cat litter, scratching posts, biodegradable chew toys, food dishes, pet beds, leashes and collars, pet shampoos and skin creams, pet vitamin and mineral supplements, animal-theme decorative objects and a variety of other pet-related merchandise.
Mesaros also offers dog training and bulk delivery of any of the products he sells.
Moved to new area
The store originally was in the Wedgewood Plaza in Austintown, but he has since moved to Schenley Avenue, which he said was a good decision.
"I seem to get more of the homeowner traffic than at Wedgewood, where there were a lot of apartments nearby. There are more animals on this side of town."
Besides the local pet owners who shop at Pet Food Center, Mesaros said the Youngstown and Beaver police canine units buy their food from his store.
Mesaros said his biggest challenge in the business was learning about the products, which change frequently. He said he keeps up-to-date on product knowledge by going to trade shows, reading product literature and mainly by calling and talking to the people who formulate the foods.
Mesaros said his business does well because there aren't many independent pet food retailers left anymore. He said the big pet food chains are not really competition for him because they don't sell the same type of food that his store carries.
Mesaros said he loves the business, which allows him to spend more time with his family. He said he would like to expand the business and offer more training classes and eventually sell live animals.